414 Following Your Own Star
There comes a time in our lives where we need to stop and take stock of what we want to do next and our next steps in getting there. Perhaps it’s more than just one thing, perhaps you’re just floating through life trying to figure out what to do next, or perhaps you think this goal is too lofty despite all your hard work. Which is why it is so important to take all you know about others and yourself and apply it to whatever comes next.
In today’s episode Sarah Elkins and Professor KD Frick discuss the importance of that specific personal growth, as well as the importance of believing in others and yourself even when you aren’t sure where your own star is leading you, and especially to greet the world with open arms.
414 Following Your Own Star
There comes a time in our lives where we need to stop and take stock of what we want to do next and our next steps in getting there. Perhaps it’s more than just one thing, perhaps you’re just floating through life trying to figure out what to do next, or perhaps you think this goal is too lofty despite all your hard work. Which is why it is so important to take all you know about others and yourself and apply it to whatever comes next.
In today’s episode Sarah Elkins and Professor KD Frick discuss the importance of that specific personal growth, as well as the importance of believing in others and yourself even when you aren’t sure where your own star is leading you, and especially to greet the world with open arms.
Image of stones mentioned in episode. Provided by KD Frick
Highlights
Finding the right words for where you are in your life right now.
Leading with compassion and empathy.
Position yourself to be able to understand.
Don’t immediately dismiss someone, you never know where their combined ideas may lead. Everyone has their own North Star they follow.
Quotes
“Empathy leads to approachability.”
“Look as long as I’m here and unless you tell me otherwise, I’m planning on reading names. Because it’s the last connection students have with us.”
Dear Listeners it is now your turn,
What did you hear in this conversation that struck you as something that resonated? Maybe it was about not knowing what you want to do next, maybe it was I do know what I want to do next but I’m not being consistent enough to make it happen. I am so curious to hear your thoughts, please share them either in the comments or wherever you see this shared or send me an email.
And, as always, thank you for listening.
About KD
KD Frick was originally trained as a health economist and began a career at Johns Hopkins as a faculty member at the Bloomberg School of Public Health; after a bit more than sixteen years in that role, with responsibilities like associate department chair and faculty senate president, a move was made to the Carey Business School as vice dean for education. The eight and one-half years spent in that role were a time of growth and expansion of opportunity. With colleagues encouraging a return to research, challenging decisions around COVID, a focus on ranking academic programs that was not of interest, and a lack of visible opportunities for advancement in administration, a decision was made to return to just a faculty role. The result has been great fulfillment, a change in teaching, and a focus on leading by teaching others to lead artisnally toward aspirational narratives for themselves and those they are developing. There is still room for work on the economics of eye care where Professor Frick has the opportunity to apply the leading with values approach that is taught in the classroom.
Be sure to check out Professor Frick’s LinkedIn, thoughts on tHERSday newsletter, as well as Business and Economics of Eye Care and Health!
About Sarah
"Uncovering the right stories for the right audiences so executives, leaders, public speakers, and job seekers can clearly and actively demonstrate their character, values, and vision."
In my work with coaching clients, I guide people to improve their communication using storytelling as the foundation of our work together. What I’ve realized over years of coaching and podcasting is that the majority of people don’t realize the impact of the stories they share - on their internal messages, and on the people they’re sharing them with.
My work with leaders and people who aspire to be leaders follows a similar path to the interviews on my podcast, uncovering pivotal moments in their lives and learning how to share them to connect more authentically with others, to make their presentations and speaking more engaging, to reveal patterns that have kept them stuck or moved them forward, and to improve their relationships at work and at home.
The audiobook, Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will is now available!
Included with your purchase are two bonus tracks, songs recorded by Sarah's band, Spare Change, in her living room in Montana.
Be sure to check out the Storytelling For Professionals Course as well to make sure you nail that next interview!
283 Cultivating Your Ideal Environment
Creativity and problem solving often go hand in hand usually in very unexpected ways, however when given the chance to bend and try things in new and unexpected ways without judging yourself or your abilities you may just find that these two vital skills can shape your strength and identity going forward.
In today’s episode Sarah Elkins and Dr. Cyndi Burnett discuss the importance of creativity and education and how these two things can shape our identities and images of authenticity going forward.
