Higher (Mis)Education

Do You Yahoo? A Warning Tale For Greek Leaders

2011-09-06T23:25:00.000-07:00

Do You Yahoo?

At first the slogan was an obnoxious YAHOOOOOO! shout. Then it was a pleading question. Now...the second CEO in as many years is getting her walking papers as the once dominant search company was challenged and then replaced by a new upstart known as Google. But even before Yahoo came onto the scene there was "Altavista," "Excite" and even the primitave "Yahoo Directory."

Though Yahoo remains one of the largest search engines today, with almost 600 million unique visitors, it is rapidly fading into obscurity as it's board frantically searches for a new direction.

This is a particularly heart wrenching tale for me. Jerry Yang (Co-Founder and former CEO) is a Phi Kappa Psi. I also created my first independent (read non AOL) account through Yahoo.

But what does this heart wrenching story of a former Phi Psi have to tell us about Greek Life and leadership on college campuses today?

Take a look at yourself, your chapter, your community, and your campus. Where do you sit? Pretty high and mighty I might imagine? Maybe you're pushing "top tier" membership numbers with all of the best Greek Week pairings? Or maybe you win a lot of awards? Perhaps you have a lot of famous alumni/ae who speak on your behalf at University functions? Maybe you're just active in your campus community and have a lot of fun together, right?

Or maybe you're none of that.

Maybe you're looking at one more risk management hearing before you're in the Dean of Student's office defending yourself at a "show cause" hearing.

Either way, there may be a lot of reasons for where you're at. It's often times tempting to chalk up success or failure to campus climate, behavior of advisers, a particularly talented (or lethargic) recruitment chair, or maybe it was just a cloudy day and all of your members were bummed out.

Regardless, I would ask you to do what the New York Times is asking of the Yahoo Board of Directors. Don't blame the winds. Blame the ship. Take a good hard look at yourself, your leadership, and your chapter and start with yourself.

I know in these past few months I've had to do a lot of soul searching and I haven't always liked the answers I've come up with even though things are going well.

Regardless of where your chapter, your community, or your campus are at, ask yourself this: Why are we doing the things we're doing. Are we achieving what we want to be achieving? What do we gain by being successful?

Success, in and of itself, just gets you to the next benchmark be it more impressive numbers, a shinier plaque room, or a bigger chapter house. Innovation, learning, and making an impact are what creates lasting legacies. It's what separates the super large Yahoos of the world from the Googles from the up and coming social media outlets that are bringing facts from a global to the hyper local perspective.

Let us not ask if we're still relevant but why we're going to continue to be relevant.

Let's ask how we're going to make ourselves relevant and not how we're going to pass the buck on.

For the complete New York Times article, go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/07/technology/carol-bartz-yahoos-chief-executive-is-fired.html?_r=1&hp

Unlock your own personal Crazy Eddie

2011-05-07T17:07:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it...I love science fiction. Even though some of the books were "before my time" I really enjoy the so called "hard science fiction" where politics and theoretical science fact (well above my own comprehension) intersect. Perhaps one of the most enjoyable stories I've read to date is "The Mote in God's Eye" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle published in 1973.

The story revolves around human kind finding a lost civilization bottled in an isolated part of the galaxy with no way to break out of their sector because they had neither "faster than light" drives or shields that would allow them to transfer energy as you moved through the orbits of suns. This lost civilization, known as "Motes" are otherwise VERY advanced. Through the ages, they evolved a caste like system with a very informal style of governance. Their lower tiers, or engineers, could deconstruct and rebuild items so quick it appeared as if they customized every item by magic. Moreover, they recycled almost everything and created items that would handle many functions all in one. They had a problem thought...

The Motes reproduced so quickly that every thousand years or so, their planet would become overpopulated that the loose confederations of their society would devolve into massive warfare. In time, the survivors would find their way back to these "museums" where they would rebuild their socety all over again. The Motes called these "cycles" and their caste system openly acknowledged that so long as they were stuck in their own sector they would be doomed to repeat these cycles over and over again.

Sound famaliar?

Perhaps because I've been a fraternity consultant for too long, but this immediately struck me as describing one of the fundamental problems facing any student organzation. High turnover rates in student organizations tend to facilitate similar "cycles" as Niven writes about in his book. True, we rarely see apocolyptic wars as a consequence but we do see groups that are "best of the best" turn into mediocre or even bad organizations.

I find it also interesting to note that despite the strong institutional organization (organization literally bred into this alien species) present in the Motes, they still manage to fall into the same problem over and over again. In much the same way that I've heard students tell me that they are "unique" or don't have the resources to change or cannot fight campus climate, they still barrel head on into actions with large negative consequences. True, "failing" is part of the learning process but why do we do the same thing time and time again while expecting new results?

The Motes had a term for individuals that tried to break the mold. They called those individuals Crazy Eddie, who once tried to build a time machine to change the course of history for the Mote Civilization. These individuals are roundly critized or are even exiled from the Mote society. In the end, even once the Motes found a new species, they stuck to their way and tried to hide their faults, almost leading to genocide of their people rather than reach out and be honest with the humans.

Now, I'm not saying every time machine idea should be promoted, but would it hurt to encourage others to think outside of the box? A good manager, a good scientist, and a good engineer all affirms current actions through repition but new products, new outcomes, and new innovations come from recognizing a bad situation and trying something new.

Even the best organizations suffer when all you have are good managers. So the next time you are on a retreat with your chapter (or other student organization) and you're talking about fighting apathy, promoting a positive image on campus, recruiting new individuals, or something I haven't even thought of, don't be afraid to try something new. Sometimes we all need to tap into our own Crazy Eddie.

Fraternity Law, Practice, and Reality: The Fight Between FIPG and Student Decision Making

2011-03-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

NOTE: This post is meant to ask serious questions regarding the role of litigation, liability insurance, and practice that provokes thought and conversations. It does not constitute the official position of my Fraternity, any of my future employers, or a rejection of my respect for the laws of the United States. I am curious and constantly trying to challenge my own effectiveness. These are musings I've had over the course of my two years as a consultant.

That I had to make such a disclaimer says alot about the topic of risk management education these days doesn't it?

Let's be honest with each other, many students drink in college. Not "everyone" drinks, as many chapters are fond of saying, but enough that the idea of abstinence before the age of 21 seems laughable. The problem, for Fraternity and Sorority consultants is that when we go into a chapter we are first and foremost agents of our respective organizations. Many organizations operate under the Fraternity Insurance Purchasing Group founded early in the 1990s to fight a spate of high risk incidents that drove premiums up across the board for all organizations. Though it does not directly sell insurance (as its name implies) FIPG creates a set of "risk management guidelines and educational resources to help member fraternities and sororities be more effective in their risk management policies and education efforts." These policies were adopted by 45+ Fraternities and Sororities and quickly set the standard for policies of other organizations and institutions around the country. It laid out base line definitions for "Bring Your Own Beer" events and qualifications for third party vendors. Universities and Professionals hailed these universal standards and the phrase "FIPG Compliant" become a trademark phrase around the country. This in turn led to decreasing insurance premiums for many organizations and thus everyone wins, right?

