Book Review: Brewing Up a Business

"Of all that the world has to offer, it is innate human potential that is the most impressive."

I recently finished reading a book that I've been meaning to read for a while now, Brewing Up a Business, by Sam Calagione about the founding of Dogfish Head Brewery. I got the second edition a few years ago when it came out and actually got it signed by Sam when he came to visit University of Delaware to promote it. Dogfish has always piqued my curiosity since it is something from Delaware that a lot of people know of. I've had a few beers of theirs that I've liked, and recently (finally) visited their brewery in Delaware (they have a ale house here in Maryland that I need to check out too). Nevertheless, I've appreciated them as an ambassador of my (sort of) home state and was excited to sit down with this book after far too long putting it off.

I will say that this book didn't grab me in its entirety. There are cool parts, like the stories about the early days of Dogfish Head. There are also less cool parts, like going into how to balance your small business's budget (oversimplifying a bit here). I personally wasn't reading this book for the introduction to business lessons. I wanted stories and advice about life. I appreciate that the book has both, but it ended up with a decent portion of the book not being for me. I skimmed through the parts that started to lose my attention. It felt mostly like pretty boiler plate leadership and business tips that are very much currently part of the zeitgeist on sites like Inc or Fast Company (granted this book came out several years ago, so it was probably a little ahead of the curve).

There are some fine morsels in there (see the above quote which I love). There is also some neat connections for me personally between the obvious location for the brewery in Delaware, where I grew up, but also where I was born in Maine (the state as a whole, not my hometown). I really like craft beer, going to breweries with my partner, trying new things, and meeting the people who are passionate about their craft. It helps get a local flavor wherever I go and is a great way to relax and connect with others. I look forward to continuing this trend. I appreciate the opportunity to read this book to deepen the respect I have for Dogfish Head.

Go check out this book at your favorite book retailer or your local library. Sam Calagione also released another book recently, Off-Centered Leadership, so if you want more from Dogfish Head, check it out too!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Geek's Guide to Leadership

 "This is a stream of consciousness on some leadership tenants that even this endearingly awkward geek can abide by."

My journey to considering my self a leader has been a long one. I was always a pretty shy and humble kid (and still am to some extent) who never wanted to be the center of attention or take charge. It was only once I went to college, found my niche, and was able to have the pleasure and privilege of attending leadership workshops as well as take some awesome courses on leadership, did I build my confidence as someone who had something to offer as a leader. We all are unique and our leadership will take equally unique forms. That being said, there are some general attributes that I feel make for good leaders, which can be adapted and interpreted in their own ways, creating your own mix of how to get things done and lead a team towards a common goal.

I also use the word leader pretty loosely. While I supervise students, I also see myself as a leader in my campus community, working to forge ahead with projects and efforts that will help all students, prospective, current, commuter, and residential.

A lot of this connects to another post of mine about how to maximize the best of geek culture for building community. Check out that post too to learn more of my geeky revelations!

Authentic

A big thing for me is being authentic, genuine, and real. I never want to seem like a phony to my students or some one I'm not to my friends and colleagues. I share my geeky passions regularly and have my office decorated with all my toys and posters. I also let my colleagues know what I think about what we're doing, especially if I don't agree with it. I have gotten great feedback on this, with people appreciating me speaking my mind in a thoughtful and respectful way. Being a leader means being someone people can connect with and speak to about whatever it is they need. You shouldn't ever seem inaccessible or uncaring. I am human, I have thoughts, feelings, opinions, interests, and needs. I don't try to hide this from anyone. I have found it has been very beneficial to let my geek flag fly and to be a genuine caring person to those I work with. People know what I'm into when they want to collaborate (more on that later) and my work comes to be connected to my passions. It all coalesces to make work a more fluid part of my life, where I don't have to hide who I am when I clock in. I do the things I want to do and can do well, which ends up being better for everyone.

Collaborative

I enjoy working on a college campus since it encourages (most of the time) collaboration. We're all working towards the same goal, and we all have limited resources. Work constantly flows in and out of different offices for different efforts like orientation, homecoming, and other large scale events. I also appreciate the opportunity for me to connect with particular offices I want experiences with and that I can just jump in and help out. When people know what I'm genuinely passionate about, I can take the lead on projects that connect with my interests. On this topic, being open to helping folks with anything they might need is another great aspect I've learned over the years. I have become a resource for folks to collaborate on starting podcasts, helping with blogging, and getting rolling with social media efforts. Being open to helping builds good rapport and capital in your organization. A lot of the time, your reputation proceeds you so it is good to be helpful to folks when you can manage it. At the very least, connect folks with each other if you can't help them or don't have time. Each person will be appreciative and you'll have done your good deed for the day!

Grateful

Something I've continually read in leadership books and articles is the importance of gratitude. It helps us be happier, it helps other feel good, and it is a generally positive thing for anyone to do, especially leaders. Appreciation of the work we do everyday is something that is tragically missing from a lot folks' lives. As a humble leader, I'm very gracious for anything people to do to help me out. I feel like I don't deserve it but in the end, it's just positive thing to do to value the contributions people put in, no matter how big or small. It goes a long way to building a solid foundation for relationships to give honest, genuine thanks (especially in handwritten thank you notes). Rarely do we ever actually tell the people in our lives how much we appreciate them and what they do. Start doing it today!

