Nov. 12, 2025

Beyond the Classroom: The Future of Leadership and Entrepreneurship with Dr. Carrie Kisker

Beyond the Classroom: The Future of Leadership and Entrepreneurship with Dr. Carrie Kisker

What if the key to thriving as a leader is embracing adaptability, purpose, and education? This week, we’re joined by Carrie Kisker, President of Kisker Education Consulting and Director of the Center for the Study of Community Colleges, for a rich...

What if the key to thriving as a leader is embracing adaptability, purpose, and education?

This week, we’re joined by Carrie Kisker, President of Kisker Education Consulting and Director of the Center for the Study of Community Colleges, for a rich conversation on leadership challenges, community college impact, and the future of learning.

Carrie dives into:

  • How community colleges empower students to explore passions affordably and close to home
  • The critical pillars under attack in higher education... academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and civic engagement
  • Strategies for leaders to balance resistance and innovation amid shifting political and social climates
  • The evolving relationship between entrepreneurship and education in career pathways
  • Practical advice for emerging leaders on continuous learning, adaptability, and breaking down silos
  • How exposure to diverse perspectives fuels inclusive, effective leadership

Whether you’re a leader inside education or beyond, this episode will help you reimagine leadership as a dynamic, impact-driven vocation.

Resources Mentioned:
  • Kisker Education Consulting: kiskeredconsulting.com
  • Center for the Study of Community Colleges: centerforcommunitycolleges.org
  • Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carriekisker
  • Book: https://www.amazon.com/American-Community-College-Carrie-Kisker-ebook/dp/B0CGKBVWHL?ref_=ast_author_mpb
WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:03.279
This podcast is a proud member of the Teach Better

2
00:00:03.319 --> 00:00:07.040
podcast network, Better Today, Better Tomorrow, and the podcast to

3
00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:07.599
get you there.

4
00:00:07.799 --> 00:00:08.759
You can find out.

5
00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:11.400
More at Teechbetter dot com slash podcast.

6
00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:15.480
The best ideas can often come from unexpected places. I

7
00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:20.079
have seen innovations adopted in community colleges that came from

8
00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:24.320
a statement that a custodial worker made saying, I'm noticing

9
00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:26.839
that a lot of students are eating lunch and drop

10
00:00:26.839 --> 00:00:29.039
in their trash in this area, and what if we

11
00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:31.839
maybe beautified it and made this a place for gathering

12
00:00:31.879 --> 00:00:35.640
in connection and all of these things can support student success.

13
00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:38.359
Do you want to be a leader in a constantly

14
00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:42.200
changing world? Our emerging leaders look different, come from various

15
00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:44.719
backgrounds and from all different age groups.

16
00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:48.479
Leadership is changing and it's hard to keep up. But

17
00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:51.600
the good news you can be a leader too.

18
00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:55.600
You can be an emerging leader. Welcome to the Limitless

19
00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:58.840
Leadership Lounge, a try generational conversation.

20
00:00:58.399 --> 00:00:59.840
For emerging leaders.

21
00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:02.600
Come spend some time with us to discuss leadership from

22
00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:07.840
three angles. The coach, Jim Johnson, the professor, Doctor Renuma Kareem,

23
00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:13.400
the host, John Gering, a monthly guest, and you get

24
00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:16.239
in on the conversation on Facebook and Instagram, and be

25
00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:19.719
sure to follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Speaker.

26
00:01:20.120 --> 00:01:22.840
So come on in and make yourself comfortable.

27
00:01:23.239 --> 00:01:26.519
Really excited for our conversation today. I'm the Limitless Leadership

28
00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:29.079
Lounge with doctor Carrie Kisker and we'll get to her

29
00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:31.599
in just a moment. First though, I'm John Gerring, Doctor

30
00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:35.400
Numa Kareema is here and coach Jim Johnson as well.

31
00:01:35.480 --> 00:01:37.439
This is going to be a fun conversation today, as

32
00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:41.519
we always do, try generational conversations for you, the emerging leader,

33
00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:45.040
gaining leadership and personal development insights for you, whether you're

34
00:01:45.079 --> 00:01:47.799
starting a business, you're a leader in one, or even

35
00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:51.040
just as a leader in your family or your community. Coach,

36
00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:53.280
go ahead and introduce our guests today. We're excited to

37
00:01:53.319 --> 00:01:53.719
dive in.

38
00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:56.879
Yeah, we had a chance to connect with doctor Kerry

39
00:01:57.000 --> 00:01:59.599
Kissker and I had a nice conversation. Whether we're really

40
00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:02.000
excited to have her on our podcast. So let me

41
00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:05.359
just share a little bio. Doctor Kerrie Kisker is the

42
00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:08.759
president of Kisker Education Consulting in Los Angeles and a

43
00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:12.240
director of the Center for the Study of Community Colleges

44
00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:16.159
drawing from her own and others' research. She regularly speaks, writes,

45
00:02:16.199 --> 00:02:19.919
and consults with college leaders on issues related to entrepreneurship

46
00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:25.639
and innovation, program and policy development, strategic planning and accountability,

47
00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:30.240
civic learning, and democratic engagement. Doctor Kisker holds a BA

48
00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:35.319
in psychology in education from Dartmouth College and an MA

49
00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:39.159
and PhD in higher education with the University of California

50
00:02:39.479 --> 00:02:42.840
at Los Angeles called UCL. Being a basketball coach, there

51
00:02:42.919 --> 00:02:44.840
was this guy named John Wood that did a pretty

52
00:02:44.840 --> 00:02:47.800
good job there. Doctor Kisser was also the author of

53
00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:51.800
The American Community College, written with Arthur Cohen and Florence

54
00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:57.039
brought the shaping of American higher education with Arthur Cohen

55
00:02:57.159 --> 00:03:02.599
and creating entrepreneurial community colleges design thinking approach without further ado,

56
00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:06.439
Doctor Kerry Kisker, Welcome to the Limitless Leadership Lounge.

57
00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:08.680
Thanks so much, coach. It's a pleasure to be here

58
00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:08.960
with you.

59
00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:12.879
Yeah. So I'm going to delve in because we've definitely

60
00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:17.599
have had other people with PhDs and worked in higher education,

61
00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:21.400
but I know you focused a lot in the community college,

62
00:03:21.479 --> 00:03:24.319
which is something we haven't delved into much. I'm going

63
00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:29.120
to ask a question is that when students finish high school,

64
00:03:29.319 --> 00:03:31.479
a lot of them have no clue what they want

65
00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:34.879
to do. I'm interested to is, what would you tell

66
00:03:34.919 --> 00:03:38.000
a student that didn't have any really idea as far

67
00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:41.439
as why community college might be a great option for them.

68
00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:45.520
Sure, there's all sorts of reasons why community colleges might

69
00:03:45.560 --> 00:03:48.800
be a great fit for a student. I but let's say,

70
00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:52.560
particularly someone who's coming from high school, they don't know

71
00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:54.879
exactly what they want to do, but they're a little

72
00:03:55.039 --> 00:03:59.080
nervous about spend somewhere between twenty five and eighty thousand

73
00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:02.120
dollars a year to explore that. Now, if you can

74
00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:05.400
do that's fantastic. There's nothing wrong with going directly to

75
00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:09.439
a four year residential university and learning about yourself. That

76
00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:12.000
is the heart of the liberal arts model, right, that

77
00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:14.759
has worked so well for four hundred years in this country.

