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Kelley School of Business Indiana University Bloomington
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Making Leadership Personal

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Daniel Dillard
Daniel Dillard

By Daniel Dillard, MBA’16

“If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.” —Greg McKeown

The longer I’m a Kelley MBA student, the more I realize the power in asking questions. Questions of professors. Questions of prospective companies. Questions of classmates. Even learning how to ask questions about the questions others are asking me.

No questions, however, are more difficult than the ones I have been forced to ask myself.  Non-prescriptive questions like:

• How did I get here?
• What are my innate qualities and why do they matter so much to me?
• How do I transfer these qualities into being an engaged professional, husband and father, and an all-around purposeful human being?
• What do I have to consciously trade-off in the process?

As a member of the Kelley Full-Time MBA Leadership Academy, I have had the privilege of coaching first-year students—individuals and teams—through the rigors of their first semester (which includes the Integrated Core, networking with companies, resume building and mock interviews). I also have opted into the responsibility of coaching myself through a multi-session series on personal visioning. More than anything, it has been a place where I have had permission to ask those difficult questions that I would have never otherwise asked. To that end, it has been both a safe haven and a danger zone.

No two personal visions are the same, but I’ll share a simple anecdote to more clearly illustrate the power in the process for me. Utilizing a tool from The Grove called “The Personal Compass,” a mid-point exercise calls on you to measure and plot out how you’re spending your time. The idea is to list off all of your weekly activities, estimating how much time you’re spending on each one. Then comes the hard part—reflecting on how satisfied you are with your time allocation, followed by a re-estimate of what an ideal state might look like.

To be frank, my current and ideal states were nowhere close to in line with each other on a number of fronts. For example, the quality time spent with my wife was about a third of what I estimated it should be. Of course, I hadn’t intentionally chosen to create that gap, but lesser priorities—those selected by me and those selected for me—had taken precedence.

Guess what my wife and I did the following Thursday night? We called a babysitter and went on a much-needed date. It happened again a week later. And the week after that. This may sound relatively benign, especially thinking about it within the larger context of establishing a personal vision. But that vision can only be achieved when one conceives of it and moves toward it with conviction—celebrating small but interdependent wins along the way. This is conscious living.  This is personal leadership.

Even though it is an intimately close encounter, I have not had to go at it alone. Leadership Academy directors Eric Johnson (Director of Graduate Career Services) and Ray Luther (Kelley MBA Executive Director) have facilitated the entire experience by sharing their own vision and the step-by-step approach of looking backwards and forwards in an attempt to actualize it.  They, like me, have previously fallen victim to unconscious living, which makes it all the more inspiring to see their resolve in reclaiming a personal vision.

While I’d love to say the last six weeks has provided a visionary blueprint to follow for the rest of my life, it’s not true. That vision will change over time—sometimes incrementally, sometimes fundamentally. What is true is that I’ve learned the power of creating the space necessary to pause and ask challenging questions of myself, then document, reflect on and pursue a vision with conviction. It’s a personal pit stop if you will. This process will undoubtedly be among the most valuable tools I carry with me in the post-MBA journey ahead.

IGOE Global Fellows Attend ROMBA Conference in Chicago

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Kelley Students Attending ROMBA: From left to right: Guillermo Kalen (Full Time, 1st year, IGOE Global Fellow), Benjaman Holbrook (Evening Program), Alejandra de Caso (Full Time, 2nd year, IGOE Global Fellow), Manuel Tejera (Full Time, 1st year, IGOE Global Fellow), Jonathan Morrill (Full Time, 2nd year), Faraz Hussain (Full Time, 1st year), and Michael Marturana (Kelley Direct).

By Guillermo Kalen, MBA ’17

Reaching Out MBA, Inc., or more commonly known as ROMBA, is a non-profit organization that educates, inspires and connects LGBT business graduate students and professionals to lead the way to equality through its year-round events and its new fellowship program. Its main event is the annual ROMBA conference, which was held in October in Chicago this year. More than 80 companies and 1,400 participants attended. We are grateful to the Institute for Global Organizational Effectiveness, which provided the financial support that allowed us to attend this conference. Conferences like this one enable students to connect with recruiters and other students, to learn through panels from current professional practices, and participate in case competitions in several areas such as entrepreneurship, analytics, marketing, innovation, and finance.

