{"id":27,"date":"2020-05-14T21:32:08","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T21:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/?post_type=podcast&p=27"},"modified":"2020-11-16T19:48:13","modified_gmt":"2020-11-16T19:48:13","slug":"episode-4-bringing-you-to-the-table","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/podcast\/episode-4-bringing-you-to-the-table\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 4 – Bringing YOU to the Table"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Shauna T. Sobers is the CEO \/ Facilitator \/ Consultant for shaunatsobers, LLC, a company specializing in leadership education and consulting for supervisors, student organizations, individuals, and teams. She is passionate about helping people recognize their talents and express it in their own way. For over a decade, Dr. Sobers has been advising leaders of all levels as well as presenting and facilitating workshops on CliftonStrengths\u2122 based leadership, employee engagement, women\u2019s empowerment, and career advancement preparation.<\/p>\n

Dr. Sobers recently wrote a chapter, “Advancing to Leadership As A Person of Color,” in the new book, “The Footprint of Success”. Available at http:\/\/shaunatsobers.com\/books\/.<\/a><\/p>\n

Dr. Sobers has a Doctorate of Education in Administration and Leadership from University of the Pacific in Stockton, California and certifications in Strengths Approaches to Higher Education Leadership and Student Success as well as Intercultural Development Inventory\u00ae<\/a> (IDI).<\/p>\n

Dr. Sobers is also an Assistant Director for Residence Life in the Department of Housing and Dining at the University of Texas at Austin with 14 years of experience working as a student affairs administrator for 6 colleges\/universities. She specializes in leadership development, student government\/organizations, residence life, student activities, and assessment.<\/p>\n

In 2016 Dr. Sobers started a blog entitled, \u201cLeadership Lessons from Dance<\/a>\u201d which led to the TEDx Talk entitled, \u201cThe Dance of Leadership\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Shauna T. Sobers is the CEO \/ Facilitator \/ Consultant for shaunatsobers, LLC, a company specializing in leadership education and consulting for supervisors, student organizations, individuals, and teams. She is passionate about helping people recognize their talents and express it in their own way. For over a decade, Dr. Sobers has been advising leaders […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"http:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2020\/05\/20-05-13-L.I.V.E.-Podcast-Dr-Shauna-T-Sobers_1.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"71.58M","filesize_raw":"75051894","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":""},"tags":[22,19,28,23,24,27,26,25],"series":[2],"class_list":{"0":"post-27","1":"podcast","2":"type-podcast","3":"status-publish","5":"tag-entrepreneurship","6":"tag-leadership","7":"tag-person-of-color","8":"tag-poc","9":"tag-student-leadership","10":"tag-success","11":"tag-university","12":"tag-womens-empowerment","13":"series-live","14":"entry"},"acf":{"related_episodes":"","hosts":[{"ID":68,"post_author":"39","post_date":"2020-07-20 20:29:28","post_date_gmt":"2020-07-20 20:29:28","post_content":"","post_title":"Dr. Brandon Jones","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"dr-brandon-jones","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2020-07-20 20:33:17","post_modified_gmt":"2020-07-20 20:33:17","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/?post_type=speaker&p=68","menu_order":0,"post_type":"speaker","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"guests":[{"ID":46,"post_author":"19","post_date":"2020-07-09 19:48:55","post_date_gmt":"2020-07-09 19:48:55","post_content":"\n

Dr. Shauna T. Sobers is the CEO \/ Facilitator \/ Consultant for shaunatsobers, LLC, a company specializing in leadership education and consulting for supervisors, student organizations, individuals, and teams. She is passionate about helping people recognize their talents and express it in their own way. For over a decade, Dr. Sobers has been advising leaders of all levels as well as presenting and facilitating workshops on CliftonStrengths\u2122 based leadership, employee engagement, women\u2019s empowerment, and career advancement preparation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Sobers recently wrote a chapter, \"Advancing to Leadership As A Person of Color,\" in the new book, \"The Footprint of Success\". Available at http:\/\/shaunatsobers.com\/books\/.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Sobers has a Doctorate of Education in Administration and Leadership from University of the Pacific in Stockton, California and certifications in Strengths Approaches to Higher Education Leadership and Student Success as well as Intercultural Development Inventory\u00ae<\/a> (IDI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Sobers is also an Assistant Director for Residence Life in the Department of Housing and Dining at the University of Texas at Austin with 14 years of experience working as a student affairs administrator for 6 colleges\/universities. She specializes in leadership development, student government\/organizations, residence life, student activities, and assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016 Dr. Sobers started a blog entitled, \u201cLeadership Lessons from Dance<\/a>\u201d which led to the TEDx Talk entitled, \u201cThe Dance of Leadership\u201d.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Shauna T. Sobers","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"shauna-t-sobers","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2020-11-12 19:19:38","post_modified_gmt":"2020-11-12 19:19:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/?post_type=speaker&p=46","menu_order":0,"post_type":"speaker","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"Transcript":"

Welcome to Life. Leadership, Innovation, Ventures and Entrepreneurship. A podcast
\n\ue5d4
\nthat showcases the talents, skills and abilities of U.T. faculty, staff and students.