This is a stream of consciousness on some leadership tenants that even this endearingly awkward geek can abide by. They've transformed how I view leadership and my confidence in being able to put my unique spin on it. Hopefully it is helpful to some folks out there, even with how you might inspire your students to be leaders in their own ways.

Thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite TED Talks

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=PL873C206FEE6DA034] I wanted to curate this YouTube playlist for everyone of some of my favorite TED Talks that I've found so far. I'll keep updating the list and would love to hear more recommendations from folks.

Enjoy!

Star Trek and Living Where You Work

So, as I previously noted, I am currently working through the entire series of Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix. I'm almost done the third season and I watched an episode that was mostly centered around Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his being forced by the crew to finally take a much needed vacation. Most of the time, he is being called in from his personal quarters or is being interrupted by calls from the bridge with urgent matters that need his attention, everything from a Enterprise ship displaced from its time stream or a Romulan starship, Captain Picard is essentially always on. The parallels here to student affairs work (and more specifically live-in positions) is clear. The entire crew works long hours and is always on the starship in some capacity even when they're trying to relax. I think it is interesting to consider the trials and tribulations that the crew has to face compared to student affairs professionals. You're mostly always on campus, in the fish bowl for all to see and have to always be cognizant of the needs of your students. Whether it is late night emails or duty calls at any hour of the day, we have to be "on" most always.

Picard had to be forced to take a vacation off the Enterprise, and even then found himself getting into trouble (obviously since an episode with him having a quiet vacation would have been rather dull). Some of our colleagues seem to have the same inclination, they have to be forced to relax. I urge everyone to learn from my geeky connection and enjoy some time away soon, perhaps on spring break. It is crucial for your wellbeing as well as you being able to serve your students to your best capacity.

May you all live long and prosper!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 01/31/14

Good day to you all! So, sorry this is late. I usually like to get these out every Friday but it just didn't happen this past week. I was thinking about it all week as usual but I didn't block out time to write so I paid dearly for my hubris! Nevertheless, the post is here to share all the awesome stuff I've been getting into this week. I've got one classic television series and two engaging reads I'm digging into.

• Star Trek: The Next Generation

So I've shared my love of TNG before on the blog when I just started watching the show (the entire series is on Netflix). When Star Trek is at its best (which TNG often is), the show is able to confront ethical, moral, philosophical, and diversity issues in wonderful science fiction drama. I'm currently on the latter end of season three and this season in particular has been spot on. I've had a lot of fun with everything the Enterprise has gotten into and look forward to more awesome episodes as I work to up my nerd credentials working through the entire series.

• Generation on a Tightrope: A Portrait of Today's College Student

This book is from 2012 and is a deep insight into the what it means to go to college in the 21st century. A lot has changed and a lot has stayed the same since the baby boomers were in school. Students still party and have sex while on campus but now more of them are under more pressure to succeed, working full-time, and stacking their schedules even more with heavy course loads and extra curriculars. I haven't gotten through the whole book yet but it is confirming (with hard data) the plights of modern higher education. I'll let you all know what I think of the ending for sure (probably on Twitter, follow me!).

• Quiet

This book (also from 2012), is one that I feel like I should have read last year. It was getting quite the positive buzz, and rightfully so. I'm about halfway through and it just has a fun voice to it from author Susan Cain. It really delves into all the aspects of what it means to be introverted, and how to maximize the potential of what that means. Hopefully I'll be able to get through it soon with all the other stuff going on lately.

Thanks for checking in! I'll see you next week with more fun stuff I'm getting into!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 01/24/14

Good tidings to you all! Here is what I'm geeking out about this week!

• Community

Let me just start by saying that I love this show and have loved it for it's entire run thus far. It always seems to be on the NBC cutting board but nevertheless, all the passionate fans seem to get their way every year. I don't have a problem with this at all. It's a unique, quirky, smartly dumb show that I enjoy watching every week. This season that has been on for a few weeks now is sort of "rebooting" the show which is interesting to watch. It mostly feels like the same old Community but there are some major changes happening so I'll probably post again about how the season ends. Check out the entire series on Hulu Plus if you're a subscriber.

• Lumosity

This app is a brilliant tool to help keep your mind sharp. It has a variety of brain games such as quick math problems and memory puzzles. It's a free app for your smartphone and you can pay for premium access. I have found it very useful to help me center my mind more as I have a lot of work ramping up now with the semester starting.

• Smart People Podcast

I recently posted about this excellent podcast on Socialnomics and got an email from Chris and Jon thanking me for the shoutout. It felt really awesome to be noticed and shown gratitude so I'm just echoing my praise for their content and their attentiveness to their community of listeners. They interview big names who are putting out big ideas for life, leadership, and work like Daniel Pink, Seth Godin, Tony Hsieh, Brene Brown, Drew Dudley, and many more! Take a gander at their library of over a hundred episodes and subscribe to never miss an episode!

So, what're you all geeking out about? Leave a comment and reach out! Have a great week, everyone!

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.

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!