Networking at ROMBA was easy to do. It started early with an online job-posting portal and a very useful mobile app that served as a social media tool to connect both students and recruiters in an engaging way. Throughout the event, there were corporate treks, receptions with recruiters, workshops and panels with representatives from different companies, a networking lunch with recruiters, and the career expo. In addition, most companies also hosted or invited students for private coffee chats that were also a great opportunity to network, know about the culture of the company, and ask questions about future opportunities in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

Panels and workshops dealt with a wide range of topics, including the power of networks, brand management, case interviewing, investment banking insights, big data in today’s business environment, strategy, trends in healthcare, rotational programs, experiential innovation, trends in travel and hospitality, exploring non-profit careers, the airlines business and advice from entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Not only did students get a chance to learn about new trends in different industries, but also to actively participate and engage with company representatives.

As a first-year MBA student, I found case competitions particularly interesting to watch because it gave me a general picture of what the judges expect from the teams, and how there are different types of cases and dynamics in these competitions. I would strongly recommend other students to participate in these in the future because they serve as practice and give participants exposure to recruiters.

Keynote speakers were also very impactful during the conference, particularly in terms of inspiring professionals on actively participating in equality. These included Bruce Rauner, governor of Illinois, Tim Gill, software entrepreneur, George Kalogridis, CEO of Disney’s Parks and Resorts, Morgana Bailey, TED-talk speaker, and human resources activist, and Laverne Cox, actress, and LGBT advocate.

Our experience was amazing. We learned, networked, made friends and got interviews. The key for all of this is to do your homework in advance, to be genuine, to reach out and to be open to learning:

  • Research about all the companies that are participating (not only the ones you know), and about what they are offering. You might be surprised by how interesting something you find in this process might be for you
  • Contact them and show your interest, either through the portal or by e-mail, since you might get invited to interview, chat or network with them in a private environment.
  • Remember that networking is not about getting a contract, but about building a relationship. Be genuine, collaborative and open, since this will always come out as strengths when getting to know new people. One of my strongest networking experiences came from a recommendation from an MBA student from another school I met during the conference that recommended me to reach a company that was looking for someone with my background.

Looking forward to ROMBA 2016!

Here’s One Thing Dr. Phil Really Got Right

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Nicolette Michele Johnson

by Nicolette Michele Johnson, Associate Director of Kelley School’s Graduate Career Services

In working with students, this is the time of year when some students are elated about the full-time job offers they receive while some others are at the other end of the happiness spectrum, sometimes facing disappointment due to not having an offer in hand as quickly as they had hoped.

I’ve found that, in my interactions with them, I feel their pain, at least temporarily but definitely acutely. In one instance, I was a bit hesitant to tell a student one key principle I have learned to embrace over the years because the sources of the principle felt a little hokey.

Shorten the “mourning curve”

I clearly remember the principle from watching an episode of the Dr. Phil show over a decade ago. Even though I can find meaning in almost anything including seemingly empty reality shows (which you know if you’ve read any of my prior posts,) I haven’t kept track of the Dr. Phil shows in recent years, especially due to the fact that the constant wading through interpersonal drama stresses me out even when I’m only observing it from afar (a further indication that my initial college-bound goal of becoming a psychiatrist 20-plus years ago wasn’t quite a fit for me.)

What Dr. Phil said that stood out to me was that people often mourn the loss of “what could have been” instead of “what was.” He had said it to an individual who was clinging to romantic relationship that wasn’t good for her. Her thought of “what could have been” was an idealized loving relationship that resembles a fairy tale and the reality of “what was” was the equivalent of an episode of “The Jerry Springer” show.

That quickly reinforced in me that mourning the loss of “what was” instead of “what could have been” lessens the disappointment swiftly and significantly. Of course, “what was” was reality of the situation while “what could have been” was an unattainable, idealized dream of what the person wished for. Often the question “And what exactly am I upset about?” followed by “Does it even make sense that I’m upset about the loss of this?” surfaces, especially when a bit of logic and reasoning kicks in.

