New Semester, New Goals

"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible." - Francis of Assisi

Happy New Year, Everyone!  The blog is back!

I realized rather slowly last semester that I was in over my head in this endeavor.  I barely had time to tell my wife about my day, much reflect on it with you all.  So now, after being rejuvenated by a relaxing winter break with my family, I am setting out to do one post per week on Mondays.  As always, thank you for understanding and reading!

I believe a good way to start the new semester would be to set some professional goals for now through May.  I have had the chance to think back on last semester and want to reach for developing in the following ten areas.    Hopefully some may be general enough that other new professionals can relate, or at least consider where they can be analogous to their own positions:

1. Ask for more feedback - I have yet to figure out why, but I find myself consistently wondering if I am doing things well or doing enough in my position.  I think some of the time I spend wondering would be better spent this semester by actually asking someone who will have an answer.
2. Plan and implement a campus-wide program with the Hall staff - We have started to think about it and are excited to make it happen.  This will be a grand test in the action of following-through!
3. Assess some initiatives within the hall - There is a lot that we do that we assume is working.  It is about time that I actually talk to some residents about what they think works and doesn't work.
4. Create more space for academic success - I discovered at the end of last semester that many more residents than we thought were struggling with academics.  We can always do more, so it is time to rethink how we incorporate our Faculty Fellow, intentionally discuss classes, and create a space for students to be first and foremost academically successful.
5. Be a more approachable and intentional supervisor - Again, there is always more to be done, and facilitating the professional development of RAs to me is one of the most important areas of my position.
6. Reflect more on how students manage conflict and how to facilitate this - I plan to discuss this in depth with the RAs I supervise during our winter training; it is an area in which I have become very interested, and I believe helping students manage conflict became a much larger role last semester than I had expected.
7. Gain a sense of my professional network / reconnect - I did not realize how quickly a professional network grows in this field, and before I even thought of how to best network I had more connections than I could track in my head.  I need to at least start a list before it grows beyond my reach.
8. Be more present with advising - I have had the chance to reflect with some mentors on advising and realize that my approach could be less hands-off.  Redefining my role with Hall Council is one of my primary goals this semester.
9. Give more time to one-on-one conversations - Within a conversation with a student I (ideally) have a captive audience.  I need to appreciate this more, capitalize on these moments, and have the conversations I can have with those students.
10. Continue to bring theory into practice - My cohort is finally studying student development theory this semester, and I am excited to apply this to my work.

There you go!  What do you think of these goals?  What do you plan to work on this semester?

Quote Citation:

Francis of Assisi. (n.d.). BrainyQuote. Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/f/francisofa121023.html 

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Article Reflection: "Developing a Leadership Identity, A Grounded Theory"

Abstract:  This grounded theory study on developing a leadership identity revealed a 6-stage developmental process. The thirteen diverse students in this study described their leadership identity as moving from a leader-centric view to one that embraced leadership as a collaborative, relational process. Developing a leadership identity was connected to the categories of developmental influences, developing self, group influences, students' changing view of self with others, and students' broadening view of leadership. A conceptual model illustrating the grounded theory of developing a leadership identity is presented. (Komives et al., 2005)

     This week I finally read an article on Leadership Development, which I think is slowly becoming a passion area of mine. Despite having been somewhat a leader at my previous institution through many clubs and organizations, I have never read any theory on how it happened. What stages did I go through to developing my own idea of who I am and what I do as a leader? How did I move from one stage to another - what were the influences? This article, "Developing a Leadership Identity: A Grounded Theory" by Komives et al. (2005) approaches these questions using grounded theory, a qualitative analytical approach that I believe is a great approach to finding motivations and influences in people.

     The article citation can be found below - you can find it on any database through which you can access the Journal of College Student Development. I will just be addressing what I found interesting in the article and how I will bring this into my practice.

     I really enjoy the focus on group and relational leadership this article puts forward - understanding, of course, that it was really the participants' inner theory driving that, and the authors simply extracted it through the interviews. The growth of the leader through interaction with the group is a concept that seems simple, especially given the unconscious nature of that growth at times, but the authors are able to pull it apart and show just how intricate and complicated and recursive that growth is. It builds itself just as the authors build the grounded theory, an analogy so appropriate that Komives et al. (2005) do not even need to state it.

     One aspect of this study I wish was made more explicit is the amount of time the authors felt was spent growing from one step to another. This may seem trivial, but as I was reading I found myself wondering at what point in my life I was at each step. When reflecting on Stage 3 - "Leadership Identified" and Stage 4 - "Leadership Differentiated" I felt as though I had spent years  in Stage 3 before moving into Stage 4 during my late high school years. However, I am now in Stage 6 less than six years later - and yes, part of being in Stage 6 is having the confidence to say that I am. :)

     I am certain that I am going to bring this theory into my role as a supervisor of student staff and an advisor of a Hall Council. Having these stages in my toolkit will potentially assist me in identifying developmental blocks of the student leaders with whom I interact. I see that Stage 3 to Stage 4 transition being a potentially difficult one for students who do not see themselves as leaders. To get past that, I think they need more from Komives et al.'s category of "Changing View of Self with Others" through more group interaction and "Meaningful Involvement" (2005). Furthermore, Stage 5 could result in leaving a group when a leader does not feel fulfilled - ze is not finding hir passion or values in the work of the group and thus leaves to find a group in which those values are realized. Without that passion being realized, ze will be unable to develop new leaders within the group, an element of leadership I see as essential to the sustenance of an organization.