78
00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:17.879
And there are a lot of students who either can't

79
00:04:17.879 --> 00:04:20.639
afford that, who can't move away from home, who are

80
00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:24.199
maybe taking care of their parents or other family members,

81
00:04:24.279 --> 00:04:27.000
or have their own children, or need to work for

82
00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:31.319
whatever reason. And so that journey of self exploration needs

83
00:04:31.319 --> 00:04:34.160
to be a little bit less expensive and a little

84
00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:37.720
bit closer to home. So community colleges provide one way

85
00:04:37.800 --> 00:04:41.839
to figure out what we're interested in as a student

86
00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:45.000
and where our strengths lie. Right. We know that in

87
00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:48.360
this country, a whole lot of students come out of

88
00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:51.959
our secondary system, the K through twelve system, not feeling

89
00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:55.600
very good about themselves as students and not having a

90
00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:59.240
lot of confidence in their abilities, and that is sadly

91
00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:02.720
both a true and a failure of our system. But

92
00:05:02.759 --> 00:05:06.040
community colleges really provide a lovely second chance for those

93
00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:10.279
students to perhaps study something that might be a more

94
00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:13.720
applied and therefore of interest to them, So maybe one

95
00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:16.319
of the skilled trades where they may be able to

96
00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:20.399
graduate in a year, two years, sometimes even less, with

97
00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:23.000
training that prepares them to go right into the workforce

98
00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:26.240
and potentially earn a six figure salary off the bat.

99
00:05:26.439 --> 00:05:29.319
They also provide students who maybe do want to pursue

100
00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:32.920
university studies the chance to figure out, maybe knock out

101
00:05:32.920 --> 00:05:35.759
a couple of those general education requirements, figure out where

102
00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:39.600
their passions lie, and then transfer to either a nearby

103
00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:42.680
or sometimes a far away university. That happens all the time.

104
00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:46.519
The beauty of community colleges is that they have for

105
00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:49.920
roughly one hundred years, had this a La Karte model

106
00:05:49.959 --> 00:05:53.439
of offering something for everyone. It can also be the

107
00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:56.920
downfall of many a community college, right because we're trying

108
00:05:56.959 --> 00:05:59.600
to be all things to all people. But there's a

109
00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:04.480
real art in that idea that no matter what you want,

110
00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:08.240
you can achieve it here. And so most community colleges

111
00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:11.959
are really trying to maintain some aspect of that. You

112
00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:14.160
can find yourself here, you can find your passion, you

113
00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:20.120
can find your path without necessarily having that scattershot approach

114
00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:21.920
to doing everything all at once as well.

115
00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:24.879
And Carrie, I've watched your video on the leadership and

116
00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:29.439
existential crisis, and we are living in a kind of

117
00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:32.920
dystopian world right now, and those who are in the academics,

118
00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:37.839
we are experiencing so many, so many challenges. So you

119
00:06:37.879 --> 00:06:42.000
as a leader, and you have been consulting leaders in

120
00:06:42.040 --> 00:06:45.959
the field of education, I know that civic learning and

121
00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:50.240
democratic engagement is so important for the students and for

122
00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:54.399
all of us, but recently we are seeing that those

123
00:06:54.439 --> 00:06:59.439
things are discouraged and sometimes being an academic, our values

124
00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:03.439
are also we are experiencing conflict, that conflict of how

125
00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:07.240
to do what when we are being challenged. So how

126
00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:10.160
do you, as a leader, how do you navigate this

127
00:07:10.680 --> 00:07:15.199
contentious territory of teaching our students on how to think

128
00:07:15.720 --> 00:07:18.839
in that right way, standing for what is right? So

129
00:07:18.920 --> 00:07:22.120
how do you do that? Or just we step hup y?

130
00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:26.519
That is doctor Green, That is the question. We are

131
00:07:27.399 --> 00:07:32.319
living through an unprecedented challenge to higher education. The only

132
00:07:32.680 --> 00:07:36.319
real parallel that might be appropriate would be back in

133
00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:40.199
the nineteen forties in the McCarthy era and blacklisted professors

134
00:07:40.360 --> 00:07:44.199
and attempts to stifle free speech and academic freedom. But

135
00:07:44.360 --> 00:07:48.519
I would argue that our government, both at a federal

136
00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:52.839
level and within many states, have gone much much further

137
00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:57.759
than that today to stifle academic freedom, which is the

138
00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:01.959
long sherished right and tradition for professors to be able

139
00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:06.560
to speak and teach about what they believe is important.

140
00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:10.639
When they do so, they are speaking for themselves as individuals,

141
00:08:10.759 --> 00:08:14.279
not for the institution. Those are two separate things, which

142
00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:19.600
is why academic freedom is not always extended to administrators

143
00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:22.879
of these institutions, because they often are speaking for their institution.

144
00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:26.800
But faculty really have the right and it's protected largely

145
00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:30.639
through a tenure to academic freedom and freedom of expression

146
00:08:31.240 --> 00:08:33.759
and that is being torn down, and it frankly has

147
00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:38.080
been attacked for years. But those attacks have been under

148
00:08:38.120 --> 00:08:41.320
the radar, and in some cases we have allowed things

149
00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:43.919
protections like tenure, and by we, those of us in

150
00:08:44.039 --> 00:08:47.039
academ have allowed protections like tenure to go by the

151
00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:51.159
wayside on our own watch. So we are not faultless

152
00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:54.000
here either. But to answer your question, I think we're

153
00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:57.639
in a time of unprecedented attacks not only on what

154
00:08:58.279 --> 00:09:02.559
universities and colleges are doing today with regard to DEI

155
00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:06.399
and inclusion practices, or what's being taught in the classroom,

156
00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:10.799
but really what is being attacked are the fundamental pillars

157
00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:15.879
upon which our entire system rests. And without these foundational pillars,

158
00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:20.120
I argue, we don't have the best system of higher

159
00:09:20.200 --> 00:09:23.480
education in the world anymore. Right So I give a

160
00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:26.080
lot of talks about this, and maybe you've seen a

161
00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:29.559
clip online, but to me, those fundamental pillars are number one,

162
00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:32.679
and perhaps the one that everything else rests on is

163
00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:37.279
institutional autonomy. And this has been established and upheld in

164
00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:42.000
the courts for centuries now, and it essentially is the

165
00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:45.759
right of institutions to make decisions to govern themselves in

166
00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:48.080
the way that they see fit. And this is for

167
00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:51.320
public institutions as well as privates, even though publics do

168
00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:54.759
have to comply more with state regulations and so forth.

169
00:09:55.159 --> 00:09:58.360
And the reason this is important is that it protects

170
00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:02.320
against government intrusion in saying what you can teach and

171
00:10:02.360 --> 00:10:06.279
how students must learn. Right, So it protects exempt against

172
00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:11.440
exactly what we are seeing being attempted today. The second

173
00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:15.440
pillar is I mentioned academic freedom, protected largely by tenure.

174
00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:19.679
The third pillar is freedom of expression, which I separate

175
00:10:19.720 --> 00:10:24.200
out from academic freedom because freedom of expression should be

176
00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:29.360
protected and encouraged for students as well as for faculty. Right. So,

177
00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:32.559
whether you're attending a community college or you're going to

178
00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:38.759
an Ivy League institution, our goal as educators is to

179
00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:41.879
help you. I think you mentioned this doctor Cream meant

180
00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:45.519
help you think and learn how to think, how to

181
00:10:45.639 --> 00:10:49.919
consider a problem or a challenge from multiple perspectives. As

182
00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:52.480
part of why we ask students to take a course

183
00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:57.080
in the quantitative sciences, in life sciences, and the humanities

184
00:10:57.399 --> 00:11:00.600
is because all of these different disciplines have a different

185
00:11:00.679 --> 00:11:04.120
approach to how they would consider a problem and seek

186
00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:07.960
to solve it. So the thinking goes. By exposing students

187
00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:11.399
to all these different ways of approaching and solving problems,

188
00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:15.480
we are teaching them how to think. I have very rarely,

189
00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:20.440
if not never, seen or experienced a classroom where the

190
00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:23.639
teacher tells a student what to think. I think that's

191
00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:27.480
a real common misperception in our higher education landscape right now.

192
00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:30.799
There's a lot of people, especially on the conservative right,

193
00:11:31.240 --> 00:11:36.440
who see universities and even community colleges as these places

194
00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:39.120
of liberal and doctrination where they're going to send their

195
00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:42.759
students and the students are going to come out believing

196
00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:46.039
something completely different than than what they were taught, maybe

197
00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:48.039
in the home or how they raise. Now, we do

198
00:11:48.200 --> 00:11:51.200
know that there is a period of cognitive and intellectual

199
00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:54.399
growth during the high school and college years where young

200
00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:57.639
people start thinking for themselves, really for the first time.