In one of my own situations, when I made a mental list of “what was,” I not only shortened my “mourning curve,” but also I was grateful because I immediately knew that “what was” was not great (and yes, I had a long and obscene list of not great) and the loss of which was not worthy of being upset about. Instead, I was grateful for being away from that situation, with a future that seemed more peaceful and promising.

I see this application in work scenarios all the time. Whenever I encounter someone who is facing a trying career situation (perhaps not receiving a job offer or a promotion, facing a layoff, etc.) I often ask (myself on their behalf, but also the person sometimes): Are you mourning the loss of “what was” or “what could have been?”

More often than not, the person is mourning the loss of “what could have been,” that idealized scenario that encompasses what the person wishes the situation was. The “what was” was often a situation that he or she didn’t really want or enjoy anyway. Just the other day I heard “but I didn’t like it there” and “I had no intention of going back there” from individuals disappointed that they weren’t invited back to places they didn’t love.

Reflecting on “what was” instead of “what could have been” is often a reminder that the disappointment need not be as big as we sometimes make it out to be. “What was” may not be great, but “what will be” is much more promising.

“Here’s One Thing Dr. Phil Really Got Right” was originally published on Linkedin Pulse on October 93, 2015.

Kelley Leadership through the Eyes of an IGOE Fellow

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From left to right: Jesús Salinas (Latin MBAA VP for Finance), Alejandra de Caso (MBAA VP for Marketing and Out at Kelley President),
Cesar Sanchez (Latin MBAA President), and Miguel Cruz (Kelley Soccer Club President and Latin MBAA VP for Communications)

 

By Miguel A. Cruz, MBA’17

Leadership is the power of an individual to guide, advise, and influence others and it is one of the most important skills that is expected from an MBA student and graduate.

In the Kelley School of Business, you are challenged to find your style of leadership and develop your leadership capabilities right from the beginning. For Latino students, the Institute for Global Organizational Effectiveness (IGOE) Fellowship is an enabler that allows us to fulfill our goals and experience great leadership opportunities.

One of the first things students encounter during the MBA program is Me Inc., where you not only start building your personal brand but also test your leadership ability by learning how to influence your team during the Core.

During the beginning of the second semester, students also participate in a great challenge, the Academy Projects. This is a team-based consulting project for real companies and real situations that help students understand what a summer internship project looks like. In this opportunity, students not only face the challenge of coming up with a solution to a real-world problem but are also paired with other first years in different stages of their internship search. At this point, students are familiarized with their group work responsibilities and know that they are accountable to their peers and projects.

Also in the first seven weeks of the second semester, each class is responsible for choosing the new MBA Association officers. This is an organization that takes on the challenge of organizing all the student-led activities. As an IGOE fellow, I am proud to share that during the past five years IGOEs have participated in the winning slate. In addition, during the last seven weeks of the first year students have the opportunity to elect their peers as a President or a VP of a Kelley club or association. These organizations exist to help and support a wide variety of student activities, including: professional (Marketing, Finance, Consulting, etc.), cultural and support (Partners, Women, Latin, Asian, and Black) and finally developing skills and sports (e.g., tech, Toastmasters, soccer, golf).

Finally, at the beginning of the second year, students get amazing opportunities to help first years directly through the Leadership Academy as they become a Personal or a Core Team Coach or by leading a Globase consulting project to solve a real business problem for a company in different markets around the world.

Because of the number of opportunities that the Kelley MBA Program and the Institute of Global Organizational Effectiveness make available, students get to pick where and how they exercise and put to test their leadership; and these challenges are not short of the experience that the real world will present to our future alumni.

An MBA at An OEM: The Top 3 Things I Learned This Summer

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John W. Scott

By John W. Scott, MBA’16

This summer I interned at Audi of America with the Marketing Research and Electric Vehicles teams.  It was an incredible experience and one that taught me a great deal over the course of 10 weeks.  Now, as a second-year MBA Candidate at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, I reflect on my greatest takeaways and what I believe will influence the industry for the long-term.