\nI’m your host, Brandon Jones, associate director for Student Learning and Development in Housing and Dining.
\nAnd we’re excited to have you listening to us. Good morning, Doctor Sobers.
\nHow are you this morning? I’m well, thank you. Well, one of the things I want to do
\nthis morning while we have you on the podcast is give you an opportunity to tell us about
\nyour new book, where you’ve got a chapter featured in the footprint of Success Stories
\nof Impact from leaders and Entrepreneurs. And your chapter is called In
\nMansingh to Leadership as a Person of Color. And so I want to give you an opportunity to kind of tell us a little bit
\nmore about this book and the chapter that you contributed in this book. Absolutely.
\nThis is definitely a time where opportunity
\nstruck. And I had intended to be a part of a co author, but
\nI was actually working on my solo book project, Color Resilience Tree.
\nAnd then my publisher reached out and said, you know, I’m really liking the content that you’re
\nproviding. And I think this might be a good opportunity
\nfor you to collaborate with some others. Other leaders and other entrepreneurs. And I hadn’t
\nreally used that word to describe myself before.
\nEntrepreneur No leader for sure.
\nSo that was a good opportunity for me to do some self-reflection,
\nwhich I love and highly recommend, even if it’s not
\na journal specifically writing, but something like this where a
\nverbal journaling is what I like to call that. Now, for people
\nwith different learning styles, it was a good opportunity for for me to do some reflection.
\nAnd what my chapter focuses on really is my experience in the workplace
\nas a person of color in predominantly white institutions.
\nAnd I’ve worked at six institutions now with in student affairs and
\nand have experienced some things. And also
\nI did my research and for my doctorate, specifically looking
\nat black women who were deans and vise presidents. And I wanted to stay
\non a positive psychology note. And so I didn’t only say
\nto a deficit model of what are they experiencing, what are all the negative things? But
\nI really tried to tap into. What
\nwas it that kept them resilient? What was it that kept them in the field
\nin spite of all that they were experiencing? And a lot of my participants
\nwere in the field for 10 or more years and myself. I’ve been in the field for 16 years.
\nAnd so where where other people drop off for now,
\nall of those things. What keeps us sustaining? And so really my chapter
\nis about. What it means to be a token in certain environments
\nand how one could determine when
\nthey were a token is I think it’s important to know the language, know that you’re not alone,
\nknow that you’re not crazy, that you’re not
\nmaking this stuff up and. Others are experiencing
\nsomething similar and so having that framework and then also having the framework to.
\nOK, what do I do about it? How do I how do I use what’s already
\nin me and around me to help me sustain and continue to
\nstrive and meet my potential? And so that that’s really what I always try to do. But for
\nsure. With what the chapter is talking about. So earlier you mentioned
\nthat opportunity struck when it came to the writing of your chapter
\nin this book. And so talk to us about making the most
\nof opportunities like that, because a lot of our listeners are our students
\nand some of our listeners are faculty at the university. And then there’s parents
\nof students that are listening to this. Our audience is wide ranging. So talk to us about
\nmaking the most of opportunities like the one you got to, you know, coauthor
\nof a book. Yeah, a lot of times we go into
\nthings thinking that we know how it’s gonna go.
\nAnd I think the best thing that we can do
\nis stay open, open minded, open to like listening
\nto not only the people around us, but listening to the reverberations
\nof that environment. And by that I mean
\nso as an example, a lot of times students come to campus and
\nthey’re like, I’m going to major in this. I already know what my path is.
\nI have everything figured out I’m going to do this, this, this and this is going to lead here.
\nWe’re good. And then they stay tunnel vision. Like no blinders
\nup to other things that could be influencing
\nor informing what they could be doing that they hadn’t envisioned
\nyet. And. So it’s not to say
\ndon’t have a plan. It’s not just they don’t have a strategy, do that. And also
\nrecognize that things could be coming in
\nin forms and shapes and ways that you hadn’t thought of when
\nI was an econ major dance minor. I had an intended to
\nminor in dance. I just was taking dance classes because that
\nwas my way of having an outlet and something that I had been used
\nto doing. When I when I was in high school and when I got to
\nmy junior year, my faculty said to me, you know, you’ve been
\ntaking these classes, you’ve been accumulating all these credits. If you just take three more one credit
\nclasses, you’ll have a minor. And I was like, yes, sure. You know, like that. That
\nsounds good. And those three classes changed my life.
\nMinoring, minoring in dance, changed my life. One class in particular
\nwas on lighting design for the theater because I was really
\ninvolved in the theater production. I worked crew backstage at the
\nPerforming Arts Center. And then that job or that course
\nconnected me with a faculty member who when I was graduating and just
\ndon’t know what job and what or where to look or what to do.
\nThat faculty member was like, oh, well, there’s this internship opportunity at New Jersey Shakespeare
\nFestival. Because I grew up in New York City, so I was gonna go back home. He was
\nlike, hey, there’s this opportunity for you to be an assistant electrician if you’re interested.
\nAnd if I had been like, no, I’m an economist and I’m only looking for corporate jobs.
\nAnd like, I would have I would have self-sabotaging and.