201
00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:00.759
But coach, I'll ask you this, how many of the

202
00:12:00.840 --> 00:12:03.799
young people have you coached or taught who have been

203
00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:07.399
easily brainwashed and just accepted whatever you told them is

204
00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:12.080
truth without pushing back or questioning it. I think anyone

205
00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:15.000
who's taught young people know I see you nodding that

206
00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:17.440
they are very unwilling. I have two teenagers, right now

207
00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:21.919
very unaccept what I should as gospel right and then

208
00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:23.919
just to go we can come back to that thought

209
00:12:23.960 --> 00:12:26.840
because that's a biggie right now. But then we also

210
00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:32.360
have stuff like protecting access and supporting all students through

211
00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:35.159
our colleges and our systems, and that was not always.

212
00:12:35.240 --> 00:12:38.559
We were not founded as an egalitarian system of higher education,

213
00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:42.279
but we have worked hard to become one, and in

214
00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:46.000
art I believe that's why our institutions are being attacked

215
00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:51.080
right now because they threaten the preservation of a I

216
00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:56.200
would say, racialized class order that some people may be

217
00:12:56.279 --> 00:12:59.840
trying to protect. And then the fifth and final pillar

218
00:13:00.279 --> 00:13:02.799
is a real commitment to working for the public good.

219
00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:05.559
And I would be interested in all of your thoughts

220
00:13:05.639 --> 00:13:08.720
on this as educators as well. But our system of

221
00:13:08.759 --> 00:13:12.600
higher education was really founded, and community colleges are perhaps

222
00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:17.120
the clearest example of this, founded to give back to

223
00:13:17.159 --> 00:13:22.200
the community, to teach students how to think for themselves

224
00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:25.919
and become, if not politically engaged citizens, at least civically

225
00:13:25.960 --> 00:13:30.279
engaged citizens, and recognize a problem in their community and

226
00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:33.879
identify ways to solve it that work for them and

227
00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:37.360
their families and the people they care about. So unfortunately.

228
00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:39.080
To get back to your question, I think that we

229
00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:42.720
are being attacked at the foundational level in all of

230
00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:46.159
these areas, and we can talk about why that might be.

231
00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:49.120
But I think you've started the question by ask what

232
00:13:49.159 --> 00:13:52.120
can leaders do? And I would include faculty leaders in

233
00:13:52.120 --> 00:13:56.399
my answer. I gave a talk recently to let's see

234
00:13:56.399 --> 00:14:00.600
the acronym is NISAD, the National Institute for Staff Organizational Development,

235
00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:04.120
and I answered this question and I said, I think

236
00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:07.399
we can fight back. Maybe fight back isn't the right word.

237
00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:10.360
That we can work in three different strands. The first

238
00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:12.799
is we need to be connecting. Harvard is fighting the

239
00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:15.080
battle with the federal government on its own, but Harvard

240
00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:17.480
is Harvard, and that can afford to do that. They

241
00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:20.399
are perhaps the only college in the world who can

242
00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:24.799
afford to do that. Everybody else and certainly are broadly accessible.

243
00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:28.679
Institutions and community colleges need to work in concert with

244
00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:33.559
one another. So I've been really encouraging faculty associations within

245
00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:37.320
disciplines to talk with each with one another, community colleges

246
00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:41.159
within regions, to form alliances and to work with one another.

247
00:14:41.240 --> 00:14:43.399
That we've seen faculty in the Big Ten and the

248
00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:46.679
university sectors start to do this, and we're now starting

249
00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:49.960
to see the associations across the US step up and

250
00:14:49.960 --> 00:14:53.200
help in this way. The second strand is resistance, and

251
00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:57.720
resistance is tricky, right, because when we hear resistance, we

252
00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:00.399
tend to think that means everything we ca have been

253
00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:03.120
doing is absolutely right, and they're attacking us, and we're

254
00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:06.759
going to fight back against everything. And I think we

255
00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:11.120
are under attack, yes, And at the same time, we're

256
00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:14.759
not perfect individuals, and we're certainly not perfect institutions, and

257
00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:18.080
we don't always get everything right. So even though we

258
00:15:18.120 --> 00:15:21.639
may resist the attacks at the foundational values that we

259
00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:24.840
hold as institutions and as educators, I think we also

260
00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:28.200
have to be really willing to look at mistakes we

261
00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:30.399
may have made, or how we can do things better,

262
00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:34.159
or are there alternate approaches to accomplishing our very noble

263
00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:38.360
objectives that maybe do not raise the ire of some

264
00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:40.879
people who feel like that's that we're going bad things

265
00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:44.039
the wrong way. And then the third strand, which you

266
00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:47.480
know that sort of self reflection leads to, is innovation.

267
00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:50.440
I think we're in a period where if we can

268
00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:54.600
recognize that when we're under attack is the biggest opportunity

269
00:15:54.600 --> 00:15:58.320
for growth. We can really innovate. We can find ways

270
00:15:58.360 --> 00:16:02.000
to serve students, new ways to serve communities, new ways

271
00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:04.759
to protect things like freedom of speech and the student's

272
00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:08.879
right to self expression and activism on our campuses, and

273
00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:11.759
recognize that must be done in a way that does

274
00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:16.559
not threaten any constituency on campus or off, or preclude

275
00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:20.360
anyone's access to their own learning and development. I think

276
00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:23.679
there's a real chance for innovation here. Unfortunately, a lot

277
00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:26.759
of what I do is innovation coaching directly with colleges

278
00:16:26.759 --> 00:16:30.799
and universities, which you might think of as fireproofing your

279
00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:34.200
home right here, trying to lead ways to protect your

280
00:16:34.200 --> 00:16:37.360
home in the future. But unfortunately fireproofing has to take

281
00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:40.480
a back seat when there is an active blaze raging

282
00:16:40.519 --> 00:16:44.639
through your kitchen. So while I'm encouraging leaders to act

283
00:16:44.679 --> 00:16:48.440
in these three areas, I think it's understandable that there

284
00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:51.279
is a lot of Okay, I understand, Carrie, but we

285
00:16:51.320 --> 00:16:53.600
need to focus on the blaze that is happening right

286
00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:57.320
now and deal with what is really threatened us, threatening

287
00:16:57.399 --> 00:16:59.200
us today in this week.

288
00:17:00.039 --> 00:17:02.879
Yeah, Carrie, it is. This might be more anecdotal, but

289
00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:06.119
just this concept, right now and I feel is really

290
00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:09.240
catching on in society. Again, I don't have any statistics

291
00:17:09.240 --> 00:17:11.160
to back this up, but just from what I've seen

292
00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:13.880
is this whole idea of hey, college isn't for everybody,

293
00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:19.480
follow your path, And while I don't disagree with that statement,

294
00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:23.359
I also think that we've turned that into college isn't

295
00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:27.599
for everybody. Therefore, maybe it's actually for nobody. And I

296
00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:30.720
couldn't disagree more with that. At what point do we

297
00:17:30.759 --> 00:17:33.279
have to because certainly we have to encourage maybe high

298
00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:37.359
school graduates who aren't ready to jump into college at

299
00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:39.519
this point, we have to encourage them to follow their path,

300
00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:44.480
maybe consider an education, further education down the road, but

301
00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:47.839
for now, maybe enter the workforce. Everybody's path is different, right,

302
00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:50.279
So I'm not saying college is always the answer right

303
00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:52.279
out of high school. But at the same time, it

304
00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:55.519
feels like obviously with like the federal and state governments,

305
00:17:55.559 --> 00:17:57.680
like you mentioned, there's a tax there, But then there's

306
00:17:57.720 --> 00:18:01.400
also seems to be from my perspective, like this overall

307
00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:05.039
cultural narrative, it seems to be going against colleges and

308
00:18:05.079 --> 00:18:08.759
more to working right out of school. Yeah, tell me

309
00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:11.759
if that's actually hit on.