1. Passion drives the company and industry forward

One of the most surprising things I discovered about the automotive industry is that not everybody is a die-hard auto enthusiast like me.  What’s interesting is that although not everyone has gasoline in their veins, they are all passionate about the brand and the industry overall.  It is no secret that the auto industry is going through one of the most innovative and tumultuous periods of the last 100 years, and you can feel it every day while working at an automaker.  At Audi of America, I was incredibly fortunate to work alongside people who have a vision of what Audi will be in the next 5, 10, even 20 years down the road.  They’re passionate about the brand and the competition.  They’re passionate about the technology that is being developed and released to the public.  They’re excited about what could be as well as what is.  In the end, passion in this industry can take a plethora of forms and that’s what makes it so great.

2. Data, data, data

If there’s one thing you learn while studying consumer marketing in business school, it’s that data drives any and all well-informed decisions. Historically, data has been most useful for CPG firms as their customers buy their products frequently.  In the auto industry, it’s not so easy.  For the most part, cars are purchased infrequently, which can make it challenging to learn about your consumers.  Luckily, there are tools being developed and utilized to help automakers track marketing messages to an actual sale.  During my time at Audi of America, I saw first-hand how data is being leveraged through a variety of internal and external sources to influence critical decisions for the short- and long-term.  It’s safe to say that data is only going to become more important over time, affecting all parts of the business.  Knowing the consumer at a granular level is key, and being able to decipher the data in a meaningful way is even more so.

3. Think long-term, not short-term

I think it’s no coincidence that at this year’s Frankfurt Auto Show, there were several automakers who announced battery electric vehicle (BEV) concepts that will no doubt be put into production in the coming years. Companies are recognizing that 1) they need to act quickly with BEV R&D, and 2) the long-term viability of fossil fuels is impossible.  This summer, I learned that it can be challenging to balance short-term profit goals with long-term R&D investment, but the survival of the industry is dependent upon maintaining this long-term focus.  The key to the continued success and viability of an automaker will be focusing on the long-term, as investing now will mean the survival of the brand in the future.

It is an exciting time to be in the auto industry, and it will only get more exciting.  Have something you would like to add to the list?  Let me know in the comments!

“An MBA at an OEM: the Top 3 Things I Learned This Summer” was originally published on Linkedin Pulse on September 30, 2015.

The Magnetic Power of Personal Vision

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Ray Luther

By Ray Luther, Executive Director, Kelley MBA Program 

“There are no choices without personal freedom, Buckeroo. It’s not us who are dead inside. These things you find so weak and contemptible in us – these are just the hazards of being free.” -David Foster Wallace

Your past tells a story that supports who you are today. This story consists of what you’ve done and how you’ve lived…your life choices… good and bad. This story contains the shared narratives of who you spent the most time with. Who is important…there’s a lot of truth in the old adage that you are a mash-up of your five closest relationships. You influence and are influenced on a continuous spectrum. In truth, you practice selective memory as you recall this unique story known as your past – we all do. You choose to remember, omit, and edit as it suits your needs, but it’s still what makes you who you are today.

In looking forward you also have the opportunity to choose. You can choose to allow circumstance and the agenda of others dictate your future. Or, you can choose to live on purpose. You can choose what you will do, how you will do it and who you will spend time with – guided by a vision of who you want to become. Not necessarily in an overly planned way, because frankly, that’s boring, but in a way that pulls you forward through magnetic inspiration. This is the power of personal vision.

In the Kelley MBA Leadership Academy, we believe in the power of personal vision to help guide us. Magnetic inspiration that pulls us forward. We choose to practice personal leadership by living on purpose. The ability to lead ourselves to an inspired future that we choose, not one that’s chosen for us, is what motivates us. It doesn’t really matter if all of our vision comes true. What matters is that we’re inspired to move forward consistent with our purpose.