\nAnd who knows what my trajectory would have been. But so I took that opportunity. Was like, you
\nknow, it’s interesting to me. And so I was able to
\ndo, you know, box office work and and work as an assistant
\nelectrician on three shows. And one of the lessons that I took
\naway is that’s not the job for me. And that’s an important lesson to learn
\nas well when things don’t work. That’s also clues
\nand cues to what what’s next. And so I think that
\nwas an important lesson for me to learn and not be curious and wonder what if I did it?
\nI did it. I was all in. I finished my commitment there. And I learned that
\ntheater and the especially during the run of.
\nHamlet, which is very long, that the
\nday in and day out really was too repetitive
\nfor me and I really needed a job that was
\nconstantly learning and growing and moving and changing. And that was an important lesson that I
\ncould then use the next job opportunity that I had and to really
\nhave that as a filter. So, you know, I say all that to say be open to opportunities.
\nListening to the environment so that professor coming in and
\nalso what things I liked or didn’t like, what brought me satisfaction and motivation.
\nThose are all things that are going to keep you open to what could be.
\nThen later in my career. So fast forward maybe 10 years after
\nmy masters, after my first two full
\ntime jobs, I ended up being the director of student activities.
\nAt an institution where I am in that portfolio
\nwas to supervise the students who did
\nlighting and audio and other, and I I was able
\nto be a better candidate for that position because of that
\nrandom experience. And as an undergrad that I could say, hey,
\nI knew enough to talk the technology
\nlanguage to those who were supervising them and then understand
\nwhat where the students were and how to make that program grow. And so
\nwe were able to, you know, be doing the sound and
\nlighting for commencement and orientation. And these were students doing it, not a professional company.
\nAnd people were calling on us to do all of that thing and not to say that I trained like
\nI had a part time person that did the tech. But I think that experience
\ndefinitely helped me to be better suited for to be able to take on that role. So
\nyou just never know where one
\nparticular skill set or competency or just experience
\ncan have an impact in your life and come back and help you out. So just,
\nyou know, listen to to yourself and listen environment to to really know
\nwhere some of those opportunities make sense. For now, I think that’s I think that’s fantastic
\nadvice. I heard a lot of things in there, but the one that stands out the most to me, it sounds
\nat least it sounds like to me what you’re saying is, is that this pathway to success that
\na lot of us, especially high achieving students like the ones that we have, that we
\nhave the pleasure of working with you. It sounds to me like you’re saying that the pathway to success
\nis not this linear thing that we that we imagined it to be. There’s not
\na major in this large moneymaking discipline because it generates revenue.
\nGraduate, get the job. Be successful. It sounds to me like there’s more than one
\nway to arrive at the point that you need to be. Absolutely. Absolutely.
\nYes. Yes. There is more than one way. And also recognizing that
\none decision doesn’t define the rest of your life.
\nSay that louder for those students who are at home right now during this shelter in
\nplace, or it is trying to convince parents that changing their major to something
\nthat is more fulfilling, even though it may not be on the surface, at least more revenue
\ngenerating. Say that louder for those folks. Because I’ve I’ve lost count
\nof the number of students that I’ve sat with, u._t leadership and other experiences
\nwhere they say that it was such a it’s such a hard thing to convince their parents to let them
\npursue their area of interest rather than the area
\nof revenue generation. Right. So this is something that I tell my mentees
\nand maybe this can help your listeners ears. Undergrad.
\nIs really about gaining a certain skill set.
\nWhat separates someone with an undergraduate degree versus someone who did it
\nisn’t necessarily tied to their major. The major is just there to
\nhold your interests. But essentially what you’re learning to do is think
\nto synthesize information. Know how to, you know, go
\nout and research and get different viewpoints and then learn how to write,
\nhow to create and construct an argument or
\na critical thought based on other people’s research.
\nSo how to think, how to write and how to present, knowing how to get up in
\nfront of someone and say what you’re, you know, needing to say or wanting
\nto say at that moment, how to organize those those thoughts,
\nhow to use the technology and the resources around us to do that. And then lastly, how
\nto communicate across culture and diversity
\nso that teach that teamwork that you’re doing in every class, that, you know,
\ndiscussion that you’re doing, that navigating of
\nworking with different people from different backgrounds, different authority levels, different power
\ndynamics. Those are really the core things that that you’re learning
\nan undergrad, no matter what major you’re in. And so the degree
\nis really about that skill set. The major, I believe, is
\nthere so that you’re at least interested in the topic that helps
\nyou get to those skills alone. And and
\nI believe that college is this amazing time in your life
\nwhere you can explore without hopefully judgment
\nor limit of other things. So for me, I really I chose
\nmy economic major one because my advisor said that everyone else was doing
\nmanagement and I could basically do the same thing with economics. So there was that.
\nAnd so that that kind of follows along with with what I just said as well, but also because it had
\na smaller number of required classes which allowed me to take anthropology
\nclasses and engineering classes, civil engineering. I studied abroad
\ntwo times and I went to Barbados, my home town.
\nWhereas. Yeah. And and I studied abroad
\nin London and entered civil engineering and anthropology there. I did
\nphotography. And, you know, as I said, dance and all of those things.
