I have never really viewed myself as much of a storyteller. However, I recognize that I will have to tap into this creative aspect to win over the hearts and minds of my audience. My audience is a team of academic advisors. Advisors are often charged with being the messenger of every policy, the knower of every rule, and the guide for each program. Advisors assist students through nervous admission, personal turmoil, and academic challenges. My story began 10+ years ago as I embarked on my academic advising career. My experience as an undergraduate student and my previous career in the medical profession made me an advocate in my advising role. I taught students where to seek and confirm information. I taught them how to find their voice and to ask for clarification and support when needed. As they progressed through college, I encouraged them to verify everything for themselves and take no one word for a fact. I informed them of the university resources and support services while encouraging them to fight the tendency to struggle in silence. I followed my students long beyond their time with me and built relationships across campus in the years I served as an academic advisor. Life’s irony has me in a leadership role where I began this career. I feel like this advising center’s story is my story too. I want to capture the hearts of the team I now humbly lead.
All of the previous leadership left the department mid-restructure. There are now layers of leadership opportunities, and the advising assignment structure is changing from individuals specializing in specific majors to groupings of similar majors. This change in our advising structure is a significant shift for students and academic departments. This shift requires a change in culture within and across the institution. I am determined to create a culture of teamwork and a united front of support personnel on the side of the students we serve. Needless to say, the opportunities are plentiful, and changes abound. I have been working these last 2-3 months to build trust and transparency, knowing that the staff will have to have faith as we plan and move forward together.
The timing of this course and the presentation content is timely. I am looking to incorporate all of Nancy Duarte, Simon Sinek, and Presentation Zen‘s recommendations on effective presentation as I begin to spread our message of the change to undergraduate advising both to departments and students.
The audience of my presentation will be this team of advisors. I want these advisors to know and recognize the importance of their role and the impact on young people’s lives they get to help shape. I must connect with them and promise to provide ongoing training and support throughout the changes we face. The professional learning we will undertake together allows us to co-create a bigger and brighter future for our learners. I must help them see the difference between the world as it currently exists (advising as it exists) and the world as it could be (communities/career clusters-teams of advisors). I must provide my idea as the solution to their struggles and frustrations. I must help them to see that instead of the weight of many students falling solely to them to manage, they can have a supportive team to lean on and attack issues together. Through the continual contrasting of what is currently and what could be, through stories, and with the solutions presented by my innovation, I can help win over my audience’s hearts. My role as the presenter is to help them see my innovation as the bright future they have hoped to find.
My call to action must be the rallying cry that convinces them to jump on board and forge this new future with me.
The Advisor That Cares 