Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All of these mindset
issues that we develop as a part
of the culture of higher edtends to steer our decisions in
terms of what we do after tenure.
So really dig down to see whatmindset issues, what scarcity
issues, are framing thisdecision.
I don't want my work to bestuck behind an academic paywall
(00:34):
.
I want to leave a legacy, Iwant to reach my potential and I
want to change lives.
This podcast, power yourResearch, is my attempt to help
the smartest people in the worlddo that very thing.
My hope is that you use thelessons I share to make more
money than what your higher edjob can ever pay you.
I've done it, my clients havedone it, and so can you.
(00:57):
My hope is that you'll applywhat you learn here and one day
join the Power your Researchprogram, where you can work with
me one-on-one.
I'm happy to be here with youtoday talking about how to
decide what to do after tenure.
(01:18):
I work with a lot of tenuredprofessors, a lot of professors
who know they're going to gettenure within the next few
months or who recently havereceived tenure, and it's an
amazing thing.
People find out that it's oftenanticlimactic, meaning they get
it, and they don't feel the waythat they thought they would
(01:38):
feel.
But naturally, when you gettenure, you begin to wonder okay
, what's next?
What am I going to do next?
I achieved this big milestone.
Now, one of the things that Ifound that I realized after I
became a full professor was that, oh, this is the ceiling for my
pay as a faculty member.
So after you become a fullprofessor, that's your income
(02:00):
for the rest of your life inhigher ed, unless you decide to
do something else.
In my case, it was to build amulti-six figure brand.
But if you are at a crossroadswhich a lot of my academics
inside the Power Year ResearchProgram are, here are five
things to think about in termsof deciding what next, because
(02:25):
what you really need is clarity,but you need to get that
clarity coming from a place ofaddressing any mindset issues,
addressing just taking the easyroute.
A lot of people actually go theadministration route after
tenure simply because they wantto make more money, and we're
smart, so we can convinceourselves that we're doing it
for lots of different reasons,but one of the main reasons, if
(02:47):
you're being honest withyourself, is to make more money,
and I'm not mad at that.
I'm just here to show you thatthere's a different way that
might be more aligned with yourpassions, your values and goals.
So here are five things youshould think about in terms of
making that decision.
The first is document yourgoals and values.
Really sit down with yourselfand document what are your
(03:09):
actual goals.
Because if you've just gottentenure, you haven't thought
about goals outside of higher ed.
You did what you had to do toget tenure, which is with the
research, the committees, theservice that you had to do, but
also you want to think aboutyour values, like what do you
value?
Surely you value things outsideof higher ed, right, but being
(03:29):
in it so long, we begin to takeon the values of the industry,
the values of higher ed, andthose are not always your values
.
And so, in thinking about goingthe administration route,
there's one very importantquestion that I want you to ask
yourself Do you want the life ofthe current administrator that
(03:49):
has the current position thatyou want, or a current
administrator that has aposition that is adjacent to
that?
Is that what you want your lifeto look like?
And if you're being honest withyourself, and that is what you
want your life to look like,that's one metric to make that
decision.
But if you can't answer thatquestion with a yes right away,
let's keep moving down the list.
(04:10):
The second is, when you'remaking this decision of what to
do after tenure, make sure youclear up any mindset issues.
We don't want you to frame thisdecision that you're making if
it's layered with mindset issues, imposter syndrome, not feeling
like you can do something else,not feeling like you have value
(04:31):
outside of academia.
You know, all of these mindsetissues that we develop as a part
of the culture of higher edtends to steer our decisions in
terms of what we do after tenure.
So really dig down to see whatmindset issues, what scarcity
issues, are framing thisdecision and getting to a place
(04:52):
of clarity, to clear out some ofthose mindset issues so that
you can really see the futurethat you want.
Hey, everyone, real quick.
I don't run any ads on thispodcast, so I have to rely on
word of mouth.
If this podcast has helped youin any way, please share it with
a friend and follow me, drSheena Howard, on LinkedIn,
(05:12):
where I give more free contenton building your brand as an
academic.
If you tell me you came to myLinkedIn from the podcast.
I'll make sure I accept yourrequest.
The next is really visualizingyour future.
Visualize yourself in thatadministrative position.
Visualize yourself building abrand and making an impact and
(05:35):
using your expertise outside inthe real world.
And when you visualize thatfuture, what does it feel like?
Does it feel good?
Do you get excited?
Do you get excited aboutsitting behind that desk as an
administrator and doing the work?
If it feels good, if it feelsright, go for it.
If it doesn't, visualize adifferent future for yourself,
and how does that feel?
Is there a big book that youwant to write?
(05:57):
Can you visualize yourself on abook tour, talking about this
book and doing speakingengagements?
Does that feel good?
If that feels good, then maybeadministration is not the route.
But don't trick yourself intothinking that you can go out
here and be administrator andhave to work a lot more than you
had to do as a faculty memberand still be able to do some
other things, because in myexperience, from what I've seen,
(06:19):
it doesn't work like that.
The fourth thing is to just behonest with yourself.
Be honest with yourself.
Coming from a place of clarityinvolves just being brutally
honest with yourself.
Is this what you really want.
Is it aligned with what youwant your life to look like six
months from now, one year fromnow, five years from now?
(06:39):
Right, if you've just recentlygot tenure, you're in a
beautiful place to really thinkabout what you want the next
phase of your life to look like.
And be bold, maybe it's.
It could be as simple as Idon't want to live paycheck to
paycheck anymore.
I want to go out here andimpact the world and monetize
that.
It could be hey, I want to bethe first millionaire in my
(07:00):
family.
Be bold, but be honest.
Sometimes we can't be honestwith ourselves because we
actually feel like we might notbe able to reach the vision for
our life that we want.
But that's not true.
You have to have faith.
You have to have faith that thething that you want you can
actually do.
And the beautiful thing and whyI don't teach people to just go
ahead and leave your academicposition and become an
(07:21):
entrepreneur is because I wantto give you the option to leave
when you're ready.
I want you to get to a place ofmaking six figures so that you
have the option to leave academewhen you're ready, because
having options is great.
You can make decisions from aplace of power as opposed to a
place of desperation.
So be honest with yourself.
(07:42):
And the last thing is the easyroute is usually not the right
route when it comes to makingthese types of decisions, and,
from what I've seen, going frombeing tenured to getting an
administration position at yourcurrent university or even at
another one, is the easy route?
Easy increase in pay, not muchadjustments.
(08:02):
You already know the university, pretty much know the people
that you're going to be workingwith.
Easy to figure out how to dothe work, but the big goals and
the big dreams and the bigthings that you want to do is
not going to be easy.
It's not going to be easy, butthe reward in the future is
bigger, the payoff in the futureis bigger.
(08:24):
And so those are five things Iwould think about if I was
trying to decide what to doafter tenure.
Now, for me, I decided toincrease my visibility,
authority and income, and it'sworked out.
That's what I teach people todo.
I don't teach people to abandontheir higher ed jobs.
A lot of people in the programthat I work with do get to the
point where they see that thisis possible and they do actually
(08:45):
end up leaving their academicpositions, and it's beautiful
for me to see that they'vecreated a pathway to have the
option to do that.
I'm still a faculty member, I'mstill living my dreams and, you
know, running two businesses,and so it's different for
everybody, everybody.