\nAnd so that really opened my eye and my world and allowed
\nme to use all of that information in
\ncrafting my viewpoint. And so that’s so, so, so important. So parents, if you’re listening,
\nlet them change their major. It’s gonna be a let them explore. Right. That might be the title of this episode.
\nLet them explore. I’m going to the phenomenology in me is letting that. Let us marinate
\nfor just a quick second, because so many people I’ve I’ve worked in a couple of different industries
\nnow, having moved to California and worked in post-production
\nand film after working theater and then in student affairs and different functional areas.
\nAnd I had an econ major. And so you would think like how to how do you get there one? I thought
\neconomics, there’s always money in every business. And so I was able to articulate
\nthat that way. But in every field, there’s people of all different majors,
\nbecause what’s important is once you get that job, they will train you to do that specific thing that
\nthey need to or want you to do. So I don’t know that you have to worry about that, too, too much.
\nMaybe when you get to the Masters that you’re the major, you’re really learning to get
\nsome mastery of a specific thing. I don’t want to lose one
\nof your thoughts that you said earlier because you because you were neatly captured.
\nWhy exploration is so important. And I don’t want to lose that, because this this is going to tie into
\nthe remaining questions that I have for you. But one thing I wanted to ask you is
\nin light of everything you just said about the importance of exploration, the importance of
\nnot focusing on just one decision, the importance of, you know,
\ntrying different things. How much of that do you feel like is going to
\nchange the modified or altered all the same words. So
\nhow much of that how do you feel that’s going to be different in light of what we’re experiencing right
\nnow during this Copia 19 PNB? How much of that is going to need to shift
\nin the landscape of higher education and education in general?
\nWow. I know, right? Talk about putting
\nme on the spot. Well. I think, if anything,
\nit’s going to need to happen even more. I think people are
\nrealizing interdisciplinary work, collaboration,
\nlearning from every opportunity, you know, because
\npeople are put in a place where they’re around. If if I’m a student
\nand now I’m around my siblings or mom or dad and what they’re going through
\nand having that inform their education rather than being away
\nand solely focused on that. Whereas, you know, that’s definitely helpful
\nand less stressful, maybe not knowing how to learn from
\nanything that comes at you and how to survive and sustain and
\ncontinue forth no matter what’s coming. I think the biggest lesson that we’re learning
\nnow is how to live in uncertainty and how
\nto, you know, and how to live when I don’t know the answer. How
\ndo I focus on the present? I think that’s what we’re learning right now. How do
\nI not, you know, dwell too much on the past, listen and gain
\nfrom the past? How do I not try to project too far into the future?
\nHow do I live right now with what where I am, with what I’m
\ndoing? And in particular for our students when I talk about making decisions.
\nAnd thinking about what the next step. Sometimes when they think about the next step,
\ntheir fear of how that next step will domino effect
\nfor the trajectory of their empire, next stop. And so right now I’m saying
\njust focus on that one domino. You maybe look
\na little far out, but be in the moment. Live.
\nCarpe diem. Like live for today is the day. And
\nbe able to in hindsight, like I was able to do with my
\nelectrician and lighting design work. In hindsight, you’ll be able to see how those dominos lined
\nup. But there’s a little bit of taking risk
\nof leaning into discomfort. Where? Where does learning
\nhappen? When we’re challenged and we’re in the midst of it being a B.
\nOK, so having our affirmations that our self thoughts be able to
\nsay, I’m going to be OK, I’m going to get through this. I can do this.
\nAnd believing in yourself, rather than letting the other side of yourself, top thoughts
\ncome in and say, what are you doing? Why are you doing that? This is just
\ngoing to end up bad. And you’re just going to end up home and
\nnot at work. And then you question. OK. Let’s go there. What if I did
\ngo home and I ended up without a job? What do I do then? And how
\ndoes that look? Rather than fearing it and trying to avoid it, let’s lean into it for
\na minute and think what? What could that
\nlead to? What could that mean? And will it be OK? Yes. It
\nwill be OK. And sadly, or whether this is
\nsad or this is comforting. The place where an undergraduate is when
\nthey leave or when they’re thinking about an internship. Doesn’t go
\naway. I was in that place. Every time I had to decide whether
\nor not it was time to leave a job or leave an industry or. And so
\nthat’s what I’m like. Sadly, we know that throughout real life we’re constantly in
\nthat place where we have to make that choice of what’s next or what’s best for me
\nor what’s this opportunity like. That’s just part of the game. Let me ask you a quick
\nquestion, because you’ve given us so much. Let’s hear what
\nI’m thinking about. I think I’m going to extend this episode because not many do 30 minutes. But you’ve given
\nus such a major, James. You got a book coming out. And also,
\nyou know, our students are looking for more content from us right now. So I’m going to extend this episode
\nif you have the time. That is shirts. OK. Because I always try to reserve extra
\nin case it goes like this. So I’m really excited about what you drop in on us. So
\nnow that I know that we can go there. I got a couple of the questions that came up that I just got to ask.
\nAll right. A second ago, you started talking about self
\ntalk. One of our consultants that we’ve worked with here at the university told
\nus at one time that he said it’s so easy for us when we’re doing self-talk
\nfor it to be negative most of the time, because a lot of us feel like, OK, well, now
\nyou didn’t do well or you need to try harder. Or was that your Best Buy?