I'm not so sure.

Alcohol

As I mentioned earlier, drinking on college campuses remains high. There is a strong indication that banning alcohol consumption for those under the age of 21 does not in fact reduce college drinking and, on certain campuses where there are strict drinking enforcement regimes, may actually increase high risk drinking. This has given rise to organizations such as GAMMA (Greeks Advocating for Mature Management of Alcohol), CHOICES, and BACCHUS. All of those programs are peer education seminars where students themselves are the primary focal point NOT for abstinence but instead encourage responsible life choices. These programs show significantly more effectiveness than the average consultant visit. A survey conducted by Ohio University found that students retained 30% more information about FIPG when having a conversation with another trained undergraduate than when they heard a similar presentation from a Graduate Assitant or Fraternity / Sorority consultant. The issue is so thorny that many college presidents have gotten together and signed a public letter asking states to lower the drinking age back to 18 while promoting open and honest conversations about responsible drinking.

The liability aspect of alcohol conversations are even worse. An untrained consultant operates under a "wink, wink, nudge nudge" mentality that turns a blind eye to drinking. This denies a chapter the ability to have an open and honest conversation with a potential resource. Moreover, chapters run into the issue that the more formalized a chapter is in its risk management practices, the more likely they are to get into trouble if there is an accident. The biggest example is that of the designated driver program. As late as several years ago, even the insurance companies (including the Fraternity Insurance Purchasing Group) advocated their use. One of the greatest source of fatalities as a result of alcohol are those resulting from driving under the influence (Almost 2000 deaths of students aged 18 - 24 according to the Government in 2008-9). States pore huge resources into combating these fatali.

But then it became clear that the courts considered the organizations that sponsored the designated driver programs groups that "promoted intoxicated behavior and were responsible for the health and safety of all individuals who participated in these programs." Without proper training, student organizations were relying on younger drivers who were more prone to distraction and more likely to get into accidents. Some schools responded to this by taking the extra liability on their own shoulders and offering "safe ride" ride programs. Some institutions rejected the additional liability and continued to try and enforce abstinence at all costs. FIPG made a switch and issued a memorandum instructing Fraternities and Sororities to dissuade their chapters from utilizing these programs as well.

Suddenly, those shared standards that made FIPG so effective became liability red-herrings for many groups. The idea of a common "FIPG compliant" chapter moved away from shared standards on good risk management procedures to "legal compliant" and it became easier to use the law and liability as a hammer rather rather than promote safe practices of today's students. Schools that once utilized FIPG as a benchmark for best practices start going their own way leaving alumni, headquarter staff, and University Professionals dancing circles around each other unsure of what to say and when, in an ever expanding effort to avoid "liability."

Hazing

Hazing has been talked about almost ad-nauseum in a number of blogs, articles, and programs around the country. Needless to say the idea of hazing, in principle, activities designed to create subservience, dependence, or mental and physical harm are universally considered a detriment to the mission of Fraternity and Sorority life. I am absolutely against these practices and seek at all opportunities to discuss positive alternative programming whenever and wherever I can.

I won't comment at length here. I will merely to point out that the idea of "mental or physical harm" is such a broad definition and almost every institution has a different conception of the the idea of harm that only becomes somewhat more clear when there are claims brought against groups. Again, like the liabililty of drinking, hazing (despite our best claims) prevention does not seem to be prevention in many cases as it is selective reaction. The burden is on the consultant, the organization, and the University to take situations on a case by case basis in fighitng this scourage. The best example I can give of this double standard is the difference between a football team and a Fraternity intermural team. A Football team runs 2 a day drills at the request of its coach to develop team cohesion and develop physical endurance is a disney sports movie while a Fraternity that does the equivilant is harshley criticized. That said, I stand with most experts here in that while I am not condoning this "sports and / or military training analogy" there are some substantive issues in how we address the analogies while still maintaining the notion that we treat each student and organization relatively equitably.

Moreover, as a consultant, I'm troubled by the distinction of "minor hazing" or "little h" versuses "big H" hazing. I know that different campuses have VERY different tolerances for behavior and different responses. Sometimes looking soley to the Inter/National organizations or the alumni or sometimes working entirely in-house without any cooperation from anyone to punish hazing. For any consultant or professional who works at certain schools (specifically in the SEC among many others), these tolerances are a source of significant frustation and confusion.

The Theory

Insonsistency is a large problem for students. No one likes to be held (or think they're being held) to a double standard. There are a number of reasons why this is the case. Think about your own life experiences, in the work place, in your own classes, or in social scenarios (like the following). A man has sex with a large number of women and he's hailed as the epitome of manliness. He's sexy, he's a "player" etc, etc. A woman who has sex with a large number of men is a "slut" or is insecure about herself and lashing out as a response. How is that in any way fair?

The other example of our natural frustrations with inconsistent application of rules are speeding tickets. Just because lots of people go five miles per hour or more over the limit doesn't mean it feels any better to be the unlucky SOB who gets caught, does it?

The University Learning Outcomes Assessment demonstrates that Fraternities and Sororities tend to foster enhanced levels of student development between Freshmen and Junior years of college while plateuing during senior year compared to undergraduate peers that are "unaffiliated" or minimally affiliated with other social groups on college campuses. When you read these developements against William Perry's model of academic maturity, there are some (in my mind) significant implications.

During the first stage of academic maturity, a student operates in "dualist" thought patterns. There are right and wrong answers and they need someone to teach them those "right and wrong" responses. This is why hazing is so damaging and why many individuals do not consider hazing to actually be hazing. When a "pledge master" says that you must have 18 dollars and 52 cents on you at all times, there is no doubt that every pledge in the chapter had to do the same and that the symbols are important. As far as the pledge is concerned, it is the "right" way of doing things.

The same understanding goes for alcohol consumption. When you tell a pledge that he cannot (or must) drink, the natural mindset is to consider the rules to be "right" or "wrong" regardless of what the law says and what the campus practices are.

Most students, mainly freshmen and sophomores, tend to then morph into the second stage of Perry's model. They percieve problems in terms of problems that have solutions that they know or solutions that they don't know. When students realize that there are solutions that they don't know, they tend to go for broke as it were. Most schools play on this desire and encourage experiential learning as a major component of their first and second year curriculum. They hope that through hands on application and taking ownership over their own experiences, freshmen and sophomores will gain a bigger impact from their lessons than if they were in lecture classes alone.

Fraternity and Sorority students tend to fall into the same pattern. As they're exposed to more chapters (either at national events or through Greek Leadership Conferences), they tend to find that the comfortable world of pledging is no long as simple as they thought. Since few people follow "the rules" exactly as it is drilled into them from their Pledge Masters, their consultants, and the University officials, it is natural to want to experiment with a wide range of issues from alcohol, to drugs, even different world views and chapter operations. If left unconstrained, there is a great potential for damage both physically and emotionally vis a vis a student or a chapter's social actions as a result of running afoul of "The Rules."

