I have been thinking lately about all the high school students across the globe who are preparing to graduate May and June.   For many, the college years will be their next life chapter.  I have some advice for now and over the next few years……

1.  Choose your college based on what you need, not what their reputation is.  Can they help you achieve your dreams?  Will they help you achieve your dreams?

2.  Do some soul searching for what you want to achieve in your life.  Make sure you are following YOUR dreams.

3.  Spend some time thinking about what you love to do.  What major do you need to do that for a living?

4.  Choose your college and major based on #2 and #3.

5.  Choose your major as quickly as possible.  Taking a bunch of classes to figure it out can delay your graduation and cost more money.

6.  Decide if student loans are the best way to go.  You could be paying them off for a really long time.  Like 20 years!  You have to pay interest on those loans.

7.  Taking student loans is necessarily bad, betting on yourself can be a good bet.  Just balance out what you want to do with what it will cost to get there.

8.  Surround yourself with people who will support you in achieving your goals.

9.  Be a support to others trying to achieve their goals.

10.  Be an active learner.  Participate in class discussions.  Be someone your team can count on for group projects.

11.  Build your resume with your actions in college.

12.  Find a mentor.  This should be someone who can help you improve, not just someone you like.  Your mentor should be someone who pushes you to achieve your goals.  If you are not sure who to ask, talk to your faculty member about what your goals are.  They may have someone they can recommend.

13.  Be focused on your career.  College can and should be fun, but in the end it is about being employable.  Don’t forget that.

15.  If the door of opportunity cracks open, kick it wide open and step through the door.  Seriously.  Too many people let great opportunities pass them by because they were afraid of the unknown.  Think about someone who you think has lead an interesting life.  Do you think they let opportunities pass by?  NOPE!

16.  Dream every day.  Never let your mind stop thinking about all the wonderful possibilities life has for you.  Lets change that.  Don’t just dream.  DREAM BIG!

17.  Make friends with the quiet people too.  You will find that they may be the most interesting people you know.  They just don’t feel the need to tell everyone how great they are.

18.  Get to know the people teaching your classes.  This is important in all learning modalities.  You should know the teachers and coaches in your online classes as well.  More importantly, you want them to know you.

19.  Network, Network, Network.  You never know when you will need someone to help you out.

20.  When you finally get your degree and your first “real” job, take the time to say thank you to the people who helped you get there.  Not a text or an email.   Make it meaningful.  They cared enough to help you achieve your goals, the least you can do is let them know they matter to you.

Higher education has become a master of assessment.  I have been wondering lately if we are actually measuring the things that truly matter.  We are so tied to what our accreditors want to see that I wonder if we are losing site of the big picture.   Does it matter if we can check every box on our learning outcomes if students graduate yet didn’t develop the skills to be employable?

What is the main reason students go to college?  My personal experience tells me that the main reason has something to do with jobs and making money.  Are we preparing them to do this?  Are we requiring enough hands on project based learning to build their resumes to make them marketable?  One college internship doesn’t seem like enough anymore.

Maybe we should be measuring our success by their success AFTER they graduate, not just how well they moved through our course and degrees?

What are your thoughts on this?

Leaders are readers. Here are some ways reading can sharpen your stone.

1. Reading will increase your knowledge base. Leadership is a skill that needs to be developed. The more you know the better.
2. Reading will broaden your perspective. Read more than just leadership books.
3. Reading will give you “ins” with people.   Reading can provide topics for conversation and help you relate to people you do not know.
4. Reading allows you to learn from experts.
5. Reading opens your mind to new thoughts and ideas.
6. Reading allows you to go far without leaving.
7. Reading keeps you relevant and current on trends in your field.

It is okay to be a book nerd.   Find what you like to read.  You will find leaders in all genres of books. I prefer historical non-fiction, but also love Tolkien. Bilbo Baggins takes one heck of a leadership journey in The Hobbit!

What it comes down to is this. Leadership is a skill that needs to be nurtured and developed.   If you fancy yourself a leader, you owe it to those you lead to ensure your stone stays sharp.

Make a pledge this New Year to read a minimum of 6 books.   If you are an avid reader and leader, work with someone you know who is not a reader. Walk along side them on this pledge to sharpen their stone.   Read on!