310
00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:15.519
You've hit on one of my biggest pet peeves, which

311
00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:18.559
is that statement you said that we hear all the

312
00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:21.440
time that college is not or should not be for everyone,

313
00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:24.559
and that rakles me for two reasons. And the first

314
00:18:24.759 --> 00:18:28.400
is that when people say college is not for everyone,

315
00:18:29.160 --> 00:18:31.160
nine times out of ten ninety nine times out of

316
00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:35.440
one hundred, they're referring to that four year residential college experience.

317
00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:39.279
So they are saying the four year residential bachelor's degree

318
00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:44.319
attainment route is not for everyone, and that drives me nuts.

319
00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:47.759
I work most of the time with community colleges. I

320
00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:51.160
write most of the time about community colleges and community

321
00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:53.200
colleges college. In fact, I have a T shirt that

322
00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:57.680
I made that literally says community college is college on

323
00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:02.079
the line of everyone watches women's sports, because I get

324
00:19:02.119 --> 00:19:05.720
really upset when people do not include community college in

325
00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:09.640
that notion of college. It is college. It often leads

326
00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:12.680
to a bachelor's degree, It leads to other degrees and

327
00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:16.519
certificates that prepare you for the workforce. It is college.

328
00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:19.400
It is a slightly different way of approaching college than

329
00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:23.880
a four year residential college experience, but just Colgate University

330
00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:27.160
looks a lot different than you see Santa Barbara, Your

331
00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:29.599
local community college is going to look a lot different

332
00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:32.720
than both of those, and they are all college, they

333
00:19:32.759 --> 00:19:35.759
are all college experience. So I hate that college isn't

334
00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:38.960
for everyone statement because I think it really ignores the

335
00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:43.400
places where forty percent of undergraduates in America start their education. Wow,

336
00:19:44.279 --> 00:19:47.559
forty percent. And the second reason I hate that is

337
00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:50.359
to your first point, I think, John, which is that

338
00:19:50.680 --> 00:19:53.680
it is a slightly underhanded way, potentially at least in

339
00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:56.599
some people's mouths, saying college should not be for anyone,

340
00:19:56.839 --> 00:20:01.720
or attempting to tear down the public trade in our institutions.

341
00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:04.319
So I agree with you one hundred percent. I do

342
00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:06.920
not think that every single student coming out of high

343
00:20:06.920 --> 00:20:09.000
school needs to go directly to college. If that is

344
00:20:09.079 --> 00:20:12.799
not the path for them, no problem. If community college

345
00:20:12.839 --> 00:20:14.599
is the path for them, great. If it's not the

346
00:20:14.599 --> 00:20:16.039
path for them and they need to get out into

347
00:20:16.039 --> 00:20:19.519
the workforce, great that's another beauty, Coach. To get back

348
00:20:19.559 --> 00:20:22.440
to your earlier question, that another beauty of community colleges

349
00:20:22.759 --> 00:20:26.519
and frankly many more institutions these days as well, is

350
00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:30.039
that you can come back for upskilling and retraining. There

351
00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:34.440
are not a huge number of students, but there's way

352
00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:37.839
more students over the age of sixty five coming back

353
00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:41.880
not to study basket weaving and personal interest courses, but

354
00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:45.319
to actually learn new skills and trades in our community

355
00:20:45.319 --> 00:20:49.119
colleges all across the country right now. So the statement

356
00:20:49.160 --> 00:20:52.000
college is not for everyone drives me nuts. But I

357
00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:56.079
agree with you also that it doesn't have to be

358
00:20:56.119 --> 00:20:59.680
the path directly out of college for everybody. And if

359
00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:02.279
you can can go get a certificate and become a

360
00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:04.960
solar panel installer in a year or two years and

361
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:08.240
make one hundred thousand dollars, that is still going to college.

362
00:21:08.519 --> 00:21:12.359
Let us not exclude that or take that really elitist

363
00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:13.680
view of what college is.

364
00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:16.920
Hey, Carrie, I got to ask you because I know

365
00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:21.640
you've done work with entrepreneurship and our podcast focus on

366
00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:24.680
trying to help young in emerging leaders. So what can

367
00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:28.039
you give us two or three piece of advice for

368
00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:32.000
a young person or even a person that's in mid

369
00:21:32.119 --> 00:21:35.200
range in their career and now says, you know what,

370
00:21:35.640 --> 00:21:37.319
I don't want to work for someone else. I want

371
00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:40.400
to be an entrepreneur. What's your thoughts on giving them

372
00:21:40.519 --> 00:21:44.119
some advice of taking the entrepreneurs ship journey.

373
00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:48.000
I think maybe the three of you will agree with me.

374
00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:54.599
I think the skills and mindsets that it takes to

375
00:21:54.599 --> 00:21:58.519
be an entrepreneur are going to be increasingly necessary for

376
00:21:58.759 --> 00:22:01.200
all of us, whether or not we want to start

377
00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:06.319
a small business, especially in a time of AI and

378
00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:10.920
just that the pace at which our technological powers are growing,

379
00:22:11.480 --> 00:22:14.039
it's going to become more important. Those jobs where you

380
00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:16.160
go sit at a desk and work for eight hours

381
00:22:16.359 --> 00:22:20.240
punch your clock are already almost gone, right and so

382
00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:23.440
and rumor this goes back to the point about learning

383
00:22:23.480 --> 00:22:26.920
how to learn maybe in college being the most important thing,

384
00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:30.880
and I think the entrepreneurial skills and mindsets go right

385
00:22:30.920 --> 00:22:35.599
along with that too. That the pace of change in

386
00:22:35.640 --> 00:22:38.880
the labor market is so fast these days that whether

387
00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:41.319
you want to start a small business or you just

388
00:22:41.400 --> 00:22:44.720
want to be able to survive in whatever industry you

389
00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:47.440
are currently working in, you're going to have to be

390
00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:52.039
able to think entrepreneurially and in an innovative way, because

391
00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:54.960
that's what we can do that the machines cannot. The

392
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:58.559
machines are trained on human learning, but they are not

393
00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:02.319
thinking beyond human learning yet. So we have to be

394
00:23:02.359 --> 00:23:05.440
able to continue learning and coach, I think you're right.

395
00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:08.039
I think if you're wanting to start a small business,

396
00:23:08.279 --> 00:23:11.279
you have some measure of control over your own life

397
00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:15.319
and your own destiny, and you maybe if are able

398
00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:20.519
to pivot faster than if you are cog in the machine,

399
00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:23.000
going along and doing what your boss tells you to

400
00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:26.440
do every day. I think you're going to be out innovated.

401
00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:30.359
In that second example, I know that I didn't set

402
00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:33.240
out to be a small business owner or an entrepreneur.

403
00:23:33.319 --> 00:23:35.759
Neither did my husband. We both worked for other people

404
00:23:35.799 --> 00:23:38.680
early in our career, and now we both work for

405
00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:43.000
ourselves and our own companies. And in his case, for example,

406
00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:48.440
he works in entertainment, and the entertainment industry is yeah,

407
00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:51.440
it is changing really fast, and the only way he

408
00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:56.039
could see to maintain some longevity in that business is

409
00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:58.440
to design a way to do it differently. And I

410
00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:00.480
think that's what we all need to be learning.

411
00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:05.480
And you talked about design thinking approach as entrepreneurs, and

412
00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:09.480
I also took the path. I started working at unisf

413
00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:12.000
and then nine to five job, and then I moved

414
00:24:12.039 --> 00:24:16.160
into academic. So after ten years, I start to reinvent myself.

415
00:24:16.160 --> 00:24:19.599
And then I decided to start my own nonprofit and

416
00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:23.759
working on some startup industry, thinking about some startup industry,

417
00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:27.279
and I think we gen xers are a little bit

418
00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:32.000
challenged now because things are moving so fast with the

419
00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:37.319
AI and everything. There is no certainty in our career

420
00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:41.400
like where we're sticking to and this shift of change,

421
00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:43.920
I think is so important for us to have that

422
00:24:44.039 --> 00:24:50.200
mindset of learning to unlearn. Also, so the adaptability. So

423
00:24:50.319 --> 00:24:52.720
how like from your point of view when you are

424
00:24:52.759 --> 00:24:56.880
counseling the leaders, do you see this area that need

425
00:24:57.000 --> 00:25:00.279
to be explored, like the adaptability and flexibility and how

426
00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:01.519
do you get that?