Every year we practice a multi-session personal visioning exercise with our current Leadership Academy Students. This is part of our Lead for Life Series. We work with a tool called the Personal Compass from The Grove. It’s wonderful because it incorporates the best of visual thinking with solid analysis to help uncover personal insight. While not the only personal visioning tool out there, it’s one that we highly recommend. Eric Johnson and I never cease to be amazed by the insights this process can generate. We’ve seen a number of students gain a new level of confidence in their self-leadership moving forward. We’ve also seen a number of students realize they needed course correction to live on purpose with their vision. All of this is OK; it’s part of the ongoing learning process as we actively lead ourselves. Explore your past, envision your future, make bold choices to move forward… and then act.

We are very proud of our Lead for Life Series in the Kelley MBA Leadership Academy. This optional program is all about improving the personal side of leadership, one that’s often neglected in leadership development work. Personal visioning is just the first step. We also learn to lead through the practice of compassion, mindfulness, and fitness. We look forward to continuing the conversation around personal leadership. We value insight from others if you choose to share. We also hope that you choose to live on purpose. That the what, how and who choices you make moving forward are ones that align with your personal values. Most of all we hope that your personal vision provides the magnetic inspiration to move you forward in a way that makes you proud to be you.

“The Magnetic Power of Personal Vision” was originally published on Linkedin Pulse on September 24, 2015.

Tokens of Advice for MBA Dads

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Jared Goldsmith

by Jared Goldsmith, MBA’16

Just one year ago I watched my little house and the comfortable world I had known in the rear-view mirror of a moving truck. Pursuing an MBA is a big decisions to make – you have to put your life on hold, sell belongings, quit a job, and usually move to a new city.

When I decided that pursuing an MBA was a necessary step in my career path I had two other responsibilities… with one more on the way. I now have the most supportive loving wife, and two little girls that think that I can do no wrong. Knowing that I have the responsibility of taking care of them makes career decisions more tangible and gives me a sense of responsibility that is indescribable.

When looking for advice on MBA’s for fathers there were no resources that I could find. There is a blog or forum for almost every other life situation that I can think of, but of course, nothing for the situation I was in. Hopefully the lessons I have learned over the past year can answer questions or give courage to at least one father who is contemplating the pursuit of an MBA.

Being an MBA father is a small club, but one that has given me some exceptional friends. We stick together and help each other through the tough times. A lot of times it is hard to give everything you have to school and recruiting and also give your family the attention that they deserve. Here are a few words of advice that will help make your MBA path a successful one.

#1 Don’t Put Off Networking

Networking is easy to put off because for some it is the most painful thing that you could ever imagine. Most official events are during the night when you would rather be at home with your family. My advice is to “Buck up and do it”. The end goal of business school is landing a job. To land your dream job you are going to have to network with the right people in the right positions. Also make sure to network with your fellow MBA’s. The full-time MBA is a unique experience to be around such bright individuals that can teach you more than you could ever learn about a myriad of companies and industries. Your classmates are going to be your network for the rest of your life. Make sure you take time to let them know what you bring to the table and also to learn about them and what makes them unique. These will be the people that you call on throughout your life to fill positions in your organization, and spoiler alert… they will be calling you.

#2 Plan and Schedule

You have 168 hours per week… it’s not going to be enough time to do everything that you need, and want to do. One of the most valuable skills that you can learn in B-school is time management. You need to look at your weeks and plan what you are going to accomplish and what things are going to be pushed to the back-burner, or not get done. It has worked for me to live by my calendar. If I want to meet my family for lunch, it’s on my calendar. Stick to it, but don’t be afraid to modify things, be adaptable… if an opportunity to talk to someone on the phone comes up (refer to point #1), find some time to squeeze it in.

#3 Communicate

Make sure that the people that live under your roof are aware of your schedule. This is something that has been challenging for me because there are always things coming up. My girls love to have me home on Saturday mornings, and that has become my unwind time to be with them. If I ever have anything come up that I have to be doing something on Saturday I make sure that they know so it isn’t a surprise. I also try and inform my wife through calendar invites if things come up as soon as I know of them.

#4 Don’t Forget Your Family

This will be a unique time in your life that you will be able to look back and cherish. It is great to not have the regular stresses of work life. You will probably be in a new part of the country. Take your people to explore new things and plan weekend getaways. You will be very busy, but also have more breaks than you are used to having at work. Take advantage of your downtime and see something new. On Saturdays it has been so fun to visit the Children’s Museum and other local attractions with my family and be able to be with my girls as they grow up.

