Thank You Team!

I think today is the day the world was supposed to end.... glad they were wrong.

Today was the end of an era for me though.  Officially, this was my last day in my role as VP of Enrollment at Harrison College.  Next week, I move over to the Chef's Academy and begin a new era.  There is a lot I can reflect back on over the past five-and-a-half years and feel very good about.  I entered into this position with a timeline of 3-5 years until I wanted to transition to something else, so the timing is right and the next opportunity is very exciting.

I have had some really great teams in the past and have worked with some very talented people, but I have to say that the team I am leaving has been one of the best groups of people I have had the privilege of working with.  The core group has been six administration team members (7 including myself) for the last three years with others joining more recently as we restructure.  I could spend some time talking about their work professionally, their expertise and how competent they are but that's not really what I will value the most from my experience working with them - at least not the things that will matter in the long term to me personally.

I chose to come to work at Harrison because of the culture boasted a balanced philosophy of Faith, Family, Health, and Job - all very important values to me, personally.  I made no shame in sharing the importance of my family and my commitment to my them as a priority in my life.  As I shared with my team more of myself and my family they came to do the same.  I've had the privilege of watching couples become parents, parents grow and share, and families become friends.  This team grew into a work family themselves because each person was willing to openly share who they are, what they believe and value, and in the end receive acceptance from the entire team.  Each person brought a very different personality and perspective to the group that after some bumpy starts, became a team trait that was valued within the team.  Our individual differences made us collectively stronger. What resulted was not just a group of co-workers, but a group of people with genuine relationships who saw the strengths and faults of each member but worked tirelessly for each other and for the betterment of a vision they all helped to build and develop.

This group embraced an approach of always moving forward (IMUA) and working with the priority of the student experience at the top of the list. There was celebration when that experience was a good one and collaborative problem solving effort when we fell short.   As a team, we were not perfect, but we worked hard to be the best we could be and called each other out when we sensed opportunity.  That ethic and determination will be something I remember and hope to achieve again.

I don't know if others share my same high opinion of this team, but no one has worked more closely with this group that I have and as a result I am confident in the knowledge that I had the honor and privilege to lead a great group of people the past few years.  I have been blessed my their impact on me personally and professionally and I will miss working closely with them on a daily basis.

So "Thank you, Team!" I can't say it better than that.

Not your typical Sports role model

I've been a sports fan my entire life.  I've grown up admiring sports figures and I am raising kids who are following firm in my footsteps.  As fans, we're drawn to the superstars that hit big shots or the perennial all-star with historical career stats.  We dream of being able to do the super human feats our sports icons are able to do, but most of the time have a difficult time relating to a professional athlete because their world seems so much different than our own.  We rarely have any idea what kind of person they really are, what their real character is and even if we should be admiring these people.  I try and remind my kids that in most cases we can admire their athletic talent, but we should be careful about trying to mimic everything about our professional sports heroes. They too, after all, are flawed people.   So are the officials and umpires, but in the chaos that ensued at the end of the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians baseball game last night a different kind of role model showed himself.

Umpire Jim Joyce made a huge blunder that cost Armando Galarraga, a pitcher for the Tigers, a perfect game, one of the most elusive feats in baseball.  Joyce called a runner safe on a play that he was clearly out and every replay angle confirmed that Joyce missed the call.  So all the talk on the radio this morning and into the afternoon centered around instant replay's role in baseball, and I can understand that being everyone's concern.  For me, however, the real surprise  and point of discussion around the evening's event came in how Joyce handled himself after the game.  Joyce acknowledged his mistake, acknowledged the impact it had on the game and Galarraga, apologized for his error, and accepted responsibility for his mistake.  He didn't just do this with his peers, but he went directly to Gallarraga and then to the media with humility and acceptance of his accountability to his actions.


It is an awesome example for others and especially for my kids.  It's been great fodder for conversations tonight about trying your best and accepting responsibilities for the results, good and bad.  It's hard to be willing to be held accountable for failures, but Joyce showed the courage and humility that it takes.  As a result, it could be argued that people have a lot more respect and higher regard for him today than they did before he screwed up baseball history.  We all make mistakes in our job and as we watched in amazement as Joyce made possibly the biggest of his career, many of us were sympathetic to his situation.  The professionalism he demonstrated and his character and integrity that has shown through in the past 24 hours have given evidence that there are more than just athletes to look up to in professional sports.

It's all thanks to Twitter...

Last week Wednesday we had a terrible experience at the airport. My wife and daughter were scheduled to fly to Portland via Denver on Frontier Airlines for a family wedding this weekend.  When we got to the airport, there was a surprisingly long line at the counter. The girls got in line but then became suspicious when they noticed it wasn't moving at all.  Eventually a counter agent came over the speaker to explain that due to weather they had cancelled all remaining flights into Denver for the day and furthermore every flight the next day was overbooked so passengers could contact customer service for a refund of their tickets.  That was it. No assistance to transfer travelers to another airlines, that isn't their policy since the cancellation was due to weather.  When we dug deeper they told us the soonest they could get the two girls on a flight to Portland, was next week Wednesday.  I have never experienced or heard anything like this. Both girls were very upset and my daughter started what seemed like 5 hours of constant crying and complaining.

