152: Where Are You Going in Your Career, with Bonni Stachowiak

Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed

Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*.

Bonni mentioned the This American Life show titled Trends With Benefits, citing a disability story from Hale County, Alabama.

Question from Aaron

During a one-on-one meeting my boss asked me where I wanted to go in my career, and I didn’t have an answer for him. More concerning was that I didn’t have an answer for myself. He recommended that I have a five year plan, and he gave me a few ideas to considers. With so many paths – both inside and outside my company – where do I begin?

• Your 90th birthday party
• Your ideal day or week
• What Color Is Your Parachute* by Richard N. Bolles

Question from Birger

• “’After observing O Sensei, the founder of Aikido, sparring with an accomplished fighter, a young student said to the master, ‘You never lose your balance. What is your secret?’ ‘You are wrong,” Ōsensei replied. ‘I am constantly losing my balance. My skill lies in my ability to regain it.’”
• Also see Coaching for Leaders episode #123 with John Corcoran

Question from Mike

I have started to set expectations and coaching within role, but I am finding it very difficult to get any engagement with anything I do. It feels like I am the outsider and they would quite like to leave it that way. I have looked for quick wins and found a few but again they seems to be disengagement, a different perspective may be good. What your thoughts?

• Leading Change* by John Kotter
• Five Dysfunctions of a Team* by Patrick Lencioni

Question from Danielle

I just started my job and am really excited to hit the ground running with a lot of on-going projects. One theme in particular that is highly important and consistent in my current assignments is the concept of Customer Retention Strategy. I just need to know (1) In your personal/professional experience, have there been any particular practices or techniques you have implemented that have proven successful and (2) are there any resources/materials you may suggest that would prove useful for my research? (e.g. books, articles, videos)

• Fish!* by Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen
• Net Promoter Community
• Crush It!* by Gary Vaynerchuk
• The Lean Startup* by Eric Ries

Discover More

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.