283 Cultivating Your Ideal Environment
Creativity and problem solving often go hand in hand usually in very unexpected ways, however when given the chance to bend and try things in new and unexpected ways without judging yourself or your abilities you may just find that these two vital skills can shape your strength and identity going forward.
In today’s episode Sarah Elkins and Dr. Cyndi Burnett discuss the importance of creativity and education and how these two things can shape our identities and images of authenticity going forward.
Highlights
Sometimes you need to do things differently than you normally would in order to connect with your audience.
You have to work with people who are different from you, you do not want to be stuck in an echochamber.
Everyone is creative in their own way.
Quotes
“That’s what teaching is, it’s all problem solving. So if you think about creativity as problem solving and not just arts and crafts and who has a nice door, then you’ll understand that all of you in this classroom are creative, otherwise you wouldn’t survive as a teacher.”
“Sometimes it’s hard to stop and say; okay hey we made it through this week, let’s celebrate that! Just finding those small things that we can celebrate in both our personal and professional lives can really help with the overall wellbeing that we’re moving forward through something.”
“I give them a baby plant with a letter that says; This plant represents your wellbeing. If you can’t keep it alive you’re not doing something for yourself. And so if it dies you need to really stop and reflect on what you’re doing wrong that you can’t even keep this plant alive, ‘cause it only takes a little bit of watering once a week. If you can’t do that you’re not taking care of yourself.”
Dear Listeners it is now your turn,
What if you took this challenge from Cyndi and the next time you found yourself judging yourself for something you do or don’t do or something you’re afraid to do or something you have an idea about and you “Should” all over yourself about, I should be happy, or I should be okay with this without implementing this new idea I have. The next time you do that, really question where that came from and just as importantly, if not more importantly, find somebody who will support your idea or who will challenge you to think about your idea and how you can actually implement it. Find the people in your life, your community, that when you say “I have this crazy idea,” they say, “Awesome, how can I help?”
And, as always, thank you for listening.
About Cyndi
Dr. Cyndi Burnett is the Director of Possibilities for Creativity and Education, and the co-founder of the Creative Thinking Network for Educators. Her mission is to empower educators to infuse creative thinking into the classroom. She taught deliberate creativity and creative problem solving for 20 years at the Center for Applied Imagination at SUNY Buffalo State University. She is also the co-host of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast.
Connect with Cyndi on her LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook!
Be sure to check out her podcast Fueling Creativity in Education! As well as her websites Creativity and Education, and Creative Thinking Network!
About Sarah
"Uncovering the right stories for the right audiences so executives, leaders, public speakers, and job seekers can clearly and actively demonstrate their character, values, and vision."
In my work with coaching clients, I guide people to improve their communication using storytelling as the foundation of our work together. What I’ve realized over years of coaching and podcasting is that the majority of people don’t realize the impact of the stories they share - on their internal messages, and on the people they’re sharing them with.
My work with leaders and people who aspire to be leaders follows a similar path to the interviews on my podcast, uncovering pivotal moments in their lives and learning how to share them to connect more authentically with others, to make their presentations and speaking more engaging, to reveal patterns that have kept them stuck or moved them forward, and to improve their relationships at work and at home.
The audiobook, Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will is now available!
Included with your purchase are two bonus tracks, songs recorded by Sarah's band, Spare Change, in her living room in Montana.
Be sure to check out the Job Interview Storytelling Course as well to make sure you nail that next interview!
Episode 185: What Happens When You're the Child of Survivors of Significant Trauma?
Jeff Furman is an extraordinary combination of his parents. He has the gift of intense observation of people and surroundings, while also demonstrating significant empathy. The two together allow him to predict student behavior in the classroom, making him a highly effective educator.
Growing Up with Survivors of the Holocaust
Jeff Furman is an extraordinary combination of his parents. He has the gift of intense observation of people and surroundings, while also demonstrating significant empathy. The two together allow him to predict student behavior in the classroom, making him a highly effective educator.
Jeff Furman podcast episode cover image
He shared a story of clarity: Watching his girlfriend (many years ago) standing in the shallows of the ocean, hesitating to dive into the large waves, he had an insight as he observed her stepping forward and then stepping back. He asked "are you the child of Holocaust survivors?" She was.