427
00:25:01.799 --> 00:25:03.240
How do you teach that to people?

428
00:25:03.400 --> 00:25:07.599
Yeah, that's a really good question. I think there are

429
00:25:07.640 --> 00:25:11.960
probably lots of exercises and ways that you could teach that.

430
00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:15.599
I typically come in and have one two sometimes three

431
00:25:15.799 --> 00:25:19.119
maybe half days with a group of college leaders and

432
00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:22.039
faculty and staff, and I'm very limited in what we

433
00:25:22.119 --> 00:25:22.480
can do.

434
00:25:22.519 --> 00:25:26.000
During that time. So what I often try to do

435
00:25:26.920 --> 00:25:31.200
is focus on the front end of the design thinking process, right,

436
00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:36.200
which is really identifying what your stakeholder's needs are in

437
00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:39.359
which of those are not being met, And I think

438
00:25:39.400 --> 00:25:42.960
that leads into so we often go through a lot

439
00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:46.920
of exercises, to do market research, to talk to students,

440
00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:50.000
to talk to faculty, community members, what are the workforce

441
00:25:50.039 --> 00:25:54.000
needs in our areas? Go back and really identify what

442
00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:57.440
are the needs, Where are we meeting those needs? Where

443
00:25:57.480 --> 00:26:00.240
can we do better? And where are the unmet needs?

444
00:26:00.599 --> 00:26:03.559
And to me, the unmet needs are the key there,

445
00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:06.759
because that's where we have to say, Okay, we're not

446
00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:09.400
doing this or we're not doing this well. What needs

447
00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:12.000
to change so that we can serve this need? And

448
00:26:12.039 --> 00:26:15.839
sometimes it's we're not the best organization to serve this need,

449
00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:18.920
so we're going to collaborate with somebody else to do that.

450
00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:21.839
But I think that's where the adaptability comes from. The

451
00:26:21.960 --> 00:26:26.119
hardest thing to do in higher education and potentially most

452
00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:30.519
places to really to sunset programs that are meeting and

453
00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:34.160
need that no longer exists as strongly as it once did.

454
00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:37.240
And the reason it's so hard is that oftentimes that

455
00:26:37.319 --> 00:26:42.000
translates into real consequences for real people, either lost jobs

456
00:26:42.119 --> 00:26:45.680
or asking them to pivot or shutting down a program.

457
00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:48.480
And even if there's only one student who wants to

458
00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:51.279
take that program, that's one student who now is not

459
00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:54.720
able to do it. So it's really difficult. It's much

460
00:26:54.759 --> 00:26:58.319
easier to add right in order to meet an unnet

461
00:26:58.759 --> 00:27:02.720
net need is much more difficult for college leaders than

462
00:27:02.759 --> 00:27:05.640
probably everybody else to say, Okay, we're going to stop

463
00:27:05.799 --> 00:27:07.960
trying to meet and need this way because we need

464
00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:12.000
to put our resources in another area. But really that

465
00:27:12.039 --> 00:27:15.720
comes down to being responsive and adaptable and listening to

466
00:27:15.799 --> 00:27:18.039
your community members and what they're asking of you.

467
00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:21.319
And it's definitely we have so much resistance, like I

468
00:27:21.759 --> 00:27:25.519
see so much resistance like when AI was introduced. There

469
00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:30.920
is a generational difference in adapting to AI. I am

470
00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:33.839
not going to even I have I mentioned to many

471
00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:36.000
of my friends, I'm not going to use AI for

472
00:27:36.119 --> 00:27:39.519
writing things that I don't want to jeopardize my skill

473
00:27:39.559 --> 00:27:43.400
of creative. But now I'm like, Okay, let me try this,

474
00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:46.920
and then I find out, yes, I can keep my voice,

475
00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:50.680
my emotion, but AI could also facilitate. It can be

476
00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:53.240
a tool for me to go into another level.

477
00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:56.640
I hear you, I too, have pushed back on using

478
00:27:56.680 --> 00:27:59.720
AI for writing because I'm a writer. I have books

479
00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:03.000
that I have written and that's my work product, that

480
00:28:03.119 --> 00:28:07.960
is my thought. I sit with every sentence and it's

481
00:28:08.680 --> 00:28:12.839
creative but it's also this physical challenge because it doesn't

482
00:28:13.359 --> 00:28:15.640
work to wordsmith and have it say exactly what I

483
00:28:15.720 --> 00:28:19.359
want it to say. And then so if AI can

484
00:28:19.400 --> 00:28:21.599
do the same thing, I'm wondering what good am I anymore?

485
00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:24.519
What is the utility for me in my career and

486
00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:27.039
what I have to say? But I agree we have

487
00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:30.200
to be adaptable, and there are ways that all of

488
00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:33.640
us could use a There are also ways that us

489
00:28:33.799 --> 00:28:37.319
that we can all adapt and either incorporate or change

490
00:28:37.799 --> 00:28:42.160
the way we do things to respond to other technologies

491
00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:45.200
or students who are coming into our classes who may

492
00:28:45.640 --> 00:28:48.200
learn differently than the students of thirty years ago or

493
00:28:48.279 --> 00:28:50.400
the athletes of thirty years ago. We have to be

494
00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:53.359
adaptable in all kinds of ways. I think we're AI

495
00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:56.240
is the big scary elephant in the room right now,

496
00:28:56.279 --> 00:28:58.799
But there are all kinds of things that should be

497
00:28:58.920 --> 00:29:02.400
forcing us to adapt. Yeah, and they're all scary for

498
00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:04.200
us olds.

499
00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:08.000
Oh no, and for old twenty six year olds too,

500
00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:13.359
because it's terrifying. It's really terrifying. I would argue that Carrie,

501
00:29:13.400 --> 00:29:17.039
to your earlier point, I don't think AI can replace

502
00:29:17.240 --> 00:29:19.359
you as a writer. I can certainly help to renew

503
00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:22.480
MOUs point. But I certainly think that your writing is

504
00:29:22.519 --> 00:29:26.039
still valuable and that thought leadership is so important, and

505
00:29:26.039 --> 00:29:29.119
that's ultimately really who we are as educators, as thought

506
00:29:29.160 --> 00:29:31.839
leaders and I'm an adjunct, I teach one class. I

507
00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:34.759
can barely count myself in with you guys, but still

508
00:29:34.799 --> 00:29:39.519
we're all educator. We're all educators and as far as staff,

509
00:29:39.640 --> 00:29:42.160
faculty and staff. This is one question that I had

510
00:29:42.200 --> 00:29:45.319
for you as someone who because maybe it's a personal

511
00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:48.240
question for me, I don't know, might consider going down

512
00:29:48.519 --> 00:29:51.960
in increased role in education in the future besides what

513
00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:55.519
I currently do. What would you advise? Because I feel

514
00:29:55.519 --> 00:29:57.960
like a lot of again this is anecdotal. Again, I

515
00:29:57.960 --> 00:30:02.079
don't have any evidence for this, but colleges, universities, and

516
00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:06.079
high schools and below too, there's a lot of need

517
00:30:06.160 --> 00:30:10.599
for educators. The role seems to be under attack. Isn't

518
00:30:10.759 --> 00:30:15.000
as lucrative or maybe just attractive of a role as

519
00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:18.319
it once used to be, And now everybody's hiring and

520
00:30:18.359 --> 00:30:22.039
looking for people. So, first of all, what went wrong?

521
00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:25.720
And second of all, is this still should this still

522
00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:29.200
be an exciting career for people who want to make

523
00:30:29.240 --> 00:30:31.000
a difference in the lives of youth.