\nIs these he said that, you know, it’s so easy to default into that mindset of negative self-talk
\nbecause we give it we’ve grown comfortable with this notion that
\nif I push myself or if I’m my hardest critic, right. Then nobody
\nelse can be hard on me. What do you have to say to the folks who are trying to do that right
\nnow and their risk and they’re not getting the results that they hope to get
\nby talking to themselves that way? What advice do you have for those people, then?
\nI think the very first thing that comes to mind when you when you talk about that is
\nwould you talk to a friend who came to you that way,
\nthe way you’re talking to yourself, would you talk to other people or would you have
\nmore empathy and compassion and kindness? I think we do.
\nAnd so if if I, you know, shared with someone else what I was going through,
\nwhat I was worried about, what I was fearful of, would they
\ntalk to me the way that I’m talking to me? Probably not.
\nSo does that really do us a service?
\nAnd if we’re going to be doing the self talking, which often is echoes
\nof other people in our lives, talking to us, whether good or bad or whatever.
\nWe kind of embody that. And even sometimes people will say that it’s like I heard you in the back, my
\nhead when I started doing that, I heard you like my coach. It is. And my parents
\nand my mentors like I heard you. But it’s it’s so much
\neasier to remember when it’s the negative thing. Someone will tell you praises
\nand wonderful things. And then we hone in on the one bad
\nthing that they said and then we harp on that forever. And so I I’m a proponent
\nof positive psychology, as you know, in particular, I use Clifton Strengths
\nGap. But there’s so many different forms of positive psychology.
\nAnd so it’s really about answering the question. Don Clifton Arnst
\nis what if we focused on what is right with us? Yes.
\nIf we focused on what is right with us. And so really, as you ask that question,
\nthat that’s what it comes down to is how do we look and talk about
\nwhat is working? More than we talk about what’s
\nnot working so often when I when I’m coaching and I’m talking to students about
\npreparing for interviews or just preparing for those decisions that are
\ncoming, I ask them a question of, OK. Tell me something that you love about yourself.
\nTell me something. That is what you’re bringing to the team. What makes you special?
\nWhat makes you good? And it’s like, I don’t know. And then I say, what’s,
\nyou know, something that you need to improve on? What’s a weakness that you have a flaw? And it’s like bubble level,
\nbubble bubble. But we need to work on that. And so it’s like,
\nyou know, being able to tap into what the Clifton strengths does is allows us to
\nidentify some talents, some re-occurring feelings,
\nbehaviors or thinking. Essentially, the talent,
\nwhat things motivate you, what things do you just happen to have
\nexcellence and naturally what things you
\njust lose track of time because you’re doing those things. What are those
\nthings and how can we leap into that more and affirm that more so
\nthat you can look in the mirror and instead of being like, these are all things you’re not doing. You can say,
\nman, I give myself the permission to be
\ngreat at this or you like, man, I. I recognize
\nthat that I did well in this. Like, yes. It’s the philosophy
\naround positive psychology isn’t to ignore weakness, just to give it the
\nattention in in a small pocket in relation to
\nhow it’s gonna be useful to you. You pay attention to it. It’s like, yes,
\nI see these areas. I’m going to use that feedback and
\nboth and thinking. And I did well here
\nand and I deserve recognition and celebration. And
\nfor me to be appreciative of this moment and also
\nrecognize those and that’ll help some of the self-talk. What how do you flip
\nwhat you’re saying and make it into something positive instead of everyday saying, this is what I’m not doing?
\nLet’s especially in this time, once that gratitude, you know, there’s gotta be
\nsomething in my day that I’m thankful for it. There’s gotta be something in my day that I wear.
\nWhat’s that? And if you continue to pay attention to what’s going well
\nand what you’re doing well, then you might see a theme, just as we
\ndo with the weaknesses. We might see a theme that then I can say, well, this is the thing
\nthat I keep doing well. Maybe there’s something there that I can lean into
\neven more and continue to find opportunities to do those things
\nin the other places where I might be struggling. Okay. So a second
\nago you started talking about Clifton Shrinks and on your website
\nat the top you say that you provide strengths based leadership and you help people realize
\nand maximize their talents and potential. I want to give you an opportunity to talk a little bit more
\nabout Clifton’s strengths then all about how that identifying talent
\nand focusing on what’s right. I want to give you the floor to kind of talk about this because,
\nyou know, I’ve had a chance to see your TED talk. I’ve had a chance to see you do. The essay speaks
\nat Massawa a couple of years ago. You’ve done the strengths based facilitation for us
\nin you HDB and so acquired by listening. Basically, what I’m doing is doing
\na shameless plug for my company here. If you’re needing some trainings, there’s some
\ndevelopment around Sprint’s Sharna Solvers. Dr. Sharma Sobers
\nis the person you want to go to. So I want to give you the floor to kind of talk about what led you
\ndown this pathway, but also what have you discovered. And while we
\nshould spend more time focusing on developing our strengths and recognizing
\nwhat our strengths are and how powerful that can be, when we do discover that
\nand we learn that about the folks that we’re working with. So I will give you the floor on that. Oh. MAN
\nYou know me well. Let me see if I can I can tackle some
\nof that. So. How I got into strength was in my master’s program
\nat Azouz, a Pacific university in California. I had an opportunity,
\na ha. It took an average me to
\nhelp there. They do. Every first year student takes the
\nthe assessment and then they do a semester long seminar
\non learning about their their strengths. And then included
\nin that is having a coach. And so I
\nwas trained to sit one on one with a first year student
\nand talk about how they were going to use those strengths. Are really those
\ntalents to be able to. Pick courses.