How did he know that? Because his parents were fiercely protective of him, his mother was especially fearful of potential physical harm, and he recognized the effects of that kind of upbringing in his girlfriend.
This conversation was especially fascinating to me because of how his parents differed in the way their protectiveness was demonstrated in their words and actions. I was also highly curious about how Jeff sees the current impact of growing up like that on his life now, as a near-retirement aged professional.
We discussed current research around generational PTSD, and I mentioned an episode of this podcast featuring Rajkumari Neogy where we referred to the studies around intergenerational trauma and epigenetics.
If you're a regular listener of this show, you'll be especially pleased to hear Jeff's answer to my standard request: Tell us something about yourself that most people probably don't know. Hint: It's another musical reference!
Our conversation included a lot of references to the music that lights Jeff up, history related to WWII, and a few locations in and around New York City. Here are some links to satisfy your curiosity:
A few notes from Jeff:
This is a 7-minute mini-documentary with Suzanne Vega that I’m sure you’ll like. She’s filmed in a cab in Manhattan on her way to the Fast Folk pasta dinner, where she is talking about how she is a little afraid of performing a new song in front of Jack Hardy and his peers, who will give constructive criticism. I met Jack Hardy also when he played at our college, and when I moved to Greenwich Village in the 80s, I got to spend some time with him. A lot of the singer-songwriters I interviewed were part of his circle. He was a very talented songwriter and very good singer and performer, but he became more known especially for helping providing the venue (Fast Folk) that others spring-boarded from, especially Suzanne Vega, Lucy Kaplansky, The Roches, and Shawn Colvin. I loved all these talented people and it was a very rich experience for me meeting and interviewing them for the Bergen Record (leading New Jersey newspaper) and Performing Songwriter Magazine. Publishing these articles helped me get my first book contract.
Here is Tom Russell performing the song he wrote: “MANZANAR” about the Japanese internment camp, from the perspective of a Japanese American who was imprisoned there after the attack on Pearl Harbor. I selected this song from Tom’s albums for the interview I did with him for Performing Songwriter Magazine.
And my favorite of all the folk groups part of the Fast Folk scene was The Roches (3 sisters: Terre, Suzzy, and Maggie Roche). I think this is one of their best songs/videos: “Mr. Sellack.” It captures their writing, singing, humor and charm really well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQMwU3TrVE0
Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn, visit his website, and check out his series of project management books here.
ABOUT SARAH:
Podcast cover image with image and quote from Sarah Elkins
"Uncovering the right stories for the right audiences so executives, leaders, public speakers, and job seekers can clearly and actively demonstrate their character, values, and vision."
In my work with coaching clients, I guide people to improve their communication using storytelling as the foundation of our work together. What I’ve realized over years of coaching and podcasting is that the majority of people don’t realize the impact of the stories they share - on their internal messages, and on the people they’re sharing them with.
My work with leaders and people who aspire to be leaders follows a similar path to the interviews on my podcast, uncovering pivotal moments in their lives and learning how to share them to connect more authentically with others, to make their presentations and speaking more engaging, to reveal patterns that have kept them stuck or moved them forward, and to improve their relationships at work and at home.
Audiobook promotional image
The audiobook, Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will is now available!
Included with your purchase are two bonus tracks, songs recorded by Sarah's band, Spare Change, in her living room in Montana.
A Letter to Students, Fall 2020
You Will Make Your Own Stories
You keep hearing the word unprecedented, right?
Mt. Helena, Helena, Montana 2020
For some reason, it seems to be coming with negative connotations.
What if, instead of thinking
2020 happened to me
you decide
2020 happened for me.
This is your time, friends.
Unprecedented doesn’t mean bad. It means unique.
It means no one has faced what we are facing right now, in the way that we are facing it.
What does this mean for you?
It means you get to create this year of school, whether it’s your freshman year or senior year of high school or college, or any other year in your education.
Your parents are grieving what they see as your loss, all the wonderful things they experienced as seniors.(Many of them won’t tell you that prom sucked, that graduation was boring and they slept through it, or that while there were fond memories of high school, the far more meaningful memories and stories came after those years.)