The third major stage of Perry's model indicates that students become "relativists" or "proceduralists." In this stage, you begin to find significant chapter leadership for better or worse. Without clear rules, a student believes their situation to be "truly unique" and thus each response to any event must be viewed in context of their individual circumstance. Here we find chapters responding to critiques of their behavior and their procedures with the common refrain that "well, that doesn't work here because we're UNIQUE (or different)." However, in later stages of relativism, leaders may see the need to create proactive or alternative solutions. This is where most institutions begin modifying or "straying" from FIPG to accomidate the experiences of their individual chapters. We see this in the use of "off campus" or "annex" houses (apartments leased by seniors), bus parties, designated driver programs, and "alternative" or gimmick based new member education programs. Ironically, all of these may be influenced by consultants constantly challenging chapters to mix things up and engage in proactive leadership. Not to mention all of the ideas that students pick up from each other and other organizations!

Finally, while Perry does not make a normative claim on the value of the final stage of intellectual maturity, his framework is clearly where our Inter/National organizaitons are going. Perry talks about students making solid committments, facing challenges to those values based committments and learning that these committments are life long.

Doesn't that sound like "living your values" argument or "having a life long chapter obligation" rather than a three to four year committment?

Conclusion

The problems are multiple. First and foremost, consultants (often the face and the teachers of risk management) are not trained adequately to make simple declarative statements about the risk of running afoul of the liability line of FIPG. Second, even if you could make a cogent argument to follow the law to the T, you're not meeting students at their developmental level. Talking about brotherhood and love as a retention model while looking to the future of the chapter reflects a stage four development more often seen in seniors if it is seen at all in a chapter. Moreover it may well confuse the new members while frustrating the stage two and three leaders who see their model as "unique." Third, when talking about risk, you really are dealing in a relative argument that plays to the second and third stages of Perry's model of intellectual development. You frustrate those freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who are still looking for a line in the sand that they cannot cross and when you do put a line in the sand you run the risk of running afoul of the FIPG standards yourself let alone put your organization and the school at risk of a liability claim. Finally, you're a fighitng a culture where 90% of students make positive and constructive life decisions EVEN WHILE DRINKING and as thus, they don't see the risk that that poses to the bottom 10% who suffer from personal emotional issues that create the probability of further harm and conflict in the chapter.

Peer counseling is definitely a way to address these issues. Reducing The Rules, at least in the legal restrictions of drinking in college where personal experience trump any consultant, may be a significant step. Standardizing enforcement and making enforcement more transpearent is another great step.

Unfortunately, so long as students will be students (ie making mistakes) and the rules are so complex that any Fraternity and Sorority event presents some signficant liability while the victims of drinking are just as criminalized as their providers, then students will always remain unsure of where the line is until they cross it.

I do not condone under-age and irresponsible drinking. Nor do I condone hazing or acitvities that are designed to seperate and pit new classes of men and women against the older (or at least create the appearence thereof), but I do believe there is a significant problem with our liability models. I think that all chapters (and their alumni advisors) think of increasing measures to protect themselves and their brothers, they demonstrate further involvement in often times risky and often illegal (but accepted behavior) which should be integrated into our judicial process and the way we determine liability settlements in the courts. I also believe that de-criminalizing drinking (as the amethyst intiative suggests for adults over the age of 18) would also help us. Since then we could focus on educating against truly harmful behaviors.

There's certainly no perfect answer. I wish it would be as simple as promoting the ideals of brotherhood and sisterhood and that chapters that recruited properly grew at greater sizes than those that didn't. But there are a lot of conflicting models where bad practices win big and good practices flounder. These mis-gotten successes will only encourage others to make similar decisions with potentially radically different (and not positive) results.

As one Greek Advisor told me "Love is a Recruitment and Retention Strategy. We just need to find a lever to teach love."

How do you teach a concept such as love?

Some resources:

http://www.amethystinitiative.org/
http://www.bacchusgamma.org/mission.asp
http://www.stophazing.org/index.html
http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/

Finding Self While On The Road

2011-03-13T13:59:00.000-07:00

I'll admit, this may be a personal rant (and perhaps narcissistic? Although what about a blog isn't in some ways narcissistic?)

I have been to a total of 47 chapters, going to every state except Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Hawaii over the past two years. I've even flown up to Alaska although not as a consultant. Alas, our Alaska Alpha chapter is just a figment of role playing scenarios. I mention this because I had a moment where I pulled off of the highway (at night) into a gas station subway that has become so ubiquitous and I forgot where I was. I didn't know what state or what chapter was next on my agenda. I had even forgotten what day of the week it was. Even after only two years, these gas station subways all tend to look alike and when you're traveling 100 + miles every three days, it drags on you after awhile.

I thought to myself that as I met more and more people, I actually knew less and less about everyone. Including myself.

One of the biggest challenges being a "Fraternity Road Warrior" is just that. Some, including the most extroverts amongst us, react to those feelings of isolation by throwing themselves headlong into their new found "virtual communities." Facebook groups and messages become the new coffee shop banter while every new chapter gets an online presence. Every consultant becomes a best friend and every chapter president a colleague. The conversation becomes a wide web of ice breakers and common projects that inspires those extroverts to even greater heights.

But not as much or to the same degree as us introverts.

I responded not with gregariousness or glee at every new encounter but a hardening of my soul (if you could call it that.) I took umbrage with my own inability to draw instant connections and saw those same webs as tools to facilitate information rather than connections and projected commonalities where nuances held sway. Projects become an end, not a beginning. Maybe that hurt me or maybe it helped create a sense of professionalism that I attempt to take pride in with every organization I meet with? I believe whole heartedly in the latter despite those carbon copy subways on empty dark highways. I think the introvert warrior arms themselves with knowledge as a shield rather than a weapon. We deflect what we see as excuses and use reason and logic with our colleagues and our friends rather than use those inherent personal connections to influence others. Rather than taking joy in creating an ever expanding web of personal connections we look to our constantly challenged knowledge and tricks. I guess I see myself as a constant learner and challenge others to learn from me rather than projecting myself a leader looking for followers. This is a leadership voice that the introvert must embrace while still understanding the limits of that style. We utilize our voice in the same way the extrovert must understand the power and limits of their own voice.

The extrovert, it seems to me, learns from people while the introvert learns from outcomes.

So I sit here in sunny Philadelphia and ruminating over how few people I actually know and realize that this sense of loss isn't so much loss as it is a perspective shift. I miss those core four or five people that I knew intimately as well as the small coterie of men and women who had a huge impact on my development. I miss my mentors and my colleagues, but I miss knowing my self even more. Still, I find satisfaction in finding myself in every conversation.

There seem to be two competing ideas of self that I seem to affiliate with. I'm sure there are more, but I am not well versed enough in philosophy to talk about them. The first is advocated by Aristotle who argued that self is defined by the act of the being. Basically, we are what we do. Lao Tzu argues that the self comes from self-knowledge.

As an introvert, I tend to find myself very sympathetic to the idea of self-knowledge. I am who I know myself to be. That may be defined by my relationships to others, my actions (past or present), or my surroundings but I do not find those compelling definitions in and of itself. I find comfort that as I sit here I can trace my decision making tree (regretable as some of those decisions may have been) and explore WHY I made some of those decisions yet still take pride that those decisions brought me to this point.