\nThink about relationships. Think about, you know, how to get involved on campus.
\nReally try to shift their lens. We call it the strengths,
\nstrengths based lens to what’s right, what’s working, what’s
\ngood. What do I do naturally? What? You know, what’s
\ninnate in me and are already there. But maybe how dormant or held down
\nand and how do I bring that out more and and in in as many
\nspaces and places that I can. And doing that one on one work
\nto really think. Because oftentimes people can’t see themselves. They need
\na mirror to be reflected back onto them, to be able to
\nhear and see what they’re good at. Right. And that’s what you do for me as well.
\nSo when I say something and you repeat it back to me, I’m like, wow, I said that. You’re like, yes,
\nthat’s what I heard. But sometimes because it’s coming from me, I can’t hear
\nit. And that that’s that’s what we’re talking about you with that self-talk is would you say that
\nto someone if they said that to you? Oftentimes it’s no. And so
\nwhat? What’s really hard about strength is it’s an assessment,
\nat least the Gallup one. What’s what’s difficult? Some of the what I call the kryptonite of strengths
\nis that it’s an assessment. And so then people think that that’s the end,
\nthat I’ve taken it. It gave me my results. I read the results. I’m good.
\nPut it on the shelf. Check the box over it. That’s not
\nit. That’s only the beginning. What that assessment
\ngives you are your talents, not your strength is your talents.
\nAnd then the journey of discovering and developing and honing
\nit day to day, week to week, month to month, year to year is what eventually
\ngets you to the strength. It’s not. The results are not the strength. It’s telling you
\nwhat your potential is. If you work on it and
\nthen the problem that people face is how do I work on it? What do I do? It’s not
\nrocket science. It’s really just creating the space and the time
\nto work with a coach or a peer or a mentor or to just sit
\ndown and designate that time that you’re going to focus on thinking about you
\nand really investing in you and choosing
\nto look at something through that framework. And so often and here’s a specific
\nexample. And oftentimes people will come and they’ll say, man, this person
\nand my organization or in my class or my colleague, they are frustrating
\nme. They are driving me crazy even at home. My mom come and say, my husband
\nis driving me crazy. What do I do with him right now? OK, it’s all me. You know
\nwhat? You know what’s the thing that’s causing the conflict? So I’ll use my mom as an example.
\nShe’s going to kill me for that. But hey, I’ll say, you know, he he
\ngoes in the store and he’s walking up and down the aisle. You know, he has to look
\nat everything, you know. So annoying. When I was like, OK, let me think about this,
\nbecause he hasn’t taken the assessment. I’m like, okay, it sounds like he might have the strength or
\nthe talent of deliberative where he’s, you know, intent, giving great
\ncare and intention to before he makes a decision. Factoring
\nin taking in all of the information. So he’s going to potentially be slow
\nto coming to that decision. But once he makes that decision, it’s gonna be hard to move him
\non that decision because he’s gonna be able to come up with all of the different
\nreasons and rationales. He’s read all the reviews, if you’re like, you know, looking on the web
\nthat about. And so but that perspective, that insight was able to
\nallow her to see him from a different lens. See him from what he was
\nbringing. Not how he was frustrating her. And so it didn’t stop being
\nfrustrating, but she was able to allow him to be
\nhimself and to fully do that because she knew that that was going to benefit
\nthem both. So now she’ll call and say he’s doing that deliberative thing again. What was that
\nstrength thing that it’s not that he’s doing that, but I’m leaving him alone. I’m letting him do it,
\nyou know? And so being able to understand not only yourself,
\nbut being able to understand others around you, whether or not they’ve taken the assessment, being able to see
\npeople from a positive lens. Man, that person’s. Restraining me, OK. What is it
\nthat they’re doing and maybe what’s right with them? What are they doing that maybe
\nI just don’t maybe have that talent as my OP. So I don’t naturally
\ngo to that place of thinking, feeling or behaving, but maybe I can
\nlearn from them. What can I learn from that? What what’s something that they’re bringing to the table that
\nI don’t naturally think to do? Because what strengths
\nis about is saying, hey, this is this is what I’m bringing to the table.
\nAnd it’s special and unique. And not everyone thinks like me, acts like me,
\nthinks to do what I do. And people don’t know that. They don’t realize that. They
\nthink everyone is thinking the same. And so this allows us to
\nnot only reflect positively on us, but reflect positively on everyone around
\nus and every situation around us. If we just pause for a minute and think what’s right
\nor what’s really happening, that’s good. It just shifts how we
\nthink, how we approach, how we feel about that particular situation.