524
00:30:31.880 --> 00:30:35.680
I'll take that last question first. Yes it is. I

525
00:30:35.720 --> 00:30:40.039
think it is the most important career and frankly can

526
00:30:40.119 --> 00:30:42.759
be the most rewarding career. And coach. I'll look to

527
00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:47.799
you as perhaps our senior most of the generations represented here.

528
00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:52.000
But I imagine you have not stayed in coaching and

529
00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:56.079
teaching and working with young people because it's lucrative. I

530
00:30:56.119 --> 00:30:59.359
think you've stayed in it because you make connections and

531
00:30:59.400 --> 00:31:02.839
you can see you have on young people's lives and

532
00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:04.960
in many cases, and I know this to be true

533
00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:07.400
about you, and I assume it to be true about

534
00:31:07.400 --> 00:31:10.440
all of us, have made a real change in the

535
00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:14.720
trajectory of someone's life based on your interactions. And sometimes

536
00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:17.960
that's as little as just seeing them and recognizing that

537
00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:21.519
they may be going through something difficult, and hey, I'm here.

538
00:31:21.559 --> 00:31:23.200
If you ever want to stop in my office or

539
00:31:23.200 --> 00:31:26.359
talk about anything as a faculty member, maybe that's as

540
00:31:26.359 --> 00:31:28.839
simple as hey, is everything okay going on in your life?

541
00:31:28.839 --> 00:31:31.039
If you need an extra week on this paper, let

542
00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:35.799
me know. And sometimes there's nobody else in a student's

543
00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:39.440
life who takes the time to just stop and say,

544
00:31:39.519 --> 00:31:43.480
I see you. It looks hard. How can I help you,

545
00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:46.920
and it's important that I help you, and it's important

546
00:31:46.920 --> 00:31:49.759
that you continue regardless of whatever's going on, and we'll

547
00:31:49.799 --> 00:31:52.039
find a way to help you do that. And I

548
00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:54.519
see smiles and nods from all of you right now.

549
00:31:54.519 --> 00:31:57.079
I think that's why we get into this. We're not

550
00:31:57.200 --> 00:32:02.640
going to retire on a yacht as educators. But I

551
00:32:02.680 --> 00:32:07.200
do think, oh, yeah, yeah, exactly. But I do think

552
00:32:07.279 --> 00:32:09.799
that when we think about what we had written on

553
00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:12.880
our tombstones at the end of the day, it's not

554
00:32:13.160 --> 00:32:16.119
I made enough money to retire on a yacht's I

555
00:32:16.279 --> 00:32:20.759
changed some people's lives. So I would encourage you to

556
00:32:21.319 --> 00:32:25.400
continue your work in education, John, it is your first

557
00:32:25.519 --> 00:32:28.680
point in question. I think it's perhaps harder than ever.

558
00:32:29.279 --> 00:32:32.680
I think teachers in particular and faculty members in colleges

559
00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:37.079
have been undervalued and underpaid for years, especially teachers in

560
00:32:37.119 --> 00:32:40.240
the K through twelve system. And we can talk all

561
00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:42.119
about the reasons why for that, even though that's not

562
00:32:42.200 --> 00:32:44.680
really my area of expertise, I of course have opinions,

563
00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.640
but I think that administrators too have been blamed for

564
00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:52.039
all kinds of things. Over the past couple of years.

565
00:32:52.319 --> 00:32:56.039
There's this whole concept of administrative bloat in colleges and

566
00:32:56.160 --> 00:32:58.920
universities is the reason why tuition has gone up thirty

567
00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:01.400
percent over the past two decades or whatever it is.

568
00:33:01.920 --> 00:33:04.319
And part of that is there is true there are

569
00:33:04.400 --> 00:33:08.440
more administrators, but there are more administrators for two reasons.

570
00:33:08.519 --> 00:33:12.640
Largely one is to comply with governmental regulations, and the

571
00:33:12.680 --> 00:33:15.400
second is because we have recognized that we need to

572
00:33:15.480 --> 00:33:18.200
do more as institutions to support the students who show

573
00:33:18.279 --> 00:33:20.759
up on our doorsteps every day, and that it is

574
00:33:20.839 --> 00:33:23.920
not okay to open our doors say come here, teach

575
00:33:23.920 --> 00:33:26.359
a class and send them home. That there is all

576
00:33:26.440 --> 00:33:29.039
kinds of work we need to do to support all

577
00:33:29.079 --> 00:33:32.599
students who come from all kinds of backgrounds and different experiences.

578
00:33:33.119 --> 00:33:35.799
And so there has been growth in the administrative side,

579
00:33:35.920 --> 00:33:39.759
especially related to student services. But I have a really

580
00:33:39.799 --> 00:33:43.079
hard time accepting that hasn't been a good investment. Anyone

581
00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:45.319
I think who runs a for profit business would know

582
00:33:45.400 --> 00:33:47.279
that you spend a whole lot more money trying to

583
00:33:47.319 --> 00:33:50.839
get a new client through the door do keeping the

584
00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:55.160
current client involved through completion, and it's the same in education,

585
00:33:55.319 --> 00:33:58.160
and yet we have a hard time spending money to

586
00:33:58.279 --> 00:34:00.519
do that, especially at our publicans tay stitutions.

587
00:34:01.119 --> 00:34:03.319
Yeah, and you had a good point. What does that

588
00:34:03.400 --> 00:34:06.680
look like? Because you your point earlier was that we

589
00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:11.480
need to get higher education institutions more involved in the community.

590
00:34:11.719 --> 00:34:14.679
So what does that often look like. Is it the

591
00:34:14.719 --> 00:34:18.000
fraternities and sororities doing more community service, because that's something

592
00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:20.760
that we see. But is there more than that that

593
00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:22.119
you're referring to when you say that.

594
00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:25.559
Yeah, So as I work mainly with community colleges, and

595
00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:29.760
it is intrinsic to the mission of those institutions to

596
00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:32.280
be responsive to their communities. So you see this in

597
00:34:32.360 --> 00:34:37.079
all kinds of ways. Training programs developed specifically for businesses

598
00:34:37.119 --> 00:34:40.719
in the area, and oftentimes this is done in concert

599
00:34:40.840 --> 00:34:45.639
with metropolitan areas or regions in order to bring company

600
00:34:45.639 --> 00:34:49.079
headquarters to that region and say, if you can bring

601
00:34:49.239 --> 00:34:53.719
State Farm here, we will develop an insurance administrative degree

602
00:34:53.800 --> 00:34:58.159
program to educate their workers. Or if you bring Boeing here,

603
00:34:58.239 --> 00:35:03.039
we will develop an aeronautic engineering program that transfers directly

604
00:35:03.079 --> 00:35:06.599
into the VA program at our nearby institution, and that

605
00:35:06.679 --> 00:35:10.199
provides technicians who can graduate in six months or less

606
00:35:10.480 --> 00:35:13.519
and go write and work for them. So community collegests

607
00:35:13.519 --> 00:35:16.320
have forever for the past hundred so years that they've

608
00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:19.679
been around, worked really closely with chambers of commerce, with

609
00:35:19.960 --> 00:35:24.559
local businesses and industries in order to provide some cases

610
00:35:24.599 --> 00:35:28.840
direct training and then other cases develop programs where incumbent

611
00:35:28.840 --> 00:35:32.960
workers can come up skill and reskill and further their education.