Overall the decision of coming to B-school was the most substantial career decision I have ever made, but I have no doubt that it was the best option for me. My life is certainly different than it was before coming to school. Being out of my comfort zone has helped me grow so much closer to my wife and girls. When we first moved we started out in survival mode. Getting from week to week was sometimes hard, but now we are a team and we rely on each other. I have learned that you can do hard things when you put your mind to it. The hard is what makes life great.

Jared Goldsmith is working towards an MBA, specializing in finance and business analytics. Prior to coming to Kelley, he worked in business banking at JP Morgan Chase and he interned this past summer at PPG Industries in Corporate Treasury. He will complete his Kelley MBA in 2016.

“Tokens of Advice for MBA Dads” was originally published on Linkedin Pulse on September 15, 2015.

Servant Networking

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Ray Luther
By Ray Luther, Executive Director, Kelley MBA Program 

We must give to receive – advice fundamental to human nature.  Giving is good for us mentally, physically and spiritually.  Giving also provides a foundation so our relationships can flourish.  We all give in our own unique way, and most of us find happiness in the practice of giving.  Our investment in others is an investment in us.

But when the subject of networking comes up, all bets are off.  Suddenly words like fake, inauthentic and sales-y come top of mind.  This is interesting because networking, at its core, is about give and take within a relationship.  As this relationship develops mutual benefit might be found.  This relationship exchange is a wonderful way to educate yourself on any number of subjects while delivering value for others at the same time.  

Servant leadership is a philosophy which might be well applied to networking. The core principle is serve first, then lead.  Leadership emerges from the act of serving others, and is discovered to be another way to serve.  And the best test of servant leadership – do others grow as a result of your service to them?  An amazingly simple yet powerful statement of leadership impact.

What if we applied the principles of servant leadership to networking – servant networking? If we served first, then networked.  What if in the act of giving of ourselves we discovered a way to serve someone is make a network connection for them?  Or provide suggestions to help them grow which they might have missed? Could this mental reframe of networking allow us to recognize it for all of the benefits we bring to others, and ourselves, vs. the constant negative perception that so many have?  

Personally I think it can.  I believe if we consider all the good we can deliver through the practice of servant networking more of us would actively engage. How can I be so confident? Because I see plenty of examples around me.  Here are just a few of the great ones in my network:

Monique Valcour – As I watch Monique’s engagement on LinkedIn I see professional curation as a result of her personal expertise.  Through this active curation she builds her network’s competency in a very specific way.  Monique takes the time to share relevant content that I learn something from every day. Monique actively gives through this process and serves others as a result.

Dustin McKissen – An avid storyteller and blogger, Dustin shares his experiences to motivate and inspire others.  Dustin leans into any relationship to give more than he can ever expect to get right up front.  He did this with me and others in my network.  He’s built an amazing community of followers on LinkedIn in a very short amount of time through service networking.  

Eric Johnson – A close friend that I’ve worked with for years, I see Eric servant network every day.  His passion is helping young leaders succeed and he gives his time and energy accordingly.  Eric wants to know what drives those he works with on an individual level, based on their purpose and values.  As he learns this he finds unique ways to give which can only be accomplished from a foundation of trust.  

Glenn Leibowitz –  I’ve only known Glenn a short time, via LinkedIn, but I’m blown away by how much he gives in a relationship right up front.  His passion for writing has spilled over into a very well produced podcast – Write with Impact – educating so many with a similar interest.  The personal time, money and investment to make this happen has an immediate service-based impact.  

My point is there are many great examples of servant networking all around us. The trick is noticing these acts of giving and appreciating them in the moment. The practice of giving is also the practice of networking – through service to others.  The more you build comfort with this concept the better network you can build – one based on a foundation you can feel good about.

“Servant Networking” was originally published on Linkedin Pulse on September 16, 2015.