\nI’ve got two more questions for you. One of them and then I’ve got to request
\none of the questions that I have is I got so
\nmuch good stuff out of this because I’m literally over here taking notes. But because, you know, my strength, that doesn’t surprise
\nyou. You know, my signature things, rather. So that shouldn’t surprise you that I’m over here right now is down.
\nYou talked earlier about communicating diversity. And one of the things
\nthat I find that students struggle with when I used to work at Clemson, one of their learning
\ngoals for every student was that students had this thing called articulation, the ability to say
\nthis experience being an R.A., this experience working the cash register
\nin the student union or this experience working in the academic success center prepared
\nme to be a nurse or an artist in these ways. But students
\nstruggle with this so much. And the thing that I’ve seen,
\nwhether it’s interviewing r.j.’s, whether it’s interviewing student leaders at our student leadership
\nconference, I see this all the time and I’m seeing more and more. How can
\nwe ask one question so that I don’t do let go? How can we
\ndo billions of strings through the lens of
\nfocusing on what’s right? How can we help our students better articulate
\nand summarize these experiences and how they prepared them for
\nwhatever it is that’s in front of them specifically? You know, Madison,
\nspecifically, we just got into that question, ideation.
\nI mean, we’re opening up the world for a whole series of
\npodcasts on how to use
\nstrengths in what you’re talking about as transferable skills. Rest asked
\nyou, how do you talk about. As one experience that I had
\nand be able to take. Not this specific functions.
\nHey, I know. Let’s take me working in the Performing Arts Center.
\nI was an usher and I was a box office coordinator
\nand I staff the box office. And then I moved to to working the crew.
\nI can just say that, like, yep, I did these things, I did these jobs. And
\nI can tell you what the job responsibilities are, but that the job responsibilities is
\nwhat anyone can tell you. If they did that particular job. What makes you special
\nand you unique? And for me, I was able to look back and think, OK, what
\ndid I do in that job that no one else did? One, I created a manual
\nfor all the ushers that you’re not surprised by that I know about in alleviated. I
\ncreated a manual for all the ushers that collected all the history and put
\nthat OK. So what led me to do that? Why? What is it about me that
\nlends itself to creating things like that? It’s my strength of significance,
\nleaving a legacy and and a long lasting thing beyond me.
\nIt’s my strict discipline and creating structure. And so my mind just naturally
\ngoes to that where other people are like, wow, that’s amazing. I’m like, I just that like, would
\nit would wouldn’t anyone know that? That’s the whole point.
\nIs the. So Clifton Strengths gives you the top five.
\nBut the order is also important. And so when we think about
\ntrying to find someone else with the same top five in the same
\norder is one in 33 million. Wow.
\nYou are one in 33. You are so unique, so special. Someone
\nelse can have the same. I have achieved our top one. Someone can have a cheeseburger
\nand we can talk about it and talk about how we’re using it. And and in what ways.
\nBut no one’s going to have achiever and learner and harmony and significance and intellectual.
\nThose are my top five. So what makes
\nme unique and special in whatever work that I’m
\ndoing and I’m always going to bring me to the table. So if
\nI can look not only on my tangible, transferable skills,
\nbut the talents that led me to do those skills, then in an interview,
\nI can talk about how I’m able to, you know,
\nwork with people for these specific reasons. I’m able to do tasks
\nand be like, yes, I’m able to and I’m going down the list. I’m like learner and achieve
\nthe same look. And because I know myself through this. Using this language
\nthat I can then talk about myself without feeling as though
\nI am being overly boastful or arrogant or because that’s usually the
\nfear and then the resistance that people have to talking, talking about themselves, interviewing,
\nthey’re feeling like, oh, I know, I should be more humble.
\nAnd it’s like the interview is your chance to talk about yourself,
\nis you marketing yourself. And so. Telling the truth and
\ntelling facts. This is what I did. This is who I am.
\nThis is how I do what I do and become a more comfortable.
\nHow do you become more comfortable with something? Repetition. Practice. Continue to do
\nit. That’s why the self-talk piece is so important. If you’re not used to talking about yourself
\nto yourself from a positive lens about things that you do, well,
\nthen of course it’s going to be hard when you’re trying to do it in an interview or talking to other people.
\nNot something that you can just pick up and and do automatically.
\nWork at it like anything out. And so this is a tool strength
\nas a tool. It’s not the end all be all. There’s limits. There’s flossed to it, certainly. But it’s
\na tool that we can use to help build a muscle that we
\ncan see things from a positive lens. Be be grateful
\nfor what we do bring and what we do offer. Be able to articulate, you know, what
\nexcites us and what motivates us and what keeps us going. So that when
\nit comes time to being able to give the elevator speech or do the interview or
\nwhatever the case may be, it feels and is more natural. It’s not
\ngonna just come at the drop of a hat. You need the coaching and development and the constant
\nreminders to think in that framework. And that’s what I predict. Perfect.
