Joe Sabado – Higher Education & Technology Leadership

As managers, how often do we ask ourselves, “what do I want for my staff?” Sometimes we focus so much on getting deadlines met, and tasks completed that we fail to ask and consider what we can do to help our staff grow, learn, and frankly to make sure they are satisfied personally and feel they’re contributing to the organization.

How often do we spend time talking one-on-one with them, and I mean talking with them, not talking at them? It’s easy to focus on what projects they’re working on and how much they’ve accomplished towards their tasks, but how often do we ask “how are you?” and “how can I help you?”

I write this as a personal reminder to take the time to fulfill my responsibility as a servant leader to my staff and ensure they are taken care of.

It is during the most challenging times of my job when I think how blessed I am to have my job in student affairs, specifically as an IT leader within student affairs. The sometimes convoluted nature of higher education bureaucracy, the pressure of delivering critical technology services with limited resources, and juggling competing priorities make it challenging some days. But, even with these challenges, actually, because of these challenges, I feel blessed to have my job. I can easily look beyond the day-to-day frustrations because I know that at the end of the day, what matters is that my colleagues and I, the work we do, have a very important purpose – to help students succeed.

My wife and I were watching a tv show this evening; it might have been Dinners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the food network. The host asked a chef, “how much of what you do is work and how much is love?” My wife asked me the same question. My immediate answer is 100% love. That may sound corny and overly sentimental, but I truly believe it. Yes, my job provides my wife and me with income to live a life we enjoy, but frankly, if I were paid the same amount working outside student affairs, I don’t think I would have the same personal and professional fulfillment. The public may hear and read about UCSB at times that we are a party school. The reality is that I know many students who came from challenging backgrounds growing up, and they have had to fight through some adversities to get to the university. I also know that these students take their studies seriously as they have the burden of creating a future for themselves and their families. These students drive me. They motivate me to do my part to make sure they succeed.

I don’t think about this often, but from time to time, I look at our portfolio and the body of work our team has done through the years, and it’s amazing how technology impacts the lives of our students way before they even step on to our university. I think about how our online disabled student program system enables our students with disabilities to get accessibility resources (note-takers, proctors, adaptive devices), how our student health service and counseling and psychological service information systems help our clinicians and psychologists provide timely and effective service to our students, and how our other systems and applications assist our students from the application process and after they graduate. When I think about the value of these systems,  I realize how important our roles are to the success of our students.

Sometimes I read/hear others complain about the demands of our jobs as student affairs professionals, and I think I can sympathize with some of these complaints. But, personally, if one is to think about the amazing opportunities we have to make a difference in the lives of our students and their families, how blessed are we to be working in student affairs?

One important lesson I have learned in life, a lesson learned from moments of frustration, is that it’s probably easier for me to change myself rather than change others. As I wrote in this blog post about working effectively with my boss, I realized that I needed to adjust my communication style and perspective so we could work better.  The idea of changing myself first rather than asking others to change is one I’ve come to apply to my personal and professional relationships. I can perhaps influence others to change, but I don’t think I can force others to change. Especially in a position of leadership, this is one of my key beliefs when helping others grow.

I read somewhere that in academia, we are quick to offer suggestions on how others could change but asked to change; that’s a different story. I’m sure this is not universally applicable, but one of my colleagues who work with faculty told me this – “faculty are quick to profess about change but ask them to change their parking space, and you’ll get a lot of complaints.” As I wrote, I’m sure this is not universally applicable to all faculty, and staff and administrators are probably just as guilty of this reluctance to change.

As I learned to accept the idea of looking to change myself first over others, I realized I needed to practice self-reflection of my actions, my values, and my emotions. I suppose it could be considered emotional intelligence, but I’ve learned (and still learning) to be aware of my reactions and thoughts, especially in emotional moments, and to react appropriately.  In addition, I’ve come to be more considerate/appreciative of the perspectives other folks bring. I look for these perspectives’ validity and positive aspects instead of offering quick criticisms.

In taking the approach of changing myself first before seeking to influence the change in others, I’ve become less stressed, and I think it has led to improved personal and professional relationships.