For those of you who are extroverts, I encourage you to find out for yourself what actions define your core essence and what actions you want to define who you are. That is a fundamental values exploration that I can't even begin to hold your hand on.

As for those of you who were looking for a discussion on educational theory this week? Well, let me pose you a question. If knowledge is critical to understanding self (be it identifying your core actions or increasing self-awareness), then how does experiential learning impact your core values? What tools help promote the best understanding of your experiential learning? Finally, what may be a better end result? A liberal arts wide ranging curriculum or a so-called "practical" employment focused discipline like pre-law, business, or pharmacy?

I'm just too weary to draw the necessary logical links between Aristotle and the Liberal Arts versus business degrees at the moment.

The New Normal and the Importance of Assessment at the Undergraduate Level in Fraternity and Sorority Life

2011-03-01T17:54:00.000-08:00

In this day of budget shortfalls and idealogical opposition, I read an interesting opinion article written by David Brooks (that you can read here) called "The New Normal." He talks about the importance of smart government budget cuts. I was impressed because, unlike some of my more progressive compatriots, he is a firm believer that not only has the economy permenantly changed, but that government is going to have to change with it.

However, unlike some of my more conservative friends, he does not believe in wholesale (yet politically appealing) cuts. Instead, he focuses his efforts on linking budgets to concrete measureable improvements backed with a comprehensive strategy to improving the competitiveness of our society.

Mr. Brooks is basing his article on a speech made by Arne Duncan which is an interesting read for anyone interested in education policy.

So how does this relate to fraternities and sororities? Many of my posts have dealt with (many times in a high holy manner, for which I apologize my loyal reader) the relevancy of fraternities and sororities, and having concrete achievements is a cornerstone component of being relevant in today's society. I think if we want to maintain our arguments that Greek Life created great leaders we need to continue to train great leaders and prove just how valuable they are.

To train a great leader, we need to build our organizations into symbols and make our achievements greater than the sum of their respective parts.

I have said in past posts too that not everything we as a community will do will be a success, but that's not a bad thing. Like the budget battles raging across this country, chapters learn from their failures and committ to creating success the next time around. Moreover, a true leader not only accepts decent behavior but constantly challenges the process of their chapter and encourages progress through SMART goals.

So how does assessment fit into this picture of goal setting, proper communication, and execution? Too often chapters rise and fall in terms of numbers, image, and effectiveness of general operations. A strong new member class all but makes or breaks many chapter. However, if you document everything you do (and many groups do, for their university or inter/national headquarters) you can then educate and influence future executive boards as they look back at previous efforts and see what worked or didn't work.

That said, I'm not asking every chapter to run statistical analysis on everything you do, merely follow a few simple steps:

1) Create a written plan - This can be a document for resources and goals for a philanthropy or an agenda for your officer transition retreats that document essential skills you want to transfer. Every document should have a SPECIFIC and MEASUREABLE outcomes.

2) Create a set of deadlines for the implementation for your written plans - In this way, you develop solid time management skills and can learn how long you need to plan for your event. If you can't make your own self imposed deadlines, why or why not?

3) Implement - This is self explanatory, but make sure you delegate action items to as many people as possible, in this way more members of your chapter invests their "sweat equity" into the project.

4) As an executive group, assess your outcome on a mixed qualitative / quantatitve basis

Quantative Analysis is the assessment of a project on numerical grounds. Questions you want to ask are: Have you achieved the desired number of community service hours, philanthropy dollars raised, grade point average made, number of brothers who participated in an event. A quantative analysis is the easiest to measure because you can count your results and affirm whether achieved your goals or not. Again, if you have not met your specific goal, why did you not? What can you alter the next time around to succeed?

Qualitative Analysis is somewhat more difficult to measure but is just as important. This is a measurement of desired qualities such as improving the bonds of brotherhood / sisterhood, developing strong communication skills / delegation skills, being able to resolve conflict or confront brothers / guests. You will most likely do your qualitative analysis in new member education, but remember, every activity you do has a qualitative outcome, even parties. Otherwise, what's the point?

If you make a quantative goal and a qualitative goal for every event you do and find that some of your events aren't measuring up, then why continue to use those events? How do you prioritize your ideal qualities and achievements? If you can't answer these questions you will find that your members are less appealing as potential hirees to your alumni and your chapter will have less of an impact on campus and thus become less appealing to potential new members.

Just remember that as governors and congress seek to balance budgets and keep the country competitive, you are having the same discussion in your chapter (implicitly or explicitly). Every dollar you spend or hour used is a decleration of your core values and priorities. Every day is an opportunity to assess those values and priorities as you strive to make the most effecient use of your time outside of the classroom. Whether you have a budget of half a million dollars and 100 brothers or sisters or a budget of a thousand dollars with less than 10 brothers or sisters, what you do and why you do it is one of the best educational opportunities you will have.

Every campus has some outlet to find friends but how many of those friend groups prepares you for the real life in the same way as fraternity and sorority life?

Egypt, The New World Order, and Grassroots Leadership

2011-02-11T11:26:00.000-08:00

It's not very often world power dynamics shift like they did today. The overthrow of the Shah in Iran was one instance, the fall of the Soviet Union another, and now hundreds of thousands of loosely affiliated Egyptians took to the streets of the cradle of civilization to force a 30 year dictator to step out of office. All of this occurred despite the "established" countries of the world trying to hew a close line that balanced their desire for "national security" (ie the status quo comfort of a lack luster enemy) and their stated desires for democracy.

For all intents and purposes, no one knows what a post-Mubarak Middle East will look like. As a stalwart secularist, Egypt was the first nation to declare peace with Israel. As a result, billions of dollars in aid and foreign trade poured into Egypt and Israel could reduce it's own military spending. Egypt also acted as a mediator and go-between for Israel, the United States, Hamas, and the multitude of other actors that engage in conflict in the region. They provided intelligence, military support, and assisted in developing the Palestinian State.

They also brutally repressed their people. Egypt intentionally pushed Muslim Brotherhood fighters into Gaza so that they wouldn't wage war on the regime. They were also one of the major recipients of "exported" terrorists in the infamous CIA rendition program.

In other words, Egypt represented a major entrenched interest for the Western World and a strong proponent of the Status Quo.

So, why do I bring this up in a blog about leadership, fraternity life and higher education? I bring it up because Egypt is a symbol of what happens when your stated values are radically and intentionally different from your actions and that no matter how scary change may seem, fighting for the status quo only degrades any individual, organization, or institution.

If you're unhappy with the way you, your chapter, your school (or any other group is run) consider for a moment the bravery exhibited by the citizens of Egypt. Think of the Berliners during the fall of East Germany. Think of the Ukrainians, the Goergians, and the Russians, all of whom fought against the status quo to reassert their committment to democracy and government for all, not just the select few. Think of the secret police organizations in Iran or Latin America, in Egypt, and Russia as they fought tirelessly to protect the entrenched interest. Think of the students who, in every revolution (be it soft such as the post soviet regimes or at the time of the destruction of the Berlin Wall or violent such as in Iran) were the fore front of the conflict against those entrenched interests. They utilized new technologies and gave up what comfort they had in their lives to go toe to toe with armies and police reputed to be the most vicious the world had ever seen. They did it all because they fundamentally believed that their governments were lying and held money and power to be more important then their citizens.