612
00:35:33.400 --> 00:35:35.880
So that's one way of working with the community. Other

613
00:35:35.920 --> 00:35:39.840
ways are offering English as a second language courses for

614
00:35:39.920 --> 00:35:43.039
community members. This is not leading toward a degree year program,

615
00:35:43.079 --> 00:35:47.280
but just providing those resources for skills, maybe holding daycare

616
00:35:47.320 --> 00:35:50.760
on campus. Santa Monica College, near where I live in

617
00:35:50.920 --> 00:35:54.760
La has a gorgeous pool that is open to the public,

618
00:35:55.280 --> 00:35:57.639
and there's all kinds of s Antamonica also has an

619
00:35:57.679 --> 00:36:02.000
emeritus college where they invite retired folks to come take

620
00:36:02.039 --> 00:36:05.239
a class on I don't know World War two history

621
00:36:05.480 --> 00:36:07.719
or None of these courses lead toward degree, but they

622
00:36:07.840 --> 00:36:11.760
certainly provide engagement for the community and intellectual stimulation for

623
00:36:11.800 --> 00:36:15.920
a population who maybe lacks that to some degree. Sporting

624
00:36:15.920 --> 00:36:19.400
events is another way that we all interact with our communities, right,

625
00:36:19.519 --> 00:36:22.880
and that's a big source of community pride. And I'm

626
00:36:22.920 --> 00:36:26.360
speaking specifically about community colleges, but you could draw parallels.

627
00:36:26.920 --> 00:36:30.079
I also think that what we don't understand too is

628
00:36:30.159 --> 00:36:34.719
how much educating students at all types of institutions and

629
00:36:34.800 --> 00:36:40.400
at all levels contributes to local revenue and economic growth.

630
00:36:41.760 --> 00:36:45.039
When we took students off college campuses during the first

631
00:36:45.079 --> 00:36:49.360
year of COVID, local businesses died. There was literally nobody

632
00:36:49.400 --> 00:36:53.920
to go to those stores to buy those sandwiches. And

633
00:36:53.960 --> 00:36:57.480
then also we're graduating students and they're staying. In particular,

634
00:36:57.519 --> 00:37:01.199
international students who come to the US for college like

635
00:37:01.480 --> 00:37:05.159
to stay and contribute to the economy and take jobs

636
00:37:05.199 --> 00:37:09.440
that further our own workforce very frequently. And there's a

637
00:37:09.480 --> 00:37:12.039
recent report out saying that we are going to lose

638
00:37:12.039 --> 00:37:14.960
something like sixty billion dollars as a result of the

639
00:37:15.159 --> 00:37:19.039
drop in international student enrollment this fall as a result

640
00:37:19.039 --> 00:37:22.760
of that. So the community give and take is enormous

641
00:37:23.159 --> 00:37:28.000
and often invisible in terms of how it keeps certain communities.

642
00:37:28.039 --> 00:37:29.679
If you think about some of these college towns in

643
00:37:29.719 --> 00:37:32.440
the middle of nowhere, they would not be alive. They

644
00:37:32.480 --> 00:37:35.880
would look like old mining towns if the college or

645
00:37:36.079 --> 00:37:38.440
university were not there to keep it Afloat.

646
00:37:39.960 --> 00:37:43.159
Garry, we really appreciate and I have one final question.

647
00:37:43.440 --> 00:37:45.960
I'm sure my co hosts do as well. But I'd

648
00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:47.440
like it because I know you work with a lot

649
00:37:47.480 --> 00:37:50.400
of leaders, and so if you are advising a young

650
00:37:50.559 --> 00:37:55.199
person to zero win on a couple ideas on how

651
00:37:55.239 --> 00:37:58.000
to be a more effective leader from all the work

652
00:37:58.039 --> 00:38:01.599
you've done with leaders, would be one, two, or three

653
00:38:01.719 --> 00:38:04.679
ideas you would share with that person to become a

654
00:38:04.719 --> 00:38:07.320
more effective leader. That's a good question.

655
00:38:08.280 --> 00:38:10.920
The first thing that's popping into my mind is that

656
00:38:11.239 --> 00:38:14.880
the best ideas can often come from unexpected places. So

657
00:38:15.119 --> 00:38:17.800
I think we all run into the patterns of thinking

658
00:38:17.840 --> 00:38:20.800
that this smart person in the room, or the most

659
00:38:21.119 --> 00:38:25.079
degreed person in the room, or whomever, is going to

660
00:38:25.119 --> 00:38:28.079
have the best ideas. And sometimes that's the case. But

661
00:38:28.320 --> 00:38:32.760
I have seen innovations adopted in community colleges that came

662
00:38:32.800 --> 00:38:36.840
from a statement that a custodial worker made saying, I'm

663
00:38:36.880 --> 00:38:39.440
noticing that a lot of students are eating lunch and

664
00:38:39.519 --> 00:38:41.800
drop in their trash in this area, and what if

665
00:38:41.840 --> 00:38:44.280
we maybe beautified it and made this a place for

666
00:38:44.360 --> 00:38:47.679
gathering in connection and all of these things can support

667
00:38:47.719 --> 00:38:51.679
student success, and so be open to ideas from wherever

668
00:38:51.719 --> 00:38:53.280
they come. I think that's one thing.

669
00:38:53.559 --> 00:38:57.039
Don't care just say one thing, because you really hit

670
00:38:57.079 --> 00:38:59.039
a good thing there, because this is one of the

671
00:38:59.039 --> 00:39:02.440
hardest things it is in my leadership journey. Is then

672
00:39:02.480 --> 00:39:04.760
I think it became a much better leader. And just

673
00:39:04.760 --> 00:39:07.800
to reinforce what you said is I believe the most

674
00:39:07.840 --> 00:39:11.400
effective leaders are trying to find the best answer, not

675
00:39:11.480 --> 00:39:15.199
necessarily their answer. And boy, you said that quite well,

676
00:39:15.199 --> 00:39:16.440
so I just wanted to share that.

677
00:39:16.559 --> 00:39:19.440
So yeah, I like the restatement. I think that's exactly right.

678
00:39:20.039 --> 00:39:22.320
The second thing I would say and do say all

679
00:39:22.320 --> 00:39:26.159
the time is expect failure and embrace it and sometimes

680
00:39:26.159 --> 00:39:30.199
even celebrate it too. I think sometimes I see in

681
00:39:30.280 --> 00:39:33.639
my children today are so afraid to fail because they

682
00:39:33.639 --> 00:39:36.360
think it brands them as a failure or unable to

683
00:39:36.400 --> 00:39:38.880
do the work. And what I try to impress upon them,

684
00:39:38.880 --> 00:39:42.079
and I think probably what most educators do, is how

685
00:39:42.119 --> 00:39:44.679
else are you going to learn if you don't fail?

686
00:39:44.679 --> 00:39:49.199
And ideally you fail in small ways and adjust and

687
00:39:49.239 --> 00:39:52.559
make improvements. But sometimes we fail in big ways too,

688
00:39:52.760 --> 00:39:54.920
and that is okay. That it does not mean that

689
00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:58.039
we are a failure. It means that idea needs some

690
00:39:58.119 --> 00:40:01.159
more work, or we neglect it to take something into account,

691
00:40:01.280 --> 00:40:03.880
or we needed another round of edits, or maybe we

692
00:40:03.920 --> 00:40:07.079
needed to study harder. So I think that advice I

693
00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:09.760
could give to all students, but especially to leaders too

694
00:40:09.800 --> 00:40:13.239
who are trying to incent innovation on their campuses or

695
00:40:13.239 --> 00:40:16.159
in their companies that don't expect people to get it

696
00:40:16.199 --> 00:40:18.199
right the first time. In fact, if they got it

697
00:40:18.280 --> 00:40:20.960
right the first time, you'd probably be leaving something on

698
00:40:21.039 --> 00:40:25.119
the table. Right that there is further innovation that could

699
00:40:25.199 --> 00:40:27.519
come out of that idea if you just accept the

700
00:40:27.559 --> 00:40:31.639
first iteration of it. And I think the final advice

701
00:40:31.719 --> 00:40:35.840
I would give is that we tend to see entrepreneurship

702
00:40:35.920 --> 00:40:40.039
and education as two separate things. And you either go

703
00:40:40.199 --> 00:40:42.280
through an education system and get a job and go

704
00:40:42.320 --> 00:40:45.199
into a career, or you are an entrepreneur and you

705
00:40:45.280 --> 00:40:48.639
do things yourself in your own way. And I think

706
00:40:48.639 --> 00:40:51.800
it's a false dichotomy. I think that there are incredible

707
00:40:51.960 --> 00:40:57.079
entrepreneurship training programs at nearly all colleges and universities these days,

