My First Two Mid-Level Months - The Happy Gilmore Phase

"Happy Gilmore: [voice over narration] During high school, I played junior hockey and still hold two league records: most time spent in the penalty box; and I was the only guy to ever take off his skate and try to stab somebody."

Probably one of the most hilarious films of my generation. For those unfamiliar Happy Gilmore is a hockey player turned golfer. He's got an amazing drive and incredible amounts of raw talent - he's just totally unpolished and does things his own way. There's a few pretty awesome instances where he rejects the golf world and chooses to have the fans and experience he wants. His biggest weakness at the start is putting - something he eventually learns to do in a way that's good for him.

If you've seen Happy Gilmore you're probably depressed that I just intellectualized it this hard. Yeah, well, it's my journey, so get over it. 

My first two months supervising professional staff and sitting in the position of leadership has felt a hell of a lot like the movie Happy Gilmore. I've read that some professionals experience "impostor syndrome" - where they don't quite feel like they belong in that position due to experience, responsibility level, etc. I don't quite feel that way but I have been immensely humbled (something I probably need anyway). 

Looking like you know what you're doing is just as important as knowing what you're doing, if not even more so. When you're supervising students it's a lot easier to fake it, make it up as you go and roll with the punches. When you're supervising a team of smart professionals who play in the same sandbox that you do it's a totally different ball game. I'm confident that my experience has taught me well and that I can lead my team. What I struggled with was showing my competency with the polish and maturity that mid-level leadership demands. As someone who is very informal, likes to joke around, always finds positive aspects and constantly seeks to connect with others, this can be difficult. 

What I've found is that I can establish my legitimacy as a mid-level supervisor through situations, not through position. I don't believe necessarily in positional respect and authority. While we all respect positions I would assert that we do so because we assume those in that position are smart and capable. Title rarely dictates competence. Thankfully, I've found this to be the case at my current institution. I love the hell out of the people I work with, for and around. This is not by virtue of position but by virtue of their competence. Everyone I work with is really, really smart. 

So how am I feeling like Happy Gilmore? I think I get it. I think that I have the skills and knowledge needed to do great things. I also know, confidently, that I have a lot to learn. Polish to gain. And maturity to develop.

 I'll always hit the ball the way I want. That's a given. But I'll spend more time thinking about the crowd I'm cheering with and how I'm developing relationships with others, because ultimately, it doesn't matter how far you can hit the ball if you're an asshole that no one wants to watch. 

The Glamourous Life of the Summer Intern

My ACUHO-I Summer Internship experience was one of the most meaningful opportunities of my career. This was due not only to being at a great place, on a beautiful campus, with great people and having unlimited access to an intern golf cart. It was because mentors and supervisors prepped me to not piss off my internship site. More importantly, they taught me how to avoid mediocrity.

No matter what your internship is, where it is or what your title is you have one simple job: MAKE THEIR LIVES EASIER WHILE YOU'RE LEARNING TO BE AWESOME FOR THE FUTURE.

It's really that simple.

Now there are fantastic books about supervising internship experiences (Learning Through Supervised Practice, etc). Strangely enough there are NO books on being an awesome employee and/or summer intern. This is learned through experience, self reflection, mentorship and ultimately through making mistakes. The flow of this thought process is outlined below:

1. Get to know your non-negotiable expectations.
2. Work hard.
3. Take a smart risk.
4. See what happens.
5. Reflect on said risk.
6. Thank all those who let you make it happen.

Alright, beyond all of that, I have a few thoughts on how to have a really awesome experience.

1. THIS ISN'T YOUR CURRENT INSTITUTION.

Well. Unless you're sticking around for your summer. Either way, this is something new. These are new people, new departments, new norms, new cultures and ultimately a new experience. With that you need to realize you have new expectations. A new means of communication. A new way to get work done. As an intern you have an insanely short period of time to learn these things. It's imperative that you speed up the process by throwing out your assumptions and become a blank slate. One way to help get to know your new supervisor is to create a expectations/successfully working together document. Be honest about who you are and what you need. Also know you need to be flexible and move out of your comfort zone.

2. SUMMER IS CRAZY. EMBRACE IT.

This is especially important if you're working summer conferences. In the short amount of time you have things will move really fast. Summer is the time that most campuses are welcoming guests of all ages, putting on awesome summer school programs and everyone is at least attempting to get some time away. You're going to work a lot. LOVE IT. EMBRACE IT. ENJOY IT. You can either let crazy make you crazy or you can let it motivate you to work harder, faster and smarter.