Article Citation: Komives, S. R., Owen, J. E., Longerbeam, S. D., Mainella, F. C., Osteen, L. (2005). Developing a leadership identity: A grounded theory. Journal of College Student Development, 56(6), 593-611.

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Supervising Student Staff (Part 1)

“Not all those that wander are lost." – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

     The reason I entitled this post "Part 1" is because I expect to comment on this facet of my position multiple times, and will hopefully in the future as well. And I say "hopefully" because I already genuinely enjoy supervising student staff members. Sure, you can check back in once they begin classes and extracurriculars and turn 21, but I expect that part not to change. Disclaimer: the RAs I supervise are amazing, understand the importance and influence of their position, and put-up with my being new to campus, my position, and supervising every day and thus must be angels.

     An expectation I set for the RAs in my building this year reads: "Be professional, and work towards skills according to the RA Competencies." Reflecting on this item, we discussed how the RA position is a paraprofessional position, and consequently they should treat it like one, taking their RA agreements and my position as their supervisor as seriously as they would any other position. They all of course nodded their heads in unison, saying "Of course, why wouldn't we?" and the like. But they probably did not grasp this item fully.

     As a colleague and I discussed this idea last night, he was actually the one to point out the difficulty for student staff's grasping true professionalism in their position. His comment opened my eyes, and much more than I expected too when I reflected this morning. His comment was on fairness - why do we expect our student staff to grasp true professionalism - at the same level we do, for the record - when they are in fact working amongst other students, developing as students and not professionals? 

     My quintessential example is scheduling RA duty for Spring Break. It never fails - there are RAs who have already made plans, have made hypothetical plans, or are planning to make plans. And then some of us as supervisors become frustrated, because their contracts clearly cover Spring Break and so they should plan to be present. Reflecting on this shifted my mindset slightly, though. Spring Break is sometimes a huge part of the college experience. Some students go on service trips, instilling a sense of serving others in them. Others go on road trips or beach trips, assisting in the development of interpersonal competencies and also plenty of personal care and responsibilities. And yet we still become frustrated when RAs want to have these experiences. Is this contradictory? I still do not believe so, but it forces me to be more understanding.

     An additional thought I have had on this topic is professional development. Some of those RA competencies are professional skills, which include knowing how to appropriately prioritize and recognizing the importance of certain tasks. Why I expected the RAs I supervise to be full-fledged professionals upon stepping into the hall is now beyond me - I'd much rather that they develop professionally, growing throughout the year. This falls into our goals of student development and supervising student staff.

Quote Citation: Tolkein, J. R. R. (1954). The fellowship of the ring. Crows Nest, Australia: Allen & Unwin.

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New Staff, New Impressions

“I don't know if you've ever noticed this, but first impressions are often entirely wrong. You can look at a painting for the first time, for example, and not like it at all, but after looking at it a little longer you may find it very pleasing. The first time you try Gorgonzola cheese you may find it too strong, but when you are older you may want to eat nothing but Gorgonzola cheese. Klaus, when Sunny was born, did not like her at all, but by the time she was six weeks old the two of them were thick as thieves. Your initial opinion on just about anything may change over time.” - Lemony Snicket (1999)

     Today I met my first supervisees! It was nerve-wracking at first, as I was trying very hard - possibly too hard - to make a good first impression. Not as a person, but as a supervisor. I like to think (probably too confidently) that I make a decent first impression with peers and supervisors, but this was entirely different. Do I set a strict tone from the start? Do I attempt to relate to them? Do I try to be super-energetic to get them motivated, or is that not cool? All of these and more ran through my head as I walked to that meeting.

     In the end, I went for an honest, realistic, trusting, but no-nonsense approach, which is one that I have appreciated the most from supervisors. I prefer when a supervisor trusts me to complete the tasks expected of me and at the same time is realistic in their expectations. Furthermore, I prefer a supervisor to be as open and honest with me as possible about my tasks and position. And since I want this from a supervisor, I want the staff I supervise to see these traits in me.

     Did I put this across on the first day? Did I need to? I do believe I was open with them, and I did "get down to business" as soon as we started. Plus I believe I made it clear that I trusted them to be professional enough to be at places on time on their own. I don't know for certain, but it is only day two now. Will their perceptions of this day change, though?

