Time to be grateful? Or pro-active?

Indeed, these are interesting times. Many say it’s a time to be grateful that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania reduced its financial support by “only 18%” –as opposed to 54% that was originally proposed. Also, it’s time to be glad that the collective bargaining agreement that governs the employment relations between faculty and coaches has not been re-negotiated; what can we expect when the first move by the faculty negotiators was to offer –not even accept—a salary freeze for the next academic year! Time to be grateful that we have jobs, right? After all, unemployment has kept stubbornly above 9% in the past months! (For details, click here.)

But, before we accept this common wisdom, take whatever the Commonwealth and the union offer and resign ourselves to a new contract with salary raises that barely match inflation (if at all!), I suggest we check some of the assumptions behind all of this gratefulness we, faculty members should have.

First of all, while it’s true that national unemployment has remained at the highest level of the decade, I believe we should examine some evidence. Consider the graph in the following link (the Bureau of Labor Statistics will probably be changing it to the most current figures as time goes by):

http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm

This figure also clearly ties to us, as faculty, in a number of ways. First, it clearly shows that what we do as teachers has significant economic (as well as cultural and intellectual) value for our students and our state --and we need to remember that and remind others of it. Moreover, this figure demonstrates that, for individuals with faculty-level qualifications, the average unemployment rate in 2010 can be as low as 1.9% for doctoral degree holders or as high as 4.0 for colleagues with only a master’s. It turns out that all those years in school, student loans, etc. do pay off!

Now, before you conclude that I’m suggesting we should all pack up and find jobs in private universities –since our state government is evidently uninterested in continuing to support rural higher education—, I will acknowledge that faculty mobility is not high, especially once one has achieved tenure. Instead, we have to be proactive in these difficult times.

I believe we must start by looking after our own basic needs. Trying to do “more with less” –or even “the same!’’—may be not only insulting, but also dangerous to our health. I already see some colleagues taking on increased workloads as a result of frozen hiring, coupled with recent retirements, smaller budgets for temporary positions, student workers, etc. Burnout may be right around the corner if we don’t take appropriate measures (see Ms. Scholar's column for suggestions clicking here).

Next, our professional development and commitment to research cannot stop! Unless there is a sudden change of heart in Harrisburg, it is quite likely that this is only the first of four, perhaps eight years of reductions in state support for our schools. We must continue to grow professionally. We also need to continue using and honing the rarest and potentially most valuable of our skills, the ability to do research. Not only do publications improve our individual résumés and collective reputation, they might be one of the strongest ways in which we differentiate our university from organizations that charge lower fees but simply cannot offer students what we can when we stay current in our fields. If our skills and reputation take a hit in the next few years, we will be unable to convince the shrinking student population that our university is worth attending, or find alternate sources of employment, should the need arise.

I am sure there are other ways to be proactive in these difficult times. If we work together to be proactive, we can be grateful to each other. I hope we do inspire and help each other find ways in which we will not only survive but thrive during these interesting times.

…Leadership in Music

Few jobs involve leadership skills as obviously as that of an orchestral conductor.  As I write these words, I’m sitting in the back of the rehearsal room while one of my children plays the violin with the discipline and concentration that about thirty other musicians need to exert in order to play classical music well enough for a future public performance.

This is both a stirring and a humbling experience.  In the background, I’ve been grading homework submitted by my Leadership students while the conductor works intensely to create the harmony that I have enjoyed so many times in the hall, from a seat in the audience.  As I read and evaluate the concepts that my students are applying, I become increasingly aware of how practical Leadership classes can be if we apply them to contexts as different as business, volunteer work, family life, and even musical performances!

I don’t think I had ever fully realized the time, knowledge, skills, and energy needed to make so many talented, individual performers work for their shared objective of executing a piece flawlessly.  It just is so delightful when you spend an hour or more enjoying music considered classic because it has endured the test of time.  Some of the compositions evoke places, moods, emotions, and so many other human experiences even when the listener doesn’t know much about the hours of training that brought them about, but even more when we know a bit of it.

The level of knowledge that the conductor requires is evident whenever he (or, more often in recent times she!) explains what is needed to better interpret a particular classical author in a given segment of the piece.  Also, whenever they recognize that a particular performer or set of instruments is not joining at the precisely right time that is required.  Their skills are also put to the test whenever the group just “naturally” changes its cadence because the piece itself “suggests” it --but it wasn’t the composer’s original intent!

The way conductors have to be both task and relationship oriented is also shown whenever they have to give feedback in a way that is perceived as neither impersonal nor caustic.  At times, they focus on the music pitch, the rhythm, the chords, and a myriad other details that can be considered predominantly technical.  But often, they also have to work on the interpersonal dynamics, such as the time that a trombone player who momentarily left the room found his instrument filled with water when he tried to start playing!  Fortunately, by the most part this group knows each other well and they seem to have a friendly camaraderie.  But I am sure that at times, jokes, personal preferences, differing levels of ability may be upsetting to some of the performers and the conductor’s implicit job description surely includes defusing conflict and creating an esprit de corps that will eventually translate into a stirring performance.

