Strengths Finder, True Colors, and MBTI: Developing the Language of Leadership

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the popular personality tests Strengths Finder, True Colors, and MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Inventory). They give you a list of questions and output a term, a type, or a temperament that describes how you interact with the world and those around you. I personally have Ideation, Connectedness, Intellection, Input, and Adaptability as my top five Strengths, in that order (here’s a good list of them all. I am also a Blue/Green (logically emotional like Spock I like to say) and I am an INFJ (a good description listed here).

What I think is the best part of these tests is that it gives me the language to describe who I am and what is important to me personally, which obviously impacts my work. A large part of being an effective leader is knowing one’s self. Taking these tests, and even taking them multiple times at different points in my life to see how I’ve changed, allows for a great deal of self-awareness. I know how I am typically so I can either let people know that or work to incorporate others better since I know what my quirks are. While I have heard some naysayers to these tests speaking to how they don’t like to be put in a box but I think knowing any one or all of these results is a good place to start to just be able to get others to understand you. You don’t need these tests to understand yourself necessarily but they definitely help others understand you. I’ve learned recently that this is a big step in working well with a team. I can be okay with myself and how I work but I need to be able to get others to be okay with how I do things or else there is going to be a lot of friction.

I encourage you to think about bringing these tools into your teams, especially with student staff members. They are trying to find themselves and their leadership style. These tests can enable them to be proud of their unique strengths and traits that make them great, rather than focus on their flaws. I know I felt like being an introvert was an issue, after exploring myself and what I have to offer, I am ready to tackle any issue head on in my own way. I know now my difference is an asset, not a weakness.

"there are a fe...

"there are a few key nutritional habits that can boost your energy levels, keep your appetite and cravings under control, and help you feel more focused"

via Inc.com (Can't Focus at Work? Your Diet May Be to Blame)

Student Affairs Leadership Online | 8 Guidelines for #SApro Social Media Use

Very thorough and helpful list here!

Life is short, ...

Life is short, build stuff that matters.

Check out my Instagram for photos of cool motivational posters from startupvitamins.com.

The Everyday Assessment Challenge

I have to post about CiSA 2013 yet again. It was an amazing experience and I want to share some of the great content from the event.

I know Ashley Nickelsen (@a_nickelsen) from both Rutgers and University of Delaware. She came to speak at CiSA 2013 on her topic of "The Everyday Assessment Challenge" of which she also wrote about for the recent fall edition of the MACUHO Magazine. The link is below and I encourage you to check it out! She has a great perspective on assessment; why it matters, and how to make it more accessible. It's awesome and thanks again to Ashley for sharing her perspective for everyone at CiSA 2013.

http://issuu.com/magazine.macuho/docs/newmacuho/30

Go do great things, everybody!

CiSA 2013: A Lesson on Personal Growth

On this past Sunday, I put on an event called the 2013 Careers in Student Affairs (Un)Conference  [CiSA for short] here at Rutgers University. I had been planning it for the entire calendar year amidst all the other things I’ve been up to so it was amazing to have it finally have it happen.

The journey to the actual fruition of this event has been an interesting one, with my original feelings on it all being very negative, since it was not what I had thought I’d be doing with my year. It just fell into my lap since no one else wanted to take it on. Although it was hard to swallow at first, it came to be something I could be excited about once I made it my own.

Making it my own took some time to plan out, with many details that had to come about from scratch, and it was hard since I am not a particularly detail-oriented. It was a very educational experience in making a large-scale event happening and fulfilling the experience it is you have envisioned. I know it will be something I can talk about in the gauntlet of interviews I have coming up about all the challenges and successes I went through.

My biggest takeaway that I feel like I can talk about now is getting over this paralysis I was getting into planning the event. I was so concerned with the event being perfect and how many people were going to come but after some pep talks and inspirational podcasts, I was excited to just get it out into the world to help people rather than be just an idea in my head. Also, when you think about it, it doesn’t matter how many people come since the people that came got something from it and that’s the most important thing.

I am very glad to have had this special experience and to have met so many awesome student affairs people in the process. Stay tuned for CiSA 2014!

Spider-Man & Life/Work Balance

Greetings, true believers!