Think of a moment of all of the things you could do to change the status quo and, relatively speaking, what you are not doing to change.

If you or your organization cannot show how actions align with public declerations, then don't despair. It just means you have to and can take the lead in making a difference. True, change is difficult and the results aren't always pretty or what you had in mind, but change is about progress and committing yourself to not taking the easy way out. It means wanting excellence even when you're struggling with the bare minimum.

Fraternities and Sororities have a built in value system not found in many other organizations. We're respected when we align our actions with our values. But so often I hear that "campus climate" won't let us (stop drinking, stop hazing, stop being disrespectful of others). News flash for you, I'm pretty sure the secret police in Egypt weren't too fond of public rallies calling for the ousting of Hosni Mubarak either. Change, lasting change at any rate, almost never comes from the top down. It comes the other way around as individuals get fed up and aren't satisfied with the bare minimum.

Perfection doesn't come in a day but someone at some point had to say something has to change. If brotherhood is about being honest with each other then it must involve being honest with others because there are, if nothing else, future brothers waiting to join with you.

As Ralph "Dud" Daniel, a founding father of his chapter and the Executive Director Emeritus of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity once said -

"Let's be what we say we are, a fraternity, not a club, run by men, not boys, based on ideals, not expediency."

Waka Waka: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Learn To Love Failure

2011-01-13T11:02:00.000-08:00

Wait, am I really advocating failure?

Well, not failure per se but learning from failure. I attended a conference, one of those "leadership" conferences that parades success story after success story, where I had the pleasure to talk with an undergraduate who had a story truly exceptional and different from those of the many speakers whom we had traveled to hear.

It was a story of failure.

During this man's tenure within the chapter, the group had been trying to get more alumni support (both time and for their scholarship fund) and failed three times prior to set up an alumni golf outing. During this man's freshman year, the chapter decided it was going to reach out and set up the tournament. Nobody planed and ultimately it was a foursome between the chapter president, the corresponding secretary, the chapter advisor, and the president of the house corporation. The second year, the chapter again committed to holding the event. This time, the chapter set up a committee and began planning at the beginning of the semester. However, by the time they reserved the course and set up a budget, the semester had almost expired. With only three weeks notice, few alumni were able to rearrange their schedules in time to make it. The chapter took a major financial hit and required their house corporation to bail them out. When I was talking with this undergraduate, the chapter had planned and budgeted the event the semester previous. He had come to this conference with the intent of inviting several high profile national alumni for an event that was almost two and a half months away. When we talked, he was excited at the prospect of starting a phone bank when he went back to campus.

How was it that he was excited to try an event that had failed three times previous? "Because," he told me, "with every year, we learned something new. We had many mis steps, but each time we tried something new. We didn't want to reinvent the wheel, but neither did we want to give up."

This is my central argument for this posting. Leadership, not the appearence thereof, is one tenth management skills, one tenth enthusiasm, and the rest is perseverance! If you fail, learn from your mistakes, then pick yourself up and try again. It's not about the instant win or the big pay off. Fraternity life, life in general, is a marathon not a sprint.

As Shakira sang for the world cup, "Pick yourself up and dust yourself off / [get] back in the saddle. You're on the frontline / Everyone's watching / You know it's serious / We're getting closer / This isnt over"

That, if you want to know, is the one trait that true leaders all share. The rest, as they say, are just details on the path of life.
Waka, Waka

Innovator's Dillema

2010-12-14T06:03:00.000-08:00

Stale and boring is a recipe for disaster. So many times I have been asked the question "how do I motivate my chapter" and so many times the response is nuanced, qualified, and term laden from Kousezes and Posner's Leadership The Challenge. But today, the question crystallized into a question in response.

When was the last time you did something your men wanted to do?

In the cases of failing organizations, the response is usually every friday and saturday night. It's the same thing that's brought these groups before their standards boards before and will likely bring them before those boards again. For those groups, I'm sorry, this is not your post. Though perhaps you may find the project I'm about to propose an interesting alternative?

The greater tragedy is when great groups fall into dissarray and complacency. It's these great groups gone bad that makes being a consultant truly difficult.

Last time, I talked about Southwest as a model of Fraternity behavior, today, let's talk about the rise and fall of Blockbuster. Blockbuster, like many a great chapter, built an empire off of a necessary service and brand loyalty. Fraternities too, came of age in a time when the academia was not concerned with the slightest in the moral development of its students in the greater world around them. Co-curriculars? Forget about it. Many of the more distionguished institutions believed that pure academic discourse would "elevate man" and make better people. Social, even Academic Groups, disagreed, and the Fraternal System flourished. Let's not even ruminate over the failure to provide housing and group building that creates lasting legacies and committment to alma mater vis a vis alumni giving.

All of that has changed. Schools are now in the business of providing pro-active positive co-curricular enrichment. Leadership, once in the purview of Fraternal programming offices and through hands on experience, are now in established offices in academic institutions across the United States. Residence halls are one of the biggest revenue generators outside of tuition for most institutions along with meal plans. Community service is now required of ALL students both during the first year and beyond. Even the trump card of national networking opportunities is eroding as schools increase their presence and outreach to their alumni in a global age.

So what is a fraternity to do? The response is generally tradition. We're going to do what we've always done and do it bigger and better. Bigger parties, bigger shirt designs, bigger new member education processes.

And as traditional actions yield increasingly meager results (law of diminishing returns anyone?), our members become increasingly frustrated.

Blockbuster, one of the biggest traditionalists in the home entertainment field, filed bankruptcy, while many of our best chapters worry about the same. They worry their classes aren't natural leaders, they worry they're not the best of men, they worry that as numbers grow, the organization risks being diminished and at every juncture, men respond to change with "but this is how we've always done things and look how good we were." As you continue to wallow in the past, you become complacent about the future. Just ask Blockbuster. They turned down a significant partnership with Netflix in 2000 and look where they are now...

Remember, Einstein once said "insanity is the repetition of the same act expecting different results." So, when was the last time you tried something truly new?

To fight complacency, I want to pull an old card trick from my days doing improvisation WAY back in the day. It is a little game called "Yes and..." Basically, you get the name of a person, a place, and a job and you must act out a scene one line at a time. You can never say no and you can never go back on previous statements. See where you end up and how you feel about outside of the box thinking? See if you can make committee meetings a game of "Yes and..." To be fair, a kegger is probably not the best response, but keep thinking outside of the box.

Remember, there are always consequences for your actions or inaction.

Flying the Friendly Fraternity Skies

2010-12-01T10:23:00.000-08:00

Happy post thanksgiving everyone and L'Chaim to my Jewish friends who still have fond memories of dreidles and gelt (for today also marks the first day of Hannukah)!

Like much of America, I engaged in what has become a time honored tradition of waiting in line, screened, and avoiding crying babies as I flew from one side of the country to another. The stereo cacophony not withstanding, it was actually quite pleasent. Like most of my flights back home, my cheapest fair just happened to be Southwest. As we reached cruising altitude, their very engaging flight crew came through the cabin and handed out peanuts, soda, and other creature comforts.

