i got your back

 

I recently attended the ACPA national convention and went to a session on women in higher education, specifically focusing on strategies for advancement, growth/development, and overall happiness with their work environment. One of the primary factors in a woman's perceived and actual success in their jobs was the prevalence of role models and mentors in their career. Gender of that mentor was not necessarily a large factor, but the presence of one did. A good discussion began among those in attendance about how much more complex this concept of mentoring really is than many make it out to be. A true mentor is very tough to come by. We may have supporters or good colleagues, but really finding someone that is invested in your success, celebrates those success with you, and is there to help you problem solve when things go wrong is a tough thing to find. It is a relationship vested in learning and mutual respect.

 Do you have a colleague that wants to see you succeed, catches you when you fall, and is there to listen to you process through ideas or vent? In my opinion, everyone needs a "biggest fan". It didn't take long for me to to realize, after getting into my first professional position, how different the work place was going to be from my experience as a student. In a workplace there are people with wide ranging levels of confidence in their self, differences in motives, and competition for attention from leadership (mostly driven by a need for increased resources or wanting to be recognized for potential promotions). With politics and these varying motives now in the mix, it seemed as though it would be tougher to find someone/people that I could rely on in this way. Don't get me wrong, I have great colleagues. But, as I mentioned above, a mentor is tough to come by. I have since found a few great mentors, and can't imagine working without them. It has inspired me to pay it forward. I haven't been working for too long, three years, but long enough that now a few new professionals have been hired since me. My new reflections on this have lead me to have a greater appreciation for those I have in my corner, and has motivated me to be more attentive to relationships I have now and will have in the future when I can serve as a mentor to others.

Questions I am trying to ask myself more often...
Who is your biggest fan?
Have you thanked them lately?
Does someone look up to you?
What are you doing to maintain that relationship, and enhance the learning and development of the one you mentor?

Here are a few good tips for maintaining these important relationships that I have learned from my biggest fans. They can and should be used by both parties in these relationships:

• Seeing a workshop or opportunity they might be good at or interested in, forwarding it along to them, and encouraging them to apply, join or attend
• Recognizing them with a "good job", lunch or nominating them for an award
• Thank you cards
• Being observant when they just need to vent and making time to let them do that
• When they vent, picking them back up with helping to brainstorm solutions or giving them positive words of encouragement
• Being there to review a project they are working on or offering them helpful feedback when they ask

These are just a few I have noticed from those that have made a difference in my life and continue to cheer me on.

anti-workshop series: crisis management

Crisis management is a life skill and a skill that many of our student leaders must learn and continue to build upon. Many times we teach this skill with roll plays or reviewing protocol with our students. I don't think we need to put an end to role playing or reviewing protocol, but to really explore the topic and ignite excitement about it there needs to be a little more training. Here are my "anti-workshop" suggestions.

• Pre-training: There are a few things you can have the students do before the training. I wouldn't do all of the following, but one or two is a good way to start building curiosity about the topic: Have the students write about a time when they felt like they poorly handled a crisis and when they (or someone they worked with previously) successfully handled a crisis.  Have them watch a video from an online news site of a crisis situation, tell them they are the leader in this situation (mayor, president, etc.) and ask them to respond to the following questions. What is the first thing you would do? What questions do you have about the situation that are not answered by the video that you would need answered to help deal with the situation? What does "success" look like in this situation? Lastly, have the students come up with a list of 5-7 questions they have about the topic?
• Training: As with any "anti-workshop" approach, the first thing I think about is who are the experts?

Who better to serve on a panel of experts, or serve as a site visit host than a fire"person", surgeon or trauma doctor, or police"person"? Setting up a site visit is a great opportunity to get the students off campus and into an environment that will challenge their thinking about problem solving and crisis management. Hearing from someone besides their boss or the typical person on campus that deals with crisis will ensure the learning will stick with them longer. The "typical person on campus" might know a whole lot about the topic, but bring them in at a later point. Giving students exposure to experts in the community is a great way to build relationships in the community as well. Provoke reflection. Have them look back at the reactions they originally wrote in the pre-training, and ask them to identify changes they would make now implementing what they learned. These changes can be captured as an assessment of the training.