In an attempt to blog more regularly, I'm going to pour out some of my brain juices on a fun connection I talk about often and has even been mentioned on the episode I did for the Life/Work Balances Podcast earlier this year (check it out here). The idea is using Spider-Man as a foil for these discussions about how to find a more perfect balance in our lives.

Spider-Man is one of favorite superheroes for this reason, he always has to struggle with being Peter Parker and his job of being your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. He has to go to class, see his Aunt May, try to date Mary Jane (or Gwen Stacy), make sure to get some photos into J. Jonah Jameson, and just take care of himself. His workload is comparable to some of ours as student affairs people, so the juxtaposition gels.

Where I feel I can connect with the Spectacular Spidey is that he comes to a better balance when he doesn't put up a wall between his personal and "professional" lives. When he tells the people he cares about that he's this amazing hero, the walls come down and it is easier to live his life when he is authentic. The people in his life can help him and be there when he needs it.

I feel as though you can't ever really block off what's going on in your life from your work. They should blend together so that you are always genuinely you in everything that you do. Your passions should be on display and your colleagues able to know the true you since they see you all the time. This will lead to better work, I feel, since this schism would go away that you feel like you always have to have a mask on with as much as our work overtakes our lives. I say we flip it the other way around; bring your interests, passions, and transparent self into the work we do for students. It will be a refreshing change of pace.

I learn lessons and make connections from my geeky passions often, and I joke that I take my entertainment very seriously so I hope this was helpful to you all out there. So take this in, reflect, and go out being the most ultimate you that you were born to be!

As always, remember; With great power, comes great responsibility.

Star Trek: Boldly Going Where No Student Affairs Professional Has Gone Before...

I've just started exploring the Star Trek universe lately. I am a fan of the two newer films by J.J. Abrams and have seen two of the original series movies. Only now though am I starting to work on Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix. As far as geekdom goes, this is a pretty established bit of sci-fi.

I write with Star Trek as a foil for all of science fiction. The genre as whole is a great place to gleam learning that is overtly delivered, just like in the comic book realm of storytelling. It gives a certain glimpse of what might come in our future either moving past our current issues or being symbolic of them. I always find it fascinating the different perspectives on what lies ahead for humanity in these shows and films, especially since Star Trek focuses a lot on diversity. While humanity has united itself, there are still growing pains with acclimating ourselves with all of the varied aliens out in the universe, so it still provides teachable moments for the viewers.

Whether it is Klingons or Romulans, these struggles of understanding and accepting the "other" showcased in Star Trek as well as the deep moral questions always posed by the show make it a greatly entertaining and educational show for this emerging student affairs professional to partake in when I have some rare free time. I highly recommend it and the other complete series that are out there to stream for free. If Star Trek isn't your thing or perhaps you prefer another medium, there is so much awesome science fiction out there that deals with diversity as well as many other important issues, like the growing role of technology in our lives, or how it will be best to govern in the future, just to name a few. It's also just a great guilt-free way to spend some free time! You'll have some fun and learn something too!

Take care, folks!

When I Grow Up I Want to Go Into Student Affairs

As I plan CiSA 2013, this sort of stuff is definitely on my mind. It is important to share our stories!

Why Choose Student Affairs?

So this post aligns a bit with I wrote about in the "Geeking Out" post a little while back. Something that I am passionate about and am making my life's work is college student affairs. I'm currently finishing my second-year of graduate school studying how to best serve the dynamic need of today's college students. I have a background studying history education as an undergraduate student, so I bring this passion and reverence for education in any form to my work with college students. We educate them in the ways of life outside the classroom as well as how to apply what they learn in the classroom to their lives.

Why I chose to do this as a career is because college gave so much to me and I think there is so much potential for growth during one's time in college. Aligning work with my passion for the college environment just sort of found me when I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do with myself as graduation loomed on the horizon. I work to do good in other people's lives, and that gives me happiness.

I write on this to reflect on where I've been and where I'm going with my life. I also hope to share the great things about this field with others with a project I've had the honor to help organize, the 2013 Careers in the Student Affairs (Un)Conference.

This event is taking place on November 3 from 10am-4pm at Rutgers University. For more details, check out our website, cisa2013.weebly.com and engage with us on Facebook and Twitter. Hope to see folks there!