I promise, this isn't the run up to a Seinfeld-esque joke, I swear.

I paused. Wait a minute, Southwest was one of the few airlines that was still consistently in the black during these hard economic times yet I still got a full can of diet coke (my addiction), snacks, AND I checked two bags for free? Don't even get me started on how nice their new fleet of Boeing 737s are.

What the heck?

Juxtapose this treatment to a flight on American Airlines. The ticket is more expensive, the luggage is certainly not free, and don't even count on inflight meals anymore. How can one airline go from being the low cost airline, provide high amenities, and still remain solvent and profitable in this day in age?

The question is not so much how Southwest can do it but how can any organization remain both profitable and desireable simultaneously.

For Fraternities and Sororities, the costs are often less quanitfiable but no less real and dangerous. Poor planning amounts to uncomfortable delays, failure to collect dues leads to insolvency and less amenities, poor image and reputation (McDonnel Douglass jets or Rolls Royce engines anyone?) leads to few recruits, and hazers are those horrendous "customer service" agents who seem to serve no purpose except to keep you FROM getting to your destination.

On the other hand, Fraternities and Sororities can provide lots of "perks" for a very low "cost." You can create a new member experience that improves their GPA and encourages community involvement. In such a way, a person becomes more attractive in the so called "real world" after college. Your orgnization can provide safe and responsibile events that avoid the hassle and costs of a risk management investigations, or they can co-sponsor educational events with other Greek or NonGreek organizations. The trick is that, unlike the economic axiom that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow, instead focuses on the idea that a party tonight IS NOT worth the embarassment, costs, clean ups, and opportunity tomorrow.

Now, we can talk theory and ideals all we want, but the real question is for YOU and you alone. Would you rather be a Southwest or would you rather be a TransWorld Airlines (or Continental, or Pan American, or Florida Coastal, or ATA, or...well, you get the picture)

Promoting Greek Relevance through promoting Entrepreneurship

2010-11-12T06:19:00.000-08:00

I've always wondered why business was a bad word and what was so special about brotherhood. I've read a fair number of articles and I've talked with a few people from both the business world and (as a consultant) from undergraduate chapters and their advisors and I seem to fall back on this one simple (albeit probably unpopular) precept

BUSINESS and BROTHERHOOD are values neutral statements. They just...are.

This flies in the face of the rhetoric that follows both. The media, especially since the passage of TARP at the beginning of the financial meltdown, has talked about Main Street versus Wall Street. Big Business controls Washington and Academia, especially the liberal arts, stands in stark contrast to the profit obsessed culture of America.

Yet businesses create jobs, donate more philanthropy dollars, raise awareness, and drive innovation in today's society. And despite a tendency to demonize business, more graduate leave college joking about how their high priced degrees have made them well spoken barristas at starbucks at best and unemployable at worst.

This challenge is seen in the interfraternal world as well. On one hand, we talk about being "brothers for life" yet one of the biggest complaints I hear while I am on the road in big chapters or small is that seniors have dropped off the face of the earth, or worse, contributing to a deliquent culture against the wishes of the officers of the chapter. At the national level, volunteering and giving levels remain far lower than total "lifelong" membership would otherwise suggest was feasable.

As a Leadership Consultant for my Fraternity, my job is to look at some of these issues and develop solutions to address those problems. From my novice perspective on the field, it seems as if we spend a significant amount of time justifying our relevance rather than making ourselves relevent. We fall back on brotherhood or sisterhood and sometimes miss the overal point that our relevance is in fact very much linked with the concerns of undergraduates today - can I get a job for doing this?

Right now I'm working on a project that will try and reframe how we talk with some of our undergraduates about values. Specifically, by linking the values of Fraternity and Sorority life to that of the business world (responsibility, honesty, discipline, creativity, socialization / sales, and community involvement) I hope to make the case that being a good Fraternity Man or Sorority Woman has a direct impact on your appeal in the work force.

In other words, Fraternities can do what many complain their degrees may not necessarily be able to do on their own - get them jobs!

Brotherhood, Spice, and Everything Nice: In Pursuit of a Better Brotherhood

2010-10-14T12:29:00.000-07:00

I suppose I should apologize first for my use of the colon in my title. I was told that such fallacies are self-important and ostentatious. However, as a graduate in the political sciences, sometimes I cannot help myself.

I was reading an article in the New York Times today about marriage about what makes a good marriage better. The premise was summed up by the author nicely with the argument that:

"I started wondering why I wasn’t applying myself to the project of being a spouse. My marriage was good, utterly central to my existence, yet in no other important aspect of my life was I so laissez-faire. Like most of my peers, I applied myself to school, friendship, work, health and, ad nauseam, raising my children. But in this critical area, marriage, we had all turned away. I wanted to understand why. I wanted not to accept this."

I began thinking, what if we replaced the word marriage with brotherhood or sisterhood?

So often, once a brother (or sister) is initiated it seems to be the end of the line. When asked about what what defines a chapter, the word brotherhood comes up. If we take for granted that Fraternities and Sororities are not just vehicles to buy friends, then there has to be something about "brotherhood" or "sisterhood" that has a deep and meaningful impact in our lives. In many ways though, it is seemingly difficult to clarify through visits to 30+ organizations across the country and that to me is why this New York Times column was so interesting. Why are we content to leave brotherhood as a set of shared experiences embodied by our ritual and NOT challenge ourselves to Be Better Brothers.

I am going to apologize again, as I go forward, my pronouns will be Fraternity and gender specific (based upon my own) but should not constitute an exclusion to women, gender neutral organizations, or non-Greek groups as well. In many ways the arguments I seek to make here should be applied to any "assumed" relationship you or your social circles may have.

The first question I am invariably asked by most inquiring chapter presidents is "how can I fight apathy?" My response is almost always, "what do you like about being a brother of <<insert chapter designation here>> at <<insert school name here>>?" As I mentioned, brotherhood comes up. The "tightness" of a group and how close they are as friends is what distinguishes our chapter from every other Greek lettered fraternity on campus. Now, I'm sure if I asked other consultants and other groups, they would submit to me the same response. As a social Fraternity, I will not dispute that this is generally a fundamental part of our mission, especially at the local, undergraduate level. This response is certainly in line with everything I have been taught by recruitment specialists as well. "People recruit people" they say. Unless you are hazing your members (which is a whole other issue and for a discussion on Hazing please read both Kyle Hickman's blog and TJ Sullivan, of CAMPUS SPEAK, commentary), then there is no reason why you are not at least passing positive acquaintances with your fellow brothers.

But is being a good guy qualify you as a brother? Surely I have friends who are not brothers and I can absolutely promise you that not every brother I have worked with has been a good friend. The answer lies in how you define brotherhood to begin with.

Let's begin with so-called intangibles. Often times we all have difficulty in putting clear adjectives to our defintion of brotherhood. To quote Justice Potter Stewart in Jacobellis v Ohio, "[Obscenity,] I know it when I see it." Insofar as we meet “good guys” and don’t get creeped out by them, then we accept them as plausible candidates. The problem is that then we need to use the new member education process to get to know these men and thus it becomes easier to qualify them as outside of the brotherhood. This presents the basis of the hazing claim that the pledge is not a brother and therefore must "earn" his letters.