Your Unique Creativity

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Ray Luther

By Ray Luther, Executive Director, Kelley MBA Program 

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try” – Dr. Seuss

I work with a number of young leaders who aren’t creative – or at least that’s what they tell me.  They equate creativity with a high level of artistic talent, or design capability, rather than the ability to transcend a norm and move towards a new way of thinking.  So, I gently challenge their claim and suggest they find a way to notice their own form of creativity.  This often leads to a good coaching conversation.  I push them because I believe we all are creative, and it’s simply a matter of noticing how.  In fact, when we lack the ability to notice our unique form of creativity, how we naturally express it, we hold ourselves back from personal growth and renewal.

My own creativity lies in finding new ways to think about strategic challenges, especially as I work with leaders responsible for organizational choices.  That’s why I’m drawn to the fields of executive coaching and leadership development. That’s also why I love working with young MBA students, or in fact anyone at any level that works on strategic issues.  I’ve practiced this form of creativity my entire life, obviously in different contexts through various life stages, and I’ve been rewarded for it.  I consider my form of creativity a key personal strength. And while I find myself creative in this way, it clearly doesn’t carry over to artistic talent.  In fact, here’s a picture similar to my best artwork….capturing the flex was particularly hard:

Are there any downsides to practicing creativity when you believe you’re not creative?  Honestly I don’t think so. Maybe you become more vulnerable to potential criticism, maybe it leads you down an unintended path or two. But for me practicing creativity is about thinking differently and attempting to solve problems in new ways – which are good things. I’ve certainly had my share of bad decisions coming from my own creative process, but each of those decisions have also enabled me to learn more – and become better at my creative practice.

What are some ways you can notice your own moments of creativity?  First, make sure you do indeed recognize that everyone, including you, has moments of creativity.  Maybe your creativity doesn’t show up at the start of an activity as a big idea, but rather in the middle of a process when efficiency is lost.  Or, maybe your creativity shows up as you collaborate on a team and find a unique way to get along leading to a better outcome.  Again, it’s about noticing those moments when you help produce something outside of the norm or a slightly new way of thinking.  Even small moments can have a big impact.

In noticing your own unique form of creativity, I’d suggest allowing yourself to be more vs. do more.  Creativity isn’t driven by sheer will alone.  Many of our most creative moments happen when we least expect it.  Our brains are working to make connections that we don’t see on the surface.  Moments of inspiration, times of challenge, purposeful pauses and moments of rest can help us be creative as the best versions of ourselves.  Maybe this is the soul of creativity? Whatever it is it’s important that we take the time to notice when a creative moment happens for us.  Sheer will rarely leads to better creativity, but noticing when we’re creative might just help us practice even better on a daily basis.

I love seeing the creative output of artists and designers and I’m amazed by how their minds work.  When I’ve had the opportunity to work with artistic creatives I’ve always walked away with a new way to look at the world.  True genius in many cases. But, if we look carefully, we all have the power to notice our own creative expressions a bit more.  Be, create, notice and learn.

“Your Unique Creativity” was originally published on Linkedin Pulse on September 6, 2015.

Become the Person You Were Meant to Be

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Eric Johnson

by Eric Johnson, Executive Director of Kelley School’s Graduate Career Services

George Eliot* has been credited with saying, “It’s never too late to become the person you were always meant to be.”

This is good news to people like me, who aspire one day to be Matthew McConaughey.

I reflect on this quote every morning, without fail. It’s part of my daily practice of morning meditation and mental preparation. I feel inspired afterwards because it keeps my value of continuous improvement alive and it reminds me that today presents a new opportunity to evolve towards the best possible version of myself.

I have also found that Eliot’s quote helps me give hope to others. In my job as a career and leadership coach I assist young leaders in their pursuit of their best selves, particularly as it relates to navigating personal transition. Remembering that our past does not forever define who we are is an extremely important step in that process.