They are grieving things that haven’t happened yet. They are projecting their grief onto you.
It’s understandable because, as parents, it’s all we know. We don’t want to see you miss out on anything!
But what if we reframe this entire discussion to determine what CAN happen instead of focusing on what won’t happen.
What does that mean?
It means that you have a choice and an opportunity to create new traditions, new ways of doing things, new ways of addressing the issues our communities are currently facing.
You will not follow a traditional path. You already knew that. You’ve seen data coming from our economic and business experts, you know we’re facing a bigger and bigger gig economy, fewer traditional university and college education paths, and a majority of future jobs that we cannot even begin to imagine – all within the next 5 to 10 years.
So why not start RIGHT NOW with a non-traditional path?
Imagine yourself standing at the doorway of an institution, a school, your home, work. Imagine you are looking out at an open field with a few well-worn paths; the majority of what’s in front of you is wide open. (There’s a reason they call Montana Big Sky Country.)
You see a stunning, snow-capped mountain in the distance. You are tempted to step out of that institution, knowing going back means standing still while the world around you changes. You look out at the meadow full of giant boulders, yellow, red, and blue wildflowers, tall grasses, and very few footprints. You know there’s adventure ahead, and it makes your heart pound. You begin to smile, the corners of your mouth moving up, your eyes crinkling at the edges. There is company to be found in the wild, and you see someone in the distance that is taking an interesting journey ahead of you. You decide to head in that direction. You’re not committing to anything but leaving the institution, which you’re prepared to do.
Take the step. You have a role in your future, in the future of your community.
Our global communities are changing dramatically, and you are on the edge of that change. It’s not easy, and it feels like a huge responsibility.
You are up to it, friends.
You were born in a time of revolution in many ways, and your growing up environment prepared you for this moment. Truly.
You were raised with digital devices in your hands and learned quickly how they can get ugly. You watched your older siblings and parents become addicted to their phones, distracted from you, and many of you made the choice NOT to follow that path.
You cut your teeth on video games that actually created neural pathways to improve your hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Your schooling stayed traditional while you learned on your own how to connect with people all over the world, build communities around pictures, hobbies, and silly video production.
You can handle this. You WILL handle this with grace and innovation.
Stop grieving a future that never existed.
You were born for this time. Make it count.
If you are feeling like you’re standing at that doorway, but aren’t sure where to begin, send me a message. I’m offering a handful of Introduction to Strengths workshops for students. This might just be the tool you need to develop some clarity about what you do instinctively, intuitively well, and start being intentional about using those natural talents in your future.
Sarah Elkins loves to guide individuals and teams to improve communication, using storytelling as the foundation of her work. She is a Gallup certified Strengths coach and uses that tool to coach her clients to improve their communication in all relationships, and to find more satisfaction at work and at home.
Her book, Your Stories Don't Define You, How You Tell Them Will is available on bookshop.org (supporting independent booksellers), and on Amazon. The audiobook will be available in fall 2020.
A Spark of Inspiration is Only as Good as Your Response to It
The Spark that Started a Story of Innovation in Education
It was a TED video that caught Don Wettrick’s attention during his lunch hour. He’s always looking for inspiration through reading and videos, and as a teacher, he’s used to fitting that inspiration into little boxes necessary to keep administration happy. But this was different, partly because he had switched schools and his administrator was more open to changes and innovation, and partly because he really wanted to see his students find something they could get excited about.
When his students came to class that afternoon, Don showed them the video. They were not as impressed as he was, it seemed a little dry to them. And yet, as the discussion continued, an idea emerged. Students had often complained that if they were just given some freedom, they had all kinds of interests and projects they’d want to dig into.
“What if you had 30 minutes every Friday to work on whatever project you wanted?”
Don expected students to jump at the opportunity, and some did, but what he found was that a lot of students were so driven by grades and being pleasers, that when it came time to take those 30 minutes, he heard things like: “Well, Mr. Wettrick, what do you want me to work on?” And he’d answer, “whatever you want. What are you interested in?”
Many of the students had a really hard time thinking through that question, sparking an even greater desire for the idea of an innovation class, and curiosity about what would drive students to think more about what they liked, what they were interested in, and what they were good at.