     Which brings me to Mr. Snicket's quote, from the first book of his Series of Unfortunate Events, The Bad Beginning.  I have been trying to think back to my first impressions of my previous supervisors, of which there have been many, to think if my impressions of them changed over time. I believe it has varied according to supervisor, to be honest. For some my perception changed, and for others it did not. Of course I call to question whether or not my current perception on the "consistent" ones has simply overridden any previous impressions, but that is a psychological discussion for a later date.

      I believe consistency is the most important factor, when you truly analyze impressions of supervisors. While I may want the staff I supervise to have one impression or another, I would not want it to change because I changed. Rather, I would want it to change because they rethought my style or sought to understand my expectations in a different light. And if it stays the same, then my first impression came across the way I desired, and I remained consistent throughout the year. More new staff to come tomorrow, so wish me luck on more new impressions!

Quote Citation: Snicket, L. (1999) The Bad Beginning. New York: HarperCollins.

Photo By: Me (I imagine this penguin being shy about meeting new staff members...)

Don't reinvent the wheel, unless you want the challenge...

"Don't reinvent the wheel, just realign it." - Anthony J. D'Angelo

      During my training, many of my colleagues provided "Don't reinvent the wheel" and similar sentiments when discussing the myriad materials and sessions I had/have/will have to prepare for my position. In the past I have seen this as great advice - if a tool comes pre-made and does the job you are looking to fill, why make a new tool? Using the "wheel" already has many pros, including saving you both time and energy - resources that can be put towards the next task, for which you may have to invent a ball because a wheel won't work.

     However, as D'Angelo points out, there are cases in which a "realignment" is warranted (and I promise this is as far as I will take the metaphor). On one end of the spectrum, a training session may need to be tweaked due to the original facilitator having a much larger staff with which to work. On the other end, sheet for RAs to fill-out while on rounds may need to be almost rewritten due to the original institution having different policies and procedures (something I did yesterday). But even on that end I was able to keep the original formatting, which would have taken me another hour to recreate. In fact, I have spent most of the past few days retrofitting my old resources and realigning others' for this new position, saving minutes and hours everywhere.

    While realigning and not reinventing are both great time- and energy-savers, I could see why a professional would still want to start something from scratch: the challenge. For an example, I will turn to my programming model for the RAs I am supervising. I made it from the bare bones, which were my supervisor's programming expectations for our area on campus, and then built it into a year-long programming plan for my residence hall. Yes, I took some advice here and there, but in the end I typed the entire plan and the ideas and intentions were mine. My supervisor telling me that he believed it was a good plan felt like the biggest praise ever, all because I had taken-on the challenge and met it.

   The purpose of that example is not to put me on a pedestal (I'm afraid of heights anyway), but instead to show the importance for a young, sub-entry level professional of creating your own ideas and materials every once in awhile. Starting-off fresh has been very stressful at points, but I feel that the longer you wait to truly challenge yourself to utilize the skills you are building, the longer you wait to grow in your position. So, realign when you do not have the time, but when you do have the time, take it to at least consider the challenge of reinventing. Who knows - your wheel may roll you further.

Quote Citation: D'Angelo, Anthony J. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved from: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/anthonyjd377829.html

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Supervisory Expectations

"It is our responsibilities, not ourselves, that we should take seriously." - Peter Ustinov

     One of the larger adjustments I have had to make during training for my new assistantship is becoming a supervisor and learning the responsibilities that role entails. I've never truly been "in charge" or anyone. Yes, I've been in a position to tell people what to do, and long ago when I was an assistant instructor for karate classes there was no question of "who's in charge?" But I've never held the complete responsibility of supervising another person in their professional tasks - it has always been much more of an advisory role.

     I remember thinking very specifically about the differences between advising and supervising before my interview weekend, and it was an exercise our leadership development coordinator had us do during training as well. One of my colleagues used an analogy that stuck with me: advising is guiding someone, whereas supervising is steering them. In some situations, you do not have to follow a guide. Sure, it is usually in your best interest, but the most they can do is show you the path, and it is up to you to take it. If someone is steering the jeep down the path, though, the only way for you to not go down the path is to jump out.

    What interests me about this adjustment is not that part of the analogy, though. I am honestly fine with my small staff of RAs being required to take the path I choose, or else "jumping out." It is my being required to choose the paths that has been the largest adjustment. In my advising roles in the past much has been chosen or set for me, while in this new supervisory role I am responsible for setting list after list of requirements and expectations for my staff. I have set "Staff Expectations," "Training Expectations," "Duty Expectations," and so on, and every time I have finished a list there has been this foreboding feeling of having sealed someone's fate for the next academic year. 

    To get past that feeling I remind myself that this experience is all part of my journey of professional development, and so I take the supervisory responsibilities that much more seriously. I double- and triple-check those expectations, invite questions and comments on them, and envision how conversations concerning them will go. And - much more importantly than my own growth - I always consider my staff's professional growth and how my expectations will steer them on their paths. Because only guiding them would not be taking the full responsibility entrusted to me as their supervisor.

Quote Citation: BBC News. (2004, March 12). Ustinov's comic touch. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3578959.stm

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