Photo credit: http://www.ifunny.com/pictures/who-wants-chang/

I attended a campus event to celebrate the retirement of UCSB Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Dr. Michael Young yesterday, January 23, 2015. Dr. Young will retire at the end of this month after 25 years as the VC for Student Affairs starting in 1990. It was an event attended by former and current students, staff and faculty, campus administrators, and local politicians. Throughout the three-hour event, speakers on stage shared Dr. Young’s accomplishments, the differences he made to the community, and most importantly, the differences he made to them as human beings. During the 24 years I’ve known Dr. Young, he has had a profound impact on me, greater than he will realize, as a student, professional, and human being. As I shared in this post dedicated to Dr. Young as my mentor/role model, I admired how he led, his integrity, and how he made others feel special. Even as a student new to UCSB, I saw Dr. Young as my possibility model. Dr. Young embodies the possibility that I, too, a person of color (PoC), can hold a leadership position at the highest level of the university. And, I can do so without compromising my value systems and my experience – my identity.

The event yesterday reminded me of the significance of possibility/role models and the impact  Dr. Young has had on others. Dr. Young inspires others through the virtue of his accomplishments and how he handles himself, especially with other folks who share similar experiences and backgrounds.

I became student affairs professional because of Dr. Young. Two primary reasons led me to my career path. For one, I had a positive experience as an undergraduate student, a student leader, and a student worker at UCSB because of the support many student affairs professionals provided. I chose this profession because I saw how Dr. Young effectively used his experience and value systems to create positive changes for the students and staff at UCSB.  At times, these changes needed principled leaders, like Dr. Young, who brought a sense of dignity and respect to the process leading to the appropriate outcomes. At times, these changes needed strong leaders, like Dr. Young, who was not afraid to challenge the institution. As one of the speakers said yesterday, Dr. Young brought conscience to the institution. Through him, I saw how a PoC could overcome racism and other institutional obstacles to get to its position. In addition, I saw how a PoC could bring their unique perspective, experience, and value systems only persons of color can only understand and use to promote the benefit of others.

My positive experience as an undergraduate student at UCSB was due to the help of many student affairs professionals during times of personal struggles and in helping me develop my sense of self. As a first-generation Filipino-American student, I faced many challenges during my times at UCSB from culture shock, limited financial resources, micro-aggressions, academic challenges, and just going through the process of growing up. How these professionals viewed, their work was shaped by Dr. Young.  Collectively, the student affairs professionals shared a common set of values of putting the needs of students first and treating them like they matter. These are value systems that were developed under the leadership of Dr. Young. Throughout the division of student affairs and the campus, his value systems were on display through the work of his staff and his relationships with students. These are values that matter to Dr. Young. These include freedom of speech, student activism, mental health and wellness, sustainability, technology, professional development, teamwork, and treating others with dignity.

I worked for a corporation that owned/managed hospitals a few months after I graduated from UCSB as a web developer. A few times, I was invited to meetings attended by hospital CEOs. I still remember walking into those meetings looking at the room and the folks sitting at the table. I sat in the corner of the room. They were all white males, middle-aged or older. I was the only person of color in the room. It was very intimidating. There were a couple of times when I joked to myself how I could never be one of them because I would fail one of the requirements – that I needed to be a white male. After a few months, I left the position to go back and work at UCSB in student affairs. I just didn’t feel like I belonged in the corporate world.

My experience in those meetings highlighted the significance of having folks in leadership/management positions who share similar backgrounds/values/experiences. At the very least, having persons of color at the highest leadership positions in an organization could suggest the org values diversity, or it could be just tokenism. So, as I describe the significance of Dr. Young and possibility models to PoCs like me, it goes beyond skin colors. It’s also how those folks like Dr. Young conduct themselves. It’s about how they overcame obstacles and how they can use their value systems and positively influence them to provide opportunities for others. Dr. Young embodies the qualities I was looking for in someone I admire and why he’s profoundly impacted my personal life and career as my possibility/role model.

In my career, I have been told a few times that I wasn’t the first choice for a seat on a committee or a role in my organization. I’ve been told I was given the position because there was either an extra seat or that other people didn’t want the role that was eventually given to me. At this point in my career, I am grateful for the opportunities that come my way, albeit not always how I may have wanted them.  My mentality nowadays is that I will make the best out of my situations and the opportunities given to me. I use this information to fuel my motivation to show others what I can do.

This was a different perspective from when I was younger. Back then, I took offense to the idea that I was not the first choice and was deemed not as qualified as others. I had a conversation quite a while ago with a colleague about the idea that I was added to a committee because I’m Asian. I was told I made a good addition to the group for diversity. This colleague was laughing when he said this to me, so I wasn’t quite sure if it was true, but there was some probable truth. I was very offended, and it took me a while to get over the idea that I was chosen not because of my abilities but because of possible tokenism. However, I’m glad I was on that committee because I think I made some contributions, and I was able to meet new folks along the way.

However opportunities are given to me, I’m grateful for them. At the end of the day, it’s what I make out of them that matters.