"Shape the Game"
Well, I am hot 'n' heavy into my first semester! I must admit that I feel a bit overwhelmed. It's a manageable "overwhelment," but it's become clear to me that time will be precious while in the MHRM program. In addition to the core courses, I'm taking two electives this session (and probably one elective next session) and serving as a graduate administrative assistant for the college. I also am going to try to re-launch the Fisher LGBT affinity group (called "Out in Business") sometime soon if I can get the time to do it! (For a myriad of reasons, the group is currently inactive, although Fisher is absolutely inclusive and welcoming with LGBT students.
Anyway, one of my favorite courses thus far is called "Organizational Turnarounds." The crux is: how do you turnaround failing organizations? Senior Lecturer Jeff Rodek teaches the (popular) course. We're learning that this difficult task requires a lot of structured, but quick decision-making. In addition to a textbook, we're gleaning insight from case studies and articles... AND Mr. Rodek himself. He's a former CEO of Hyperion Solutions-- and he was charged with doing his own turnaround of the company. You can read quite a bit online about his time there. What's awesome about the class is that the students are required to analyze and assess HIS performance at Hyperion-- the good, bad, and ugly. It's part of our first group paper.
He's incredibly open and honest about his experience as CEO. He doesn't sugarcoat it. He's reflective of things he did well and things he'd like to go back and change. And he wants us to learn from it. How cool is that? This isn't some professor who's been buried in research for years; he's been in the thick of things and he's sharing his insight and knowledge with us. He also has a great sense of humor and really tries to spark good conversation in the classroom.
One thing he said in class this week-- and this was really a very small comment related to the topic at hand, but immediately hit me-- is the need to "shape the game" as leaders (particularly during a turnaround), not just "play the game." As someone who's told friends and colleagues many times to play the game, I really appreciated his revision of this mantra. It resonated with me. Shape your experiences and relationships in the way you want them to be shaped; take change of your own destiny rather than being a willing bystander.
And it applies to what I'm doing now as a student. Despite the stress, I've reminded myself that I am here because I want a challenge. I'm here to grow. I'm here to be the best. So, I'm going to work hard, build relationships, and learn as much as I can to shape my professional and personal life in the way I want it to be. O-H-I-O!