As I coach myself and young leaders on this journey towards our best selves we work through three big questions. The first is, “who are you today?” Being honest with ourselves about who we are today heightens our self-awareness and allows for a deep understanding of what we don’t want change, where we hope to evolve, and why. In exploring who we are today, we focus on five main areas:

  • Personality: While there are a number of personality assessments available the one we use at the Kelley School of Business is the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. Personality does not define us, but it does help us understand our natural default settings with regards to how we like to give and receive information and how we prefer to relate to others.
  • Skills: Knowing our strengths and weaknesses, and how these make us both unique and relevant, helps us begin to recognize the situations in which we provide the most impact to others. Gallup has a good tool for this, Strengthsfinder, though often we’ll just spend an hour using contextual examples to develop a personal SWOT.
  • Interests: If we’re not interested in what we’re doing then we’ll lack the motivation to do it well. Questions like, “What do other people find interesting about you?” and “What’s one of the first things you bring up about yourselves when meeting people for the first time?” are useful conversation starters as we dig into this area.
  • Values: There may be no more important part of the discussion than when we talk about values. Values are our guardrails – I believe they provide us with our greatest motivation, and greatest amount of personal insight. I also notice that when we are at our happiest our values are being honored, and when we are angry, sad, or frustrated our values are being compromised. My favorite tool to start this conversation is the Via Character Strengths free assessment.
  • Demeanor: Who you are is, at least in small part, shaped by how you present yourself. I love the questions, “How would your closest friends describe your general outlook on life?” and “What 3-5 words do you want people to say about you when you leave a room?”

Synthesizing these five areas into a personal inventory sheet provides an enormous amount of insight. We can see who we are, where we’re happy, what we hope to change, and why. This sets us up for our second big question, “Who do I want to be?” I share Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha’s view that we were not born with a single purpose for our life, but that our purpose constantly evolves over time. The key is to have a great short term (i.e. 1-3 years, not 10) personal vision that makes you happy, and helps you see where you can provide unique value to your community (as you define it). This vision should also inspire you to take action.

Again, there are any number of resources to develop a personal vision and I often use The Personal Compass from The Grove. Whatever the tool we choose, the output should provide a clear, concise, and motivating statement about who we want to become – our personal vision statement. It should highlight the things we hope to accomplish, the relationships we wish to build/maintain, the environment we hope to exist within, and the ways in which we will experience joy. I have mine hanging in my office, and I ask my coachees to keep theirs visible as well, such that we don’t lose focus of who we’re trying to be.

Finally, the third big question is, “How are you going to get there?” With a clear and concise vision – and a heightened sense of self – we can begin to make choices about what we will do (and what we will not do) to consciously and deliberately improve ourselves. The key is deliberate – focused effort and attention on the experiences which will provide us with the greatest momentum towards our personal vision. (Check out one of my favorite blogger’s take on deliberate practice.) This is not easy, but what I’ve learned is two things: we must focus on a single issue at a time and we have to practice daily.

Focusing on a single issue at a time might be the most important step towards attaining our best selves. Data shows that between 80 and 90% of New Year’s resolutions fail and the primary reason is because people try to change too many things at once. I like James Clear’s advice to focus on one area for improvement and stick with it until it becomes a habit. I have been implementing this strategy personally over the last year and have been more consistent about working out, reading, improving my skills through training, and being positive all by focusing on one aspect of my personal vision at a time.

Finally, I believe the only way to “become the person we were meant to be” is to move forward one day at a time, deriving as much out of the present as possible. I mentioned that I meditate each morning – I take time to notice how I feel and what I think, and to make a commitment to the one thing I want to focus on that day. I will stay conscious of that one thing throughout the day and journal about what I notice. Each night I’ll take 10 minutes to reflect on how I did and to make notes for tomorrow. This practice worked for Benjamin Franklin – he tracked his progress across 13 virtues by focusing on one each day and journaling about his progress, too.

Which brings me back to Eliot’s quote – I close out my morning mental session by reminding myself that it really is never too late to become the person we were always meant to be. I personally find that an inspiring thing to remember as I start each new day.

[*The irony of the fact that George was not George at all is not lost on me. George Eliot was a pen name used by author Mary Ann Evans to ensure that her works were taken seriously. I will also acknowledge that there is some debate about Eliot’s exact phrasing about the quote, but the essence is the same across the board.]

“Become the Person You Were Meant to Be” was originally published on Linkedin Pulse on September 3, 2015.

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