Fast forward a few years after that spark of inspiration, and we see Don making waves all over the country with his work in bringing student innovation to classrooms everywhere.
Don Wettrick is the Innovation Coordinator at Noblesville High School, and is the author of "Pure Genius: Building a Culture of Innovation and Taking 20% Time to the Next Level." Wettrick has worked as a middle school and high school teacher; educational and innovation consultant; CEO, and podcast host. He is also the founder of StartEdUp, an organization dedicated to help transform the school culture toward innovation and enable student-led entrepreneurship.
In the podcast, he speaks about his great kids, particularly Ava and her podcast, redefining (thank goodness) influence and mentorship on younger generations.
Make History Accessible - Share Stories
Our son is taking theatre this year in school and is loving the experience. We've been telling him for years that he should get involved in performing arts because he can be SO dramatic...
A few weeks ago his class was asked to participate in the State Historical Society's Thursday night live reading event. The students, with great direction from their teacher, selected letters and diaries written by everyday Montanans between 1880 and 1990 to read to the audience. They were invited to select letters and diaries from the Historical Society's robust collection, and to research the characters with help from teachers and professionals in the agency. They also did research on their own to find images, photographs and maps, to create a visual accompaniment for the performance. The letters and diaries were from everyday Montanans, soldiers, families of soldiers, adventurers, and families separated during the civil war.
As a group, they defined the genre they wished to focus on, selected which letters and diaries to read, and created brief narratives to explain to the audience what they were about to hear.
Students took turns that evening between reading the narratives and reading the letters and diary entries as if they were those characters. It was an outstanding performance. What was extraordinary about the evening were the students' responses to questions from the audience following the live readings.
"When you were researching these characters, what struck you most about them?"
The people were real people, not famous historical figures. They were real people with real feelings, fears, and concerns for their families back home. We've read history with major characters, but these people were THERE, in the foxholes, writing letters to people and not knowing if they would ever see them again. They were real people who were experiencing historic moments with different perspectives, hopes, and dreams for the future.
"When you were reading through the letters in class, deciding which ones to include, did you have any emotional responses?"
Oh yes. Sometimes as we read a letter out loud to our classmates we'd get choked up, having trouble finishing reading without crying. I can't speak for my classmates, but for me it was about seeing myself in these words. My brother is serving in the military now and I couldn't help imagining what he would say in a letter if he wrote one.
"Did this exercise make you think differently about letter writing, and technology's impact on our lives and stories?"
Absolutely. It made me want to start writing a diary. So my words might offer a glimpse into real life in this era, way into the future.
Definitely. Reading these letters made me think I should start hand writing letters - on paper, with a pen - so my family could have them in the future.
Yes, for sure. I realized how much we could lose in terms of historical perspective from individuals - not famous people - if we don't find ways to collect the digital records being created now. But not just collecting them, there is plenty of data out there. We need to find ways to make sure the stories don't get lost in the sea of digital records, that we can categorize them and keep them long into the future.
I realized that those letters I have from my grandparents are even more valuable, bigger treasures, than I had given them credit for. Now I want to keep them safe, scan them in case of damage, and make sure I have them for my children some day.
I realize that handwriting really is important because it's part of what made these stories so real to us. Handwriting can give you a glimpse into the personality of the writer.
Are you as impressed as I am by these students? They are telling their own stories simply by expressing their feelings and thoughts about the characters they are researching! How much more can we do for ourselves in sharing our stories in such an engaging environment?
They were asked to perform like this again at another Thursday night reading. The organizers and audience were gushing about the power of this experience and were energized to do more with this concept.
Stories have impact on us emotionally, intellectually and physically. Many of us in the audience were sitting up and leaning forward for the entire hour-long production. What does that say about the performers and their material?
Do you have stories like this to share? Tell me more in the comments below!
Thank you for reading, commenting on, and sharing my posts!
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About me:
A skilled teacher and entertaining speaker, I offer storytelling and customer service trainings and workshops and one-to-one coaching. I teach people how to find their stories, organize them, and share them across platforms. Learning to tell your story is the key to your success. Visit this page to learn more.