The whole experience was very strange to me so turned to twitter looking for some answers.  I knew Frontier (@flyfrontier) used and communicated with passengers via twitter, so I reached out.  In the mean time, my wife continued her efforts through the 800 number to customer service the ticket agent gave us at the airport.  Every person she spoke with gave her the same story: since it was due to weather they had a policy to not transfer passengers to other airlines and if we wanted to pursue another airline, the expense would be our own and they could refund our Frontier tickets.  The challenge with this, was that their refund process typically takes 15-20 days, according the the agents we spoke with, and same day tickets were 4x as expensive as what we purchased the original flights for.  The whole experience was more than disappointing and leaving me with a very bad perception of Frontier.

At the end of my wife's two hour ordeal on the phone with customer service (I'd like those cell minutes back, please) I checked twitter to see that Frontier had responded to my original tweet.  I began a conversation with @FlyFrontier about my our travel situation, the importance of getting back to Oregon for the wedding, and the all around dissatisfaction and disappointment we were having with their airline.  The responses to my tweets and direct messages was quick and helpful.  In the end, I got a message that said, "we don't usually do this, but how would a 7pm flight...." and a few hours later my wife and daughter were on their way to Oregon on a different airline, arranged completed by Frontier and through twitter.

What began as a terrible customer service experience ended with a great story and example for other companies to follow of how to connect with customers via a very effective and powerful communication tool.  Sure my wife and daughter lost a day off their trip, but we don't blame Frontier for the weather, we just expected the ticket agents and phone agents to provide the customer service experience the tweeter agent ultimately did.

Kudos to @FlyFrontier for saving a family of customers, providing a level of service to be mirrored, and thanks for helping my girls get to the wedding of the year.  For anyone who hasn't embraced twitter yet, hopefully this story demonstrates how valuable a tool it can be to connect with people and businesses.  If you're already tweeting, follow @FlyFrontier if you want an example of how to engage your customers and improve their experience with your business and brand.

Follow me on twitter - @rkaopuiki

Ignite Indianapolis

I went to an event in downtown Indianapolis tonight with my friend Bill (@billwolfe) called Ignite Indianapolis. I wasn't familiar with Ignite until this event, but apparently the Ignite events were started by O'Reily Media and are done all over the world.  The evening was almost 2 hours long, but if flew by because the presentations are exactly 5 minutes in length and consist of 20 slides auto advancing every 15 seconds.  When the 5 minutes are up, the presentation is over.  The presenters were a varied bunch of people with different ideas they are passionate about as personal interests, professional endeavors, or some sort of combination. My favorites of the night were (in no particular order):

• Jason Moriber from Wise Elephant (@jelefant) - his presentation on Platforming the Empty Middle was probably the most entertaining, although I didn't completely agree with everything he said. He still made me think about how to and what role platforming has within higher ed.
• Bob Mattax from Developer Town who answered the question, Why Houses?  His ideas wouldn't work for my line of work, but it made sense to me and I thought the originality was awesome!
• Brian Shafer from Walnut Valley Bison convinced me to eat more Bison and left me with the best advice, directly from Bison:
• Stand your ground
• Have a tough hide
• Keep moving forward
• Let the chips fall where they may
• Stacie Porter-Bilger from the Hoosier Academies who walked everyone through the life of a 1st grader experiencing a revolution in education through technology.  There are some awesome things happening in online education before students get to college.

All in all it was a great night and I look forward to the next event, supposedly taking place in a few months.  I'll have to start thinking of my own topic to present on.

December Days - 12.14.09

So, my team is reading The New Gold Standard by Joseph Michelli. It's a leadership book based on principles learned from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. It's been a great read and experience so far as we hold weekly D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) meetings and then discuss topics and issues presented in the sections we read.

Yes, we are wearing shower caps in this picture. Some could argue they are metaphorical "thinking caps" as we take lessons learned through our readings and try to find the application in our own business. Others are just running with the hotel theme.... Either way, this is a fun group to work with and they aren't afraid to let loose and still be productive and get work done. It's one of the best small groups I have been apart of, each member bringing different skills and gifts to the team to create a real ensemble. This is the group that makes me really enjoy coming to work each day.

Harrison College

Today is an exciting day because I now work for Harrison College! No, I didn't switch jobs, we've changed our name from Indiana Business College to Harrison College.