3. IT'S YOUR JOB TO MAKE LIFE EASIER.

That means being flexible and taking initiative. Most internship host sites have a short amount of time to get you trained and ready to work. There will be gaps in your training because you couldn't possibly be trained for everything. Roll with it, smile, laugh and file the experience away for another day. What this also means is when it does slow down FIND SOMETHING TO HELP WITH! Don't just ask, take initiative. Don't just wait to be introduced to others. Introduce yourself.

4. THE SUMMER BOTH IS AND IS NOT ABOUT YOU.

I realize these are conflicting. On one hand it is very much about you learning and growing. On the other hand, the summer is mostly about you giving the institution what they need to be successful. Some places will guide you through active reflections while others will not. Some will set up meetings with other areas on campus. Some will expect you to make this happen. No matter what you need to know that the institution and what they need comes first. By serving you will learn.

5. BE HUMBLE.

Where you came from, what you did before and what awards you have won or will win simply DOES NOT matter. You are there to learn from others. Trust me, they know more than you.

Here's to an awesome summer.

On the Hunt for Something Bigger

Earlier today the #sachat topic was about how we look for jobs. This fits in ideally to my next discussion of how I found the jobs I was interested in applying for. Before searching I had to take into account my non-negotiables, which is fine, but materializing those into a search is something entirely different. 

Here are the roads I took to start searching:

1. The internet. It's awesome. higheredjobs.com is awesome. 

2. Places my favorite people have worked. Mentors. Friends. Professionals who put on great programs at conferences. Places that host great scholars. 

3. Schools that, for whatever reason, I thought were awesome. There is nothing deeper there. 

4. Places I knew my partner would be cool with. 

HIGHER ED JOBS (www.higheredjobs.com).

It really is a fantastic website. But like all employment sites, it's only as good as what's posted. There's nothing but great things in terms of how the site functions, your search parameters, etc. My only beef is with the inconsistencies of job descriptions and often times crap-tastic construction of position postings. The website itself does a great job of trying to force employers into making sense but not every school seems to take that advice. 

The good news here is this: if you're reading a job description and think "this makes no sense to me" then you know it's probably not the right job. HOW a job description reads and is constructed tells you A LOT about a school and what matters to you. For me, I care about how it reads. I care about how it sounds. I care about how it's constructed. Organization matters. This tells me what I can expect from my future team. 

MY FAVORITE PEOPLE AND PLACES.

This is my favorite, hands down. After a few years in and two live-in positions I knew who I respected, who I liked and who I wanted to develop towards. It seemed simple asking those people how they came to be and from where. This is ultimately how I landed my position. When you know the experience someone else has had, who they are, and what they care about, half of your research is done. I am extremely uncomfortable with the idea of walking into an institution blind. Especially for the mid-level. At this point the opinion of those close to me mattered more than my gut feeling or a list. 

SCHOOLS I THOUGHT WERE AWESOME.

I realize this sounds silly. But really, if you have a cool mascot, a bunch of awesome traditions and a student base that causes others to care that aren't even associated...you must be doing something right. This all sounds selfish but the visceral reaction you get from the name of a school or the sound of a fight song matters. It's that connection that keeps you going when things get crazy. How you FEEL...matters. Deeply. 

PLACES MY PARTNER WAS COOL WITH.

Having to search with a partner was awesome. That sounds counter-intuitive, I know. But in all honesty it made our partnership stronger. Because we were searching together we knew that certain discussions about what matters both personally and professionally needed to be had. This allowed us to have them. We both agreed we would search in the same areas. Areas that were connected to things we care about like family, friends, culture and regional dynamics. The agreement was simple. Whoever got the job that gave the best opportunity would take it and the other would follow. It's not a massive sacrifice because the only real sacrifice would be not being together. 

How it worked out was really, really cool. That doesn't mean I didn't take a few shots at applying for jobs that may have not been my thing. Often times just the process of writing the cover letters and managing my resume was the practice I needed to prepare for the postings that truly mattered to me. 

The other interesting item about that is HOW you applied for a job and WHAT THE process looks like tells you quite a bit about things that truly matter. How an institution treats candidates, gives information and communicates will often times tell you if it's the right fit. When you hear questions that resonate with you or feel like the process is something you would run...you've probably found a good fit.