My child is the youngest performer, but I can see that this is an experience that is paying off by way of providing the most challenging experience so far.  I’m already looking forward not just to the concert in a few weeks, but to share these thoughts with the entire family as well as my students --and with you, kind reader!

What do you think?  Have you experienced “Obvious Leadership” in a particular context that you’d like to mention?  I look forward to reading your ideas and examples.  Please send me your comments via email to drolivaslujan_at_gmail.com or by posting a comment on my facebook profile. 

¡Hasta la próxima!

...why we work!

The past couple of weekends have been among the least productive of the year. I could not finish reviewing the papers I expected to or begin to outline the grant proposals I have to submit if I want to get funds for summer research. I could not even get this column started by the 20th of the month, so that I could send it to Michael Beachum, at NSHMBA's headquarters, for its publication in this issue of the bottom line!

The 'problem' (not really, as you will soon find out) was that my oldest son decided about a year ago that he wanted to participate in a Spelling Bee contest, after witnessing last year's local event and watching similar tournaments on TV and movies. About five months ago, he received this year's study guide and memorized it in its entirety. He won the regional tournament in February -beating about 15 nearby school champions in the process--, and last Saturday he won 5th place, out of 108 participants in the Western Pennsylvania contest.

Of course, trying to be the productive professional that I consider myself, I took my laptop and several papers to the state-level event but did not even open the darn briefcase. I was more nervous than my son was and, by the end of the event, I could not even begin to describe how proud I was to see this 11-year old showcasing his knowledge before dozens of parents, relatives and all other top spellers from our side of the state. Though he did not win the first place –which would have implied an expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC to represent the Pittsburgh area at the National level—I was incredibly pleased to see that he was the top-placed 6th grader, as all the other top-five winners were in the 7th or 8th grade.

The following weekend I did not even bother to carry laptop or papers with me. My older daughter participated for the second time in our local Junior Music Festival in three events, and obtained top grades on each of her tests! Again, I spent a significant portion of the weekend talking to other nervous parents who were hoping that their kids would not notice how thrilled, jumpy, yet full of pride we were to see them reaching such impressive milestones in their intellectual growth. Needless to say, I have started worrying about my productivity as my younger kids reach the ages that these older siblings currently have! Well, not really; as long as they keep showing an honest effort to work hard and do their best during these benchmarking events, I think that the entire family will be finding the ways to coordinate and ensure that they have these opportunities to shine and grow.

And that is ultimately the thought that came to my mind when I was getting ready to write this month’s column. A topic that I consider quite interesting as a management researcher is the interactions between family and work roles, often portrayed in the literature as an interface that is prone to conflict. Quite often, my colleagues write in journal articles about the spillover effects between work and family, and the few publications that include Hispanic samples emphasize the high priority that family has for Latinos. We certainly have no monopoly on placing family above any other worldly endeavors, but some of those publications –including popular media outlets—seem to suggest that placing family as the top priority in our lives may have a detrimental effect on career advancement and related outcomes.

Of course, there are many exemplars who challenge this notion. The image of many distinguished NSHMBA members who, in addition to having top positions in their companies, dedicate incredibly long hours of volunteerism to NSHMBA and to other endeavors comes to my mind, often attending the Hispanic Executive Summit or the National Conference and Job Expo along with their spouses and children (you know who they are)! And we don’t have to work too hard to find top managers and other high-level individuals who have sometimes large families (four or more children) and successful marriages along with extremely successful professional careers.

Of course, I don’t mean to suggest that the balancing act is easy to execute, and my own research suggests that our female counterparts frequently have an even more challenging set of expectations to manage because of custom, tradition, and other strong societal forces. But meeting the business leaders –male or female—who are able to play this game successfully is not just satisfactory but very inspiring!

So, this month I decided to take a break from writing about purely-business issues, about the fact that the economy is going down the tubes and about how reminiscent of Latin America’s lost decade the recent handling of GM’s problems by our new micro-managing national administration is. I decided to focus on one of the ultimate reasons why I –and I know that I am not alone—spend some weekends and nights at the office, making sure that my organization and its stakeholders are well-served and their expectations exceeded. Even if you currently have no children (after all, many of our fellow NSHMBA members are in the earliest stages of their family formation process) I know that you can relate: the ultimate reason why we work is NOT so much our career progression or individual wealth. A more essential motivation for many of us is to make it possible for those around us –particularly those that carry the same last name—to also grow and transcend. Right?

What do you think? Please post or send me your thoughts and comments on this blog: http://drolivaslujan.blogspot.com/ or via email to: drolivaslujan@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing –or reading—from you!

¡Hasta la próxima!