\nSo with that. Thank you so much for
\nparticipating in this podcast and just dropping these major gems on us
\non today. I’m feeling generous. One of the things that I
\nthink would be helpful, especially right now, thinking about our incoming freshman class,
\nthinking about our upcoming senior class and those students who
\nare trying to navigate uncertainty, the ability to at least begin that conversation,
\nto begin that journey of of self-discovery through strength,
\nthrough the lens of strength. I think we need I want to do something else. I think,
\none, we may need to have you back, but to when I say I’m feeling generous. I think one
\nthing that if my boss was here, he would be pushing me to say, you know, we should buy some codes
\nand we should try to find a way to offer those out to
\nany student, faculty, staff member that might be listening to this podcast. I may drop a link
\nwhen we upload the podcast. We may we may do that in the first five to ten people
\nor whatever. We might do something. But because I want to make sure that you can help kind of coach
\nthem. And obviously we need to work out some logistics to do that one. Looking at your schedule and looking at
\nyour ability to be able to do that. But I want you to think about that as a possibility,
\nbecause I don’t want to lose the momentum of this conversation. I feel like this
\nis. I feel like this is going to catch on. And right now, because we’re looking at all the different
\nways we can serve our students and be there for them. To me, it just hit me like
\na ton of bricks a second ago. Like, why are we not providing regular opportunities
\nfor this? Now, obviously, we can’t do it for all 50 plus thousand U.T. students
\nand alumni and the millions of alumni out there. But, you know, getting that conversation
\nstarted and providing students an opportunity to at least engage with
\ntheir signature themes in some way, shape, form or fashion, I think is gonna be important. So I’m definitely gonna
\nbe following Mecca with you to see that. But I think
\nthat’s so important to not only get the codes, I like that, you know, they are
\nnot only the codes, but also get get a little bit of the coaching
\nand and it it can and does definitely help to do it individually.
\nAnd if you’re thinking about your student organization or you’re thinking about your department
\nor your team, that’s an their way to get it
\nand to begin talking about it. I have done that, like you mentioned, at a couple
\ndifferent departments. Nobody wanted to do that. And also think
\nabout it supervisors. Yes, that’s been my focus this past year
\nis how how do we begin to help develop our teams?
\nAs a supervisor and really thinking about how to do that day to day, I would love to see.
\nI mean, I just I mean, just drop this right here. I would love the U.T.
\nprovide, you know, codes and opportunities for students for every single
\nutm student. For us to become a strength based campus, not by just giving the codes,
\nby intentionally providing coaching opportunities to. Train the trainer. Getting
\nmore certified. People feel uncomfortable talking about advising people
\nand just using it as a lens at the school. A seminar on this,
\nyou know, training for advisers of student organizations, academy
\nfor captains of all athletic teams, like just really embracing
\nthis and holistically how we function and how
\nwe think about ourselves, alumni things, etc. so
\nthat out there, see where that goes and tone it down. So
\nI did it being part of that that mission and that goal.
\nAnd if you’re looking to reach out to me specifically,
\nyou can follow me on linked in Facebook, Instagram or
\nTwitter at shauntese sobers you can find on my Web site.
\nGuess what? Shawmut use Overstock.com. And there I have
\nmy blog. I have a link to purchase. The book Footprints of Success.
\nMy Workshops. The essay speaks and the TED talk. You can find on the Web
\nsite as well. So definitely if something resonated with me. With
\nyou. From what I said today, you know, tweet about it, share it, pass it on
\nand definitely connect with me and let me know so that you can be my mirror
\nand I can know how to continue to help folks in the future.
\nThank you for SNAP. Yes. Thank you so much for coming on. And we’ll talk to you soon.
\nLo ha. My name is Dr. Shauna, she sobers. I invite you to
\npurchase my first book, The Footprint of Success Stories of Impact from Leaders
\nand Entrepreneurs. The book is a collaboration of 13 authors. And my chapter,
\nAdvancing to Leadership as a Person of Color talks about my experiences as a black woman
\nand a token as I navigate to leadership roles. I provide a framework
\nto help others determine if they are or have been a token. And I share
\nsome steps you can take by using my resilience tree model to build up your personal
\nfortitude. Don’t miss it. Buy your copy today. Signed
\nby moi at short notice Overstock.com.
\nWe hope you enjoy today’s episode to catch the next installment. Be sure to follow us on
\nSpotify, Apple podcasts, Google podcasts and Stitcher. This
\npodcast was recorded and edited in collaboration with the L.A. i.g.’s Development Studios
\nAudio Department. More information can be found at Liberal Arts U. Texas at e._d._u
\nSlash L.A. i_d_s. The intro song was composed by Ian Herrera and you can
\nfind his work at Ian Herrera dot com. The outro song was composed by Noah Keller
\nand you can find more of his work at Noah D. Keller. RT.com.
\nWe’ll see you next time.<\/p>\n"},"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2022\/03\/LIVE-logo-TPN.png","download_link":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/podcast-download\/27\/episode-4-bringing-you-to-the-table.mp3","player_link":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/podcast-player\/27\/episode-4-bringing-you-to-the-table.mp3","audio_player":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/podcast-player\/27\/episode-4-bringing-you-to-the-table.mp3<\/a><\/audio>","episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":[],"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/podcasts.la.utexas.edu\/live\/feed\/podcast\/live","embedCode":"

Episode 4 – Bringing YOU to the Table<\/a><\/blockquote>