708
00:40:57.679 --> 00:41:02.599
and I think that we can all utilize the skills

709
00:41:02.599 --> 00:41:05.639
and mindsets of an entrepreneur, even if we aren't starting

710
00:41:05.639 --> 00:41:07.840
a small business, even if we aren't trying to go

711
00:41:07.960 --> 00:41:10.920
our own way. And on the flip side, if you

712
00:41:11.119 --> 00:41:13.599
do start a business. If you are trying to come

713
00:41:13.679 --> 00:41:16.079
up with something and do it your own way, it

714
00:41:16.119 --> 00:41:18.760
doesn't mean that education, to go back to your point, John,

715
00:41:18.920 --> 00:41:21.760
is not right for you. There may be all kinds

716
00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:24.119
of things that you can still learn and give back

717
00:41:24.719 --> 00:41:27.920
to our education system and still be an entrepreneur and

718
00:41:28.039 --> 00:41:31.719
still do things differently. Education is not in doctrination. It

719
00:41:31.840 --> 00:41:35.519
is teaching you how to think and exposing you to

720
00:41:35.760 --> 00:41:39.400
the ways of thinking, the tools, the analytical approaches, and

721
00:41:39.440 --> 00:41:42.800
so forth. It may be useful, So don't separate those two.

722
00:41:42.920 --> 00:41:46.400
I think that we can have the best partnerships between

723
00:41:46.559 --> 00:41:52.239
entrepreneurs and academics and students if we stop drawing those lines.

724
00:41:52.559 --> 00:41:55.920
It's either education or starting my own business.

725
00:41:56.239 --> 00:41:59.400
I think that, and I can be walking evidence of

726
00:41:59.440 --> 00:42:02.880
that because I have six years of higher education and

727
00:42:02.920 --> 00:42:06.000
I'm an entrepreneur, and without at least some of that

728
00:42:06.079 --> 00:42:09.360
higher education, I would have had no chance forget it.

729
00:42:09.440 --> 00:42:12.480
I wouldn't even know what I was doing. And part

730
00:42:12.480 --> 00:42:15.679
of that certainly is life experience too, because that's part

731
00:42:15.719 --> 00:42:17.920
of the beauty of college, whether you choose the community

732
00:42:17.920 --> 00:42:20.760
college path or the traditional four year path, or a

733
00:42:20.840 --> 00:42:24.760
combination of both. Right, like, just that life experience and

734
00:42:24.920 --> 00:42:27.440
the responsibility that you get. Going from high school to

735
00:42:27.519 --> 00:42:31.119
college is such a big jump. I can imagine going

736
00:42:31.119 --> 00:42:34.480
from high school straight into entrepreneurship is I can't even

737
00:42:34.559 --> 00:42:36.719
imagine how monumental of a jump that is. I just

738
00:42:36.719 --> 00:42:39.199
would have had no clue. So I definitely networking.

739
00:42:39.440 --> 00:42:42.360
I think the college universities they also provide you with

740
00:42:42.440 --> 00:42:46.800
the network because I would not be able to run

741
00:42:46.920 --> 00:42:50.400
my programs in if I did not have my alumni base.

742
00:42:51.079 --> 00:42:54.440
So both the Penn State alumni and the Bangladesh University

743
00:42:54.480 --> 00:42:59.719
alumni both helped me to raise funds for the programs

744
00:42:59.719 --> 00:43:03.079
that I've to run. So I think networking is also

745
00:43:03.199 --> 00:43:07.000
so important when we are working as entrepreneurs.

746
00:43:07.239 --> 00:43:09.960
Yeah, even Penn State can turn out some good alumni.

747
00:43:10.400 --> 00:43:16.079
Come on, sorry, yeah, Ben Stater.

748
00:43:17.199 --> 00:43:19.719
My seventeen year old daughter is applying to both those

749
00:43:19.719 --> 00:43:23.039
institutions this fall, so I will let you know where

750
00:43:23.079 --> 00:43:23.840
she ends up.

751
00:43:23.880 --> 00:43:28.360
And then, wow, Ben State is the five years I

752
00:43:28.440 --> 00:43:30.880
was there for my PhD, it like it is the

753
00:43:30.920 --> 00:43:35.719
most happening place, and I met some amazing faculty and

754
00:43:35.800 --> 00:43:39.159
people there who really helped me to grow as person.

755
00:43:39.400 --> 00:43:43.239
So that's and the environment Happy Valley they call it value.

756
00:43:43.559 --> 00:43:47.840
Yea, our mascots cuter renewma, come on orange is a

757
00:43:47.920 --> 00:43:51.039
mascot that's as cute as it gets. But No, both

758
00:43:51.039 --> 00:43:54.199
great institutions and both hills, both with a lot of hills.

759
00:43:54.320 --> 00:43:58.559
She'll get her exercise in no matter what. Sid Yeah, Carrie,

760
00:43:58.559 --> 00:44:01.519
where do we learn more about your work and potentially

761
00:44:01.559 --> 00:44:02.280
get in touch with you?

762
00:44:03.039 --> 00:44:08.400
Sure? So my website Kisker ed Consulting EDS being short

763
00:44:08.440 --> 00:44:11.280
for education, you can reach me. There's a contact me

764
00:44:11.360 --> 00:44:13.480
button on there, and you can learn all about the

765
00:44:13.559 --> 00:44:16.679
different strands of my work and my writing and speaking

766
00:44:16.719 --> 00:44:20.280
and so forth, as well as the workshops and consulting

767
00:44:20.320 --> 00:44:23.440
I can do directly with colleges. I also am the

768
00:44:23.440 --> 00:44:26.239
director of the Center for the Study of Community Colleges,

769
00:44:26.280 --> 00:44:30.239
which is a nonprofit organization that promotes both our own

770
00:44:30.400 --> 00:44:34.000
national research on community colleges, but we also support others'

771
00:44:34.039 --> 00:44:37.679
research on community college leadership practice and policy, and that

772
00:44:37.920 --> 00:44:41.840
is at Center Forcommunitycolleges dot org. And I'm also on

773
00:44:41.960 --> 00:44:46.800
LinkedIn under Carrie Kisker Kisker and I'm happy to hear

774
00:44:46.840 --> 00:44:48.360
from anyone at any time.

775
00:44:49.119 --> 00:44:51.719
Wonderful All those links down in the show notes and

776
00:44:52.039 --> 00:44:54.400
we learned a lot from you today, Carrie, both about

777
00:44:54.559 --> 00:44:58.519
higher education, entrepreneurship, and I think no matter if you're

778
00:44:58.519 --> 00:45:00.719
an entrepreneur or not, or no matter if you have

779
00:45:01.119 --> 00:45:03.760
kids in college or you yourself are thinking about going

780
00:45:03.840 --> 00:45:07.199
to college, this was still very valuable conversation. So doctor

781
00:45:07.239 --> 00:45:09.559
Kerry Kisker, thank you so much for your time today

782
00:45:09.599 --> 00:45:11.119
in the Limitless Leadership Lounge.

783
00:45:11.679 --> 00:45:14.159
My pleasure, and thank you for such wonderful questions. All

784
00:45:14.239 --> 00:45:15.519
three of you appreciate it.

785
00:45:15.880 --> 00:45:18.320
Thank you for joining us this week at the Limitless

786
00:45:18.440 --> 00:45:21.400
Leadership Lounge. To listen to this episode again and to

787
00:45:21.440 --> 00:45:25.400
find previous episodes, check us out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

788
00:45:25.599 --> 00:45:28.000
and Spreager. You can also get in on the conversation

789
00:45:28.199 --> 00:45:30.039
find us on Facebook and Instagram.

790
00:45:30.239 --> 00:45:31.559
Then tell three of your friends to.

791
00:45:31.599 --> 00:45:34.519
Join it as well. Coach Numa and John. We'll be

792
00:45:34.559 --> 00:45:38.280
back again next week for another try generational leadership discussion.

793
00:45:38.559 --> 00:45:43.320
We'll talk to you then on the Limitless Leadership Lounge