Instead, let us challenge that process and say that we won't give a bid to a man who has not already demonstrated SOME aspects of what good brotherhood is all about. Just like the "good" marriage, the "good" pledge maintains strong positives in academics, empathy, ability to socialize and have fun, honest, and loyal.

So, how does one challenge that paradigm and create a better brotherhood? The first aspect is labeling those good traits. Once you know what you're looking for, you don't need to force members through arbitrary activities that promote a false sense of loyalty. You can recruit the men you want, based on a set criteria. Once you have recruited them, you demonstrate those same qualities yourself. You hold you and your brothers to the same standards as those you bring in and set positive goals. You lead by example and you design activities and lessons based upon the principle that you want your new members to BE BETTER than yourself. You don't do the same traditions because you have done them yourself. Instead, you challenge the status quo.

Think about it like this, even when we're content to survive are we really a brotherhood or are we a club?

Ritual does not make brotherhood. Actions forge brotherhood. Knowledge forges brotherhood. Ideals forge brotherhood. Test yourself and your chapter with open an honest dialogue - about drinking, about hazing, about academic and personal excellence. Creating good brotherhood comes from creating excellence. Creating excellence cannot be accomplished through gimmicks.

The question for you is, what kind of brotherhood do you want? And how are you applying yourself to create a better brotherhood for yourself and your chapter?

Married (Happily) With Issues article from the New York Times

Conflict Resolution

2010-09-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a myth, certainly at the chapter level, that every member of an organization is your friend and that the reverse should be just as true. That said, for anyone who has had a co-worker, a professional colleague, a fraternity or sorority brother or sister can tell you, this is certainly not the case. Why is this not the case? In part because, as shocking as this may be to some people (insert sarcastic smile here), there are some people in the world you JUST. DON'T. LIKE.

Now, for many people, this really is not an issue. You go about your day, behave professionally, and generally do your utmost to avoid putting yourself in situations that require prolonged interaction with these individuals. But, when you are in the Fraternity / Sorority setting specifically, where the framework is "numbers, numbers, numbers," you may not have the liberty to avoid this person. Moreover, you may be forced to work in intimate contact with them for the sake of The Chapter. This is actually a wonderful opportunity for you to really explore your tolerance levels and develop coping capabilities, but for some, this is too much. Conflict, especially when living in close proximity (and especially in the presence of alcohol) is inevitable.

So, given that not all of our friends will be in our organization and not all members in our organization will be our best friends (in part because of the many idiosyncracies that make up us as individuals), what can we do to peacefully and positively move forward for the betterment of the organization? Since, let us be honest here for a second, fist fights in the hall ways rarely if ever do anything but create a longer lasting legacy than the orginal problem ever will.

The first step is to create distance between two opponents. If the problem is a simering one, ask the two opponents to work on different projects at different times. Give them some time to cool off. If, as is the case in some of the more violent cases, the conflict is in immediate risk of exploding (see two "Frat" boys at a bar), then you need to step between the two or call someone who can. Anything you can do to distract these two opponents the better it will be. As in the case of the bar, if you can get one or both of the opponents out of the bar in different directions to avoid drinking any more, the better everyone will be.

The second step is to ascertain the problem. In many cases we hear snippets of facts and innuendo and we want to be the knights in shining armor. An improper confrontation could be even worse than none at all depending upon how it is handled. Try and ask open ended questions of each party, seperate of each other so you can get a string of uninterrupted story. If you have time, solicit outside opinions from others who are familiar with the issue. This will also help you in future steps as you try to determine who should talk with one or more of the parties involved and how. Again, if this conflict is in immediate danger of blowing up, do not feel that resolution is on your shoulders alone. If you cant take the time to get all of the facts, just seperate the parties and wait a day to work towards resolution.

The third step involves picking the time, place, and method of resolution and can be the most critical part of the whole process. Stepping in immediately without all of the facts can get you into a yelling match and alienate one or more of the parties. Similarly, waiting to long can allow the parties to the dispute to submerge their feelings and fall back against a shield of "brotherhood" or "sisterhood" that prohibits open and honest dialogue. You also want to pick who might have the best standing rapport (as I'll talk about in a minute) with each of the parties involved. Whether it is a family member, a best friend, a respected officer in the organization, or just another brother, someone who has the respect of the party to the dispute is going to have an easier time getting through to them. When you pick your time and place, be aware of the simple things like body placement and number of individuals doing the confrontation. If it is three against one, with the person who is creating conflict has his or her back, literally, against a wall, they are more likely to become panicked and angry. Try and find a safe place and a safe time that will allow cooler heads to prevail and give each party a chance to leave the situation if at all possible. Finally, you'll have to choose an aggressive or "passive" approach. If this is a case of pending violence, you may well be forced to physically intervene to seperate the parties and forcefully remove someone from premises. Only do this if you are confident in your own abilities. If not, please call the local authorities. Afterwards however, and in most cases, such a physical response only encourages defensiveness and anger. Be careful about your body language and words that you choose. If you approach a person who is already angry with a squared jaw, squinting eyes, shoulders drawn back, you look like you're about to fight the individual. A more "passive" approach, ie one that infers calm and reason, may be key to drawing down the tension.

The fourth step involves buidling rapport and establishing trust. Once you've made a decision about how you are going to intervene and try to resolve the situation peacefully, make sure you try and build rapport with the party to the dispute. If the person feels you are "out to get them" or biased in some way, they are less likely to listen to you. If you can build trust and use "I feel..."statements or other types of personal affirmative declerations, it becomes harder for an individual to make the case to continue a conflict. For example, a drunk "Frat" boy may be more likely to listen to "I am worried about you as a brother" than "Dude, you're black out drunk and about to do something stupid." Both are equally true, but one is in the positive and demonstrates concern and brotherly love while the other is a negative statement attempting logic against a drunk person. Again, conflict rarely occurs in the most ideal situations and neither will resolution thereof. So make the most out of your bonds of broterhood / sisterhood / work environment and hold each other accountable, not out of logical necessity (although I can easily make the argument why it is necessary) but because at the end of the day, you care about these people.

The fifth step involves getting a promise from one or more of the individuals. Even if it is something as simple as shaking the other person's hand, that alone is a small step towards reconcilliation. It can also be to stop drinking and go home, take a smoke break, get a glass of water and some bread, or take a walk around the block, you don't need some magical cure in one night, you just need some progress.

Finally, thank the parties for following through on their promises and keep tabs of these individuals. I mean, doesn't brotherhood / sisterhood call on us to look out for and take care of our members? Make sure you are excersizing the core components of brotherly / sisterly love and take care of these members. If it is simmering, keep an eye out for danger signs of a flare up and talk to the parties individually in the coming days and weeks.

