Reading & Listening #002

The title isn't quite accurate.

Not only have I been reading and listening this month, I've also been watching. Watching keynote speakers at the recent ASRA conference. Watching colleagues and student accommodation friends present updates and generally speaking, watching them experience a touch more normality by being physically present at a conference. It was, by all accounts, lovely.

Watching...

There were many highlights at ASRA 2022. Too many to compress into a short article. However, a particular standout was the keynote speaker Paul McGee, aka 'The SUMO Guy'. His no nonsense, positive and energetic approach to helping you navigate personal and professional challenges is, as Gen Z will say "A bit of me". Enthralled by his presentation, I was delighted at the chance to briefly speak with him afterwards and purchased one of his books shortly after.

An uncomplicated and light hearted read, Paul provides you with the fundamentals required to help you understand that stress isn't caused by other people, but by your reactions to them. His thinking evolves to help you remove the label of victim, improve negative self talk, understand the perspective of others and seize the day with regards your personal goals and objectives. You will blitz through this book with ease and complete it with a smile on your face.

Career Development...

This month I purchased and read 'You Coach You', written by the duo behind the Squiggly Careers podcast. The principle of this publication is to assist you in overcoming challenges and take control of your career. Rather than it being a heavy, labour intensive read, it instead acts as a workbook. Requiring you to answer questions of yourself and challenge assumptions, it aids you to move out of 'thinking traps' and to gain the clarity and confidence you may need to improve your resilience, identify how to invest in your 'career community' and explore what progression means to you.

Struck by how practically useful this book is, I purchased additional books for several team members keen to advance in their careers. Each month, when we meet, we use this book as a starting point for our mentoring and coaching conversations. It has proved to be a valuable tool in helping them understand where their strengths lie, identifying areas for growth and provided the opportunity for some honest and vulnerable discussions.

No stranger to a positive quote or ten, a stand out statement within the book for me was...

Own your failures with as much conviction as your success. You will always learn more from the things you do wrong than the things you do right. When you own your failure, you're taking accountability

Habits, habits, habits...

They say you are what you repeatedly do and that instead of setting goals, you should focus on improving habits. I am the Lisa Simpson of goal setting, a recovering perfectionist and someone who can recede in to atrocious patterns (poor diet, reduced sleep etc) when the going gets tough. I've improved my behaviour of saying yes to every shiny project going and become more selective in the work I do and the energy I give. I now set better boundaries and have gained a new comfort in saying the word 'No'.

My poor habits often lie in providing time and discipline for exercise. A combination of a long commute, a busy workload and an attitude of "It's Friday, pass the wine" can result in all things health and wellbeing being side-lined. The stark reality for all of us is, when you make little time for the above, the neglect feeds into all other areas of your life. It becomes a vicious circle with you suffering both mentally and physically.

I've heard and followed the work of James Clear for quite some time. I've gobbled up his articles, and adored his weekly newsletter. If you take nothing else from this article, sign up to the weekly 3-2-1 series. It will not clog your inbox. Pinky swear, it's the gift that keeps on giving.

His bestseller Atomic Habits is simply put, excellent. Will I read this book for a second and third time? Abso-freaking-lutley. His writing outlines that achieving a goal is a momentary change, a short bite of success that provides only a snippet of happiness. Instead, your focus should be on building and improving the systems required to obtain long term progress by of course, you guessed it, improving your habits. Utilising his habit laws, I've been working on making my exercise habits obvious, interesting and attractive. The result, 41 workouts in April (A combination of cycling, walking and cardio classes if you're interested).

I share the above not to brag about my new found exercise regime (fingers crossed I keep it up!), but instead, to assist you. If there are areas of your working or professional life that are debilitated by procrastination, if you have an idea you're dying to start or a change you're keen to make, this book (and newsletter) is a laudable starting point.

A (tiny) selection of what's in my ear...

I shared last month my love of a leadership podcast. No one was more excited than I when I discovered that Mel Loizou was launching 'Dive Deep, Climb High', a podcast focusing on leadership in Higher Education. Her warm interview tones present for a lovely listening experience and my stand out episode to date has been on how to expand your influence with Jo Hardman, Director of Commercial Services at Lancaster University. I nodded profusely at multiple times and laughed out loud through out the episode.

I resonated with his point that if you're keen to get promoted in a role, start doing, asking for or enquiring about some of the responsibilities associated with that role. As Jo says, "Always be aiming to do the job ahead of where you are". Even if you don't get paid for it. In addition, he discussed the concept of influence by "getting people on the bus", but importantly knowing when people are not right for and removing them from the "bus" which in Higher Ed, is a minefield.

I've also recently discovered the podcast 'Pivoting Out of Edu' by Dr Jaimie Hoffman and Dr Tom Studdert. Now readers, I've no intention of leaving Higher Ed any time soon, but I am intrigued by the concept of the 'Great Resignation' happening in North America, the flurry of student services positions available in the UK and the collective agreement that it is getting difficult to attract talent. My interest in listening to this podcast is two fold. One, what trends are occurring in North America and which are potentially simmering in the UK? And two, by listening to the stories of others, what can I, in my capacity, do to mitigate risk of it happening within my teams?

Guests share their stories transitioning from Res Life to Nursing, from Higher Ed to Real Estate and from Admissions to Ed Tech Sales. Reoccurring themes include lack of opportunity, high workloads and burnout, poor pay, a desire for value and mission alignment and how for many, a serendipitous opportunity led to them having the chance to pivot out of a campus based role. It makes for a fascinating listen.

Worth a shout out...

I listen to alot of podcasts. Hours and hours every week. Too much to squash into this teeny, tiny, virtual space. However, episodes and shows worth your precious attention and which I believe may influence you, assist you or your teams and the work you want to do are as follows:

• How to create your career criteria - Squiggly Careers
• The rising cost of living - Accommodation Matters, Unite Students
• How toxic work cultures are driving the great resignation followed by Why every leader needs to worry about toxic culture - Dare to Lead, Brene Brown
• Sexual misconduct, quality, belonging, drugs (especially Sunday Blakes thoughts on the UUK guidance on staff-to-student sexual misconduct) - The Wonkhe Show
• The real trick to long term motivation with Daniel Pink - Diary of a CEO

Finally...

Excited for more watching, more listening and more learning, I'm looking forward to attending the CUBO Residence Life conference this week. A chance to see faces old and new, celebrate the work of professionals in the field and of course, make new connections. If you're attending, see you there! I'll be the one tweeting in the corner.