This is a big change for the institution as it has been known as Indiana Business College for a significant portion of its 107 year history. It is also just another example of the college's ability to adapt and change in a very dynamic time in education. It makes me very proud to be associated with an institution that is looking seriously at the needs of the communities and students it serves and making the necessary changes to best meet those needs. The rate of positive change has been incredible over the past couple years, but the commitment of the staff and faculty to students and each other has made them all possible.

So, it's a new name, but the value structure and commitment to student success and excellence in the classroom remains. The first 107 years have been very good to the students, alumni, and employees of Harrison College. Today was another step in the right direction to ensure the next 100 years are as well.

Harrison College Press Release

Harrison College Website

Working toward Accomplishments

In looking at my Outlook calendar, I could half-jokingly say I need to figure out how to add more hours to the day or maybe another entirely new day to the week in order to fit everything into my schedule. On the surface it may sound like complaining or a pity-me-party because I have so much to do, but the truth is: I like being busy and if I'm really honest, I like the feeling of being on the brink of being too busy.

I said "on the brink" though, and as I flirt with that precipice I can sometimes find myself mismanaging my time and priorities by allowing various meetings, tasks, and people to pull me in directions that are not the best use of my valuable and precious time. It's a common problem that many of us share and I see it happen to people all around me.

At it's core it's a time management and prioritization issue that I am working to improve on. In the past I have often begun my day by asking myself "What do I have to get done today?" More recently I have been asking a different question: "What do I want to accomplish today?" My day has lots of "have to dos" in the form of emails, phone calls, and reports but rarely are they truly important or could be called accomplishments in the grand scheme of my long term goals. Focusing on what I want to accomplish means spending my time, energy, and efforts on important items that bring me closer to specific long term goals I have - working with an end goal in mind.

We're all a work in progress though and accountability can help us in our journey. If you start your day by asking yourself what you want to accomplish, make sure you circle back at the end of the day and see how you did. Find someone you work with to share your goals with and hold each other accountable. In fact, do me a favor and next time we talk or correspond, ask me what I accomplished today. I'll be sure to return the favor.

Thank your Mentor

Several years ago when I was thrust into a position I thought I was ready for, but in hindsight know better, I was fortunate to have a great mentor.  He wasn't perfect, but at that time in my life he was exactly what I needed in a professional mentor.  I can honestly say that I wouldn't be where I am today with the experience and knowledge I have if it wasn't for his influence - and that's good thing!  I need to send him another thank you email......

I feel like I am lacking that now, however.  I learn a lot from the great and talented people I work for, work with, and that work for me but I am missing that one person I can confide in, trust, and seek out for guidance.  The person who will help me develop professionally (and personally) as I grow and move forward in my career.  He's out there though, and this year I am committed to finding him!  

Who's your mentor? Are you spending enough time with him/her?  Make sure you thank them for the positive impact they have had on your growth and development.

First Impressions

I spent the evening tonight observing a group interview that emphasized the importance of great first impressions. It was interesting to see which candidates innately understood what the process was about and made a little extra effort to leave a positive first impression. It was also interesting to see how many didn't.

I've heard/learned on several occassions that it takes eleven positive encounters to counteract one negative. In other words, make a poor first impression and there is little chance of ever changing it.

During a depressed economy when everyone is cautiously entering into business relationships with a hesitation to spend money or invest in something new, we all can be reminded of the importance of first impressions - as individuals and as businesses. Take a moment to ask someone you trust for their honest feedback. What you hear, may be the key to landing that next great job or big sale.

He's Back!

There is something special about being able to watch someone excel at what they do or be so effective  in their work that you can't help but appreciate them and become a fan.  I enjoy excellence and draw inspiration from someone with qualities I work hard to develop in my own person.

It's for this reason that I have my DVR set for the Golf Channel this afternoon when Tiger returns to competitive play.  The man clearly has some freakish skills that we've never seen the likes of on a golf course.  My own golf game has zero comparisons to Tiger's, and if you've golfed with me you will agree.  But I don't even attempt to emulate him, at least on the golf course.

Freakish skills aside, the man has other qualities that we all could learn from and I do try to develop for the sake of both my personal and professional life. 

• Initiative/Drive - I think most would agree that Tiger has more than anyone else in his sport and this helps to separate him from the pack. He wants to be the best.  
  
• Positive Attitude - he expects to win, nothing less.
  
• Passionate - he loves what he does and is willing to do whatever it takes to be successful, without sacrificing his character and integrity.
  
• Embraces Change - he is always looking for ways he can change his swing or his game to become even better.
  
• Hard Worker - success doesn't just happen, it's a round the clock effort to get the results.
  
• Accountable - it's all about his performance. Distractions and obstacles are part of the game, it is entirely up to him to figure out how to overcome them.
  
• Dependable - we expect him to win to the point where it isn't as special anymore.  It's when he doesn't that we're surprised.
  

I am sure there are more, but these are the qualities that immediately come to mind. So, as a golf fan and as someone appreciative of excellence, I am happy Tiger's back.