I know this is not an exhaustive guide nor does it come with case studies to practice your new found skills, but I encourage you to keep an eye out. Complacency (and bystander effect, or the act watching trouble occur and doing nothing about it) is probably one of the biggest issues facing chapters that I've visited and certainly more across the country. Being able to accurately assess and diffuse a tense situation is an absolutely essential life skill. Waiting for someone else to intervene (or atleast ask someone to do so) is almost a guaruntee that nothing will get done. If you can see the situation becoming a problem, almost always others can as well and are thinking similar thoughts to you. Talk to somone in authority about your concerns and coordinate a response. The people involved will be better off, the organization will be better off, and everyone can get back to what they want to be doing, which is having a little bit of fun with their studies.

What's in your backpack?

2010-08-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

I thought as I began my journeys, I would reflect a little bit on how one packs as a professional traveler and what it says about said person. To do so, I hope you'll forgive my homage to a recent traveling comedy/tradgedy about a similary handsome professional traveler called "Up in the Air."

The movie follows the life of professional bad news bearer Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) who travels the country firing people for companies that don't have the taste to do it themselves (even though they signed the paperwork.) Along the way, he promotes his own life lessons workshop called "What's in your backpack." As a man who travels essentially alone for most of the year, he is a major advocate of keeping relatively loose ties with everyone around him. "Long distance friends," he callously cautions, "only adds to your backpack and weighs you down. Move to your own rythym, your own goals."

His attitudes reflect those of another famous hollywood traveler, The Narrator (played by Edward Norton) from the Fight Club, who claims that he has many friends, but like the portion sizes of the items on the airplanes he travels in, they are "one shot" friends.

[For more information on both movies, please watch them or, barring that, IMDB them.]

In many ways, both of these characters hew closely to the lifestyle of a professional Fraternity / Sorority consultant. Especially for the Sorority (and some Fraternity) consultants who travel by air.

But in many ways too, this solitary existance runs counter to our very nature to be social and to bond. Phired Up Productions calls our desires to excel, to network, to make friends, "Social Excellence." They talk about working conferences, developing networks, and mutually supporting each other by having deep and meaningful conversations that rebuild, re-energize, and repopulate our will to make a difference. The philosophy is so prevelant that Google search auto-populates "Phired Up Social Excellence" as a third option when you begin typing it. Other books, including wildly sucessful networking guides such as Keith Ferrazzi's "Never Eat Alone" and Dale Carnegie's "How to Influence People and Make Friends" are also huge advocates of embracing, rather than rejecting, human connections.

For those of you who are in the field of working with undergraduates, I cannot over-state the importance of this lesson. If you want to make a difference with the people you work with, help them care with you. There is no greater joy, in my mind, then sitting with an officer or regular member, and watching them as they come to their own conclusions. I may, as "the expert" have a million ideas, but unless they take ownerhsip over them, then I'm just blowing hot air.

Remember folks, in this world, it isn't what you know anymore, it's who you know. This will be especially important as the economy continues to struggle with unemployment hovering at 10%. There are many qualified people out and about. People with experience in your field. Most likely more experience than you. As Jerry Nelson, co-founder of Ticketmaster, tells the participants of the American Leadership Academy "I need people for my company. I don't need you."

Sounds callous, doesn't it?

So, what does all of this mean? In this lonely world of ours, make sure you hold on to the connections you have. Do more to develop new contacts. Network, network, network! Even if you are the smartest man (or woman) in the room, in the company, in the world; unless you have personal relationships built, your advice is going to fall into the spam folder of the minds of the people you meet unless you give them a reason to care. That said, one of the biggest reasons to care, is you.

So, I promised you that I would tell you how I pack and how it reflects a little of the lonesome nature of this job? Well, here it is.
1 Suitcase:
*7 polo shirts (one for each day of the week), remember these will be repeated over and over again. I can go a month with 7, but you generally don't want to be caught wearing the same shirt twice during a 3 day chapter visit
*2 pairs of slacks
*1 pair of jeans
*1 pair of shorts
*Underwear and socks to fit [Never skimp here, there's nothing worse then dirty undergarments, just ask Forrest Gump about wet socks]

1 Laptop Bag:
*Essential electronic items [charger for laptop, ipod cord, cell phone charger, etc.]
*Note Pad [preferably spiral, so I don't lose pages when I pack it tight]
*Fraternal Documentation [Risk Management Forms, Accredidation forms, contact info sheets
*1 Book [Currently the Everything Guide to Leadership]

Sleeping Bag
*For those chapter houses that just aren't really habitable...

Pillow

Backpack
*For when I may want to take a day trip somewhere.

That's the sum of my total posessions for three months out of each semester. That, and the friends I meet at each chapter and those in my phone book, and on facebook. Those friends are perhaps my greatest asset, be they from my undergraduate days or as a professional contact. They are the ones who help me out while I'm on the road, helping me stay sane. These friends are certainly my most precious resource. More than all the rest of my meager supplies that carry me from one truck stop to the next.

It's very easy to lose sight of all of that, however, when your next destination is some 300 miles from nowhere.

So, the question I want to pose you is...

What's in your backpack?

By Way of Introduction

2010-08-20T05:56:00.000-07:00

I suppose I should introduce myself.

For the past 23 some odd years, I have always believed that I was the smartest guy in the room.

Boy, was I wrong.

This is my second year as a traveling consultant for a national mid size fraternity. Over the course of the year, I put in almost 30,000 miles traveling and have been in 30 out of 50 states. I have visited chaptes varying size from 10 to 120 on campuses that top division 1 NCAA athletics down to the smallest of liberal arts schools. As I have struggled through a wide array of situations and experiences that perhaps it was time to jot down some (I would hope) nuggets of wisdom.

The first of which is - There is a lot that you don't know that you don't know.

It was my junior year of college when I first heard of this concept told to me explicitly. It was in a diversity seminar when talking about cultural assuptions that the facilitators drew a big circle on the board and carved out a tiny sliver.

"This 10%," they told the group "is the sum total of knowledge that you know." Such information includes 2 + 2 equals 4, the sky is blue (in most parts of the country, although during the wildfire seasons in California, sometimes I doubt it...), and my bank account is really, REALLY, empty at the moment. This is the section I always thought I was in. I felt like I knew a heck of a lot of things.

"This 20%," they said afterward, carving a slightly bigger portion out of the circle, "are things you know that you don't know." Such as the chemical reactions that occur during a shuttle launch, non-euclydian geometry, particle physics, and for the most part, statistics. This is where I am now, I know there are things I will need to ask others for help to explain. This is why I love wikipedia.

"The remainder," they said, pointing to the vast blank section of the circle, "is all of the information you don't know that you don't know." Like why car tires insist on going flat ONLY in the most rural roads of Pennsylvania and that a keg stand is the only true way of testing a man's character (for you attorney folk and otherwise litigiously inclined, please relax, I'm only being facetious.)

So what do I do? I try to fill in the remainder of that 70% of knowledge. I am a professional student. I question the status quo. I am an adventurer.

While I may be a truly narcissistic individual, I hope that this blog will not be. I invite you to comment, critique, and challenge my thought processes and theories. I will occassionaly talk about Fraternity and Sorority problems in specific, but I will try to link it to the greater mission of learning about things we don't know that we don't know, through the adventure that is life through a lense of educational theory, entrepenuerial spirit, and the tool set provided by Fraternity and Sorority Life.