The Student Leader Blog

The surprising dark side of "Keep up the good work," and the power of the gold star stickers.

I have very few pet peeves, but perhaps the deepest and darkest is my hatred of the phrase "keep up the good work." Until yesterday, I had a hard time explaining to people why it drove me bonkers to hear this from a boss or teacher. I had a perfectly reasonable explanation all along, but only now do I have some proof of my theory in print.

According to psychologist Teresa Amabile, certain extrinsic motivators (such as praise or rewards) can "undermine a person's sense of self-determination." So using the "keep up the good work" example: If I'm your boss, and I say this to you after you've done something really well, I am basically giving you an order to maintain your performance level. I am implying that the work you are doing is for me, so to some degree I am taking away your sense of control and intrinsic motivation (the desire to do well simply because you like what you're doing).

Okay, so maybe I have some control issues, but I think it's an important point to keep in mind. Extrinsic motivation can actually hinder intrinsic motivation. That means that a very strong incentive to succeed (e.g. a vacation to Hawii) may be worse for improving determination and satisfaction than a small incentive (e.g. a gold star). My guess is that the those star stickers are as popular as they are because they provide just enough external motivation to make people feel a bit competitive without overshadowing the pride they feel for their accomplishments. I knew there was a reason I always loved those.

101 Health and Wellness Tips for College Students

In the spirit of finals around the corner and student leaders usually struggling with balance in life, here's an article on staying healthy while in college. While 101 is a lot to digest at one time, here are my favorites with personal commentary at the end in italics:

3. Eat breakfast. Start your day off right with a good meal when you get up. Whether you're rolling out of bed at noon or up at the crack of dawn for class, make sure you start your day with a balanced, healthy meal. (I'm amazed at how many students skip this meal.)

22. Walk to class. While taking public transportation might be quicker, walking will give you a chance to stretch your legs, burn some calories and relax before your next class. (Also if you have the option of stairs over an elevator, take the stairs, the burned calories add up over time.)

33. Avoid all nighters. While you may feel like you need to study all night to do well you might be doing yourself a disservice. Not getting enough sleep can impair your ability to do well, regardless of how much you've studied, so make sure you get at least a little sleep before your big test. (Somehow this became a pride thing to say how many all nighters you've pulled off.)

45. Wash your hands. Studies have shown that simple hand washing can help prevent a large number of illnesses. So wash your hands, especially any time you'll be touching your nose, mouth or eyes or if you've been around others who are sick. (Can't agree with this one more. Just do it.)

47. Don't go to class. If you're sick, don't force yourself to go to class. It will only make you feel worse and infect other students. Email your professors that you're ill and stay home and rest. (I wish it were this easy, some professors don't care, or don't believe you.)

75. Realize you don't have to please everyone. There is no way that you can make everyone happy all the time. Concentrate on making yourself happy first and you'll cut out lots of stress and hassle from your life. (Student leaders are notorious for making sure everyone else is taken care of first before they think about themselves. Go ahead and be selfish.)

92. Avoid walking to class in flip flops. While they may keep your feet cool and look good with your summer wardrobe, few flip flops provide the support needed for your feet. If you are walking long distances, it's best to leave the sandals at home and avoid the arch pain and pinching associated with them. (But I just bought a pair of Pomelo leather flip flops...)

Managing up: the wisdom of the conga line.

I've been a long time devotee of such dance party classics as the Electric Slide, Cotton Eye Joe, and yes, even the Macarena, but I'm ashamed to admit that only recently have I discovered the proper way to do the conga. In case you're not familiar with the general idea, here's a video (you may not want to watch the whole thing, and that's OKAY):

Now what's so interesting and unique about the conga (aside from having a bunch of strangers touch you) is that the leader is in BACK of the line. Each conga line member is actually responsible for moving the person in the front.

This makes me think of "managing up" theory, which states that individuals should strive to direct and improve the actions of their supervisors/leaders and organizations. So for example, as a club member, you may want to email your leader and ask whether there's anything you can be doing to further the purpose of the group (as opposed to waiting for direction). Or you could prepare a presentation on a new idea you came up with.

To me this is a very powerful notion. It means that everyone is responsible for everyone, and it means that everyone leads. Plus it's pretty hard to step on someone's toes from the back (I love this metaphor!).

What happens when a student gets to be a teacher?

I just got an email from Hunter College saying that I will be able to teach up to 6 classes of Freshman Orientation in the Fall, and I am very excited (see photo of me and my cat Loki, who is also very  excited).  When I applied for the position, it was a bit of a pie-in-the-sky effort since a Master's degree is generally needed, and my teaching experience is limited, but here I am now, preparing my curriculum.

The best part of this is that there are very few standards for this class, so I will really have the opportunity to get creative and take advantage of my own experiences orienting myself and other students in college. Ideally, this should be a class about how to get the most out of college.
Here are the ideas that I'm considering:

- do a scavenger hunt to get to know the college and one another
- discuss web 2.0 tools and networking resources
- discuss learning and memory strategies
- run a class blog of Hunter College tips, tricks, and resources
- talk about impression formation and have everyone write down their first impressions in the beginning of the course to see how much our perceptions of people and environments change
- come up with a bunch of club ideas and go through whole planning and executing process
- have each student do a presentation on something he/she loves
- improve group work skills by having people do something cool in groups (don't know what yet)
- have students revise the curriculum with me

Anyone have suggestions on what you wish you would have been taught/would have experienced in your freshman year? I would LOVE to get some feedback and ideas. I'll even give you extra credit.

Do I sound like a teacher already?

How (not) to lull your students to sleep within the first 10 minutes of class.

I just got off the phone with my friend Maya, who got me thinking about the mind-numbingly boring classes that I've had to sit through (and sleep through) in college. After telling me an all too familiar tale of a teacher, a PowerPoint presentation, and a class full of blank stares, she said:

"Imagine walking into the classroom one day with all the desks cleared out and cups of tea for everyone."

So I did, and I got very excited--first of all because I love tea, and second of all because I started thinking about what influence we, as student leaders, can have inside the classroom. How about we try to influence the professor and not the students for a change and see what happens?

Here are some fairly non-intrusive ideas off the top of my head:

- Do at-your-desk yoga in the middle of class.
- Start a student blog or forum.
- Have students take turns bringing in snacks for the whole class.
- Have people make name tags including a fun fact about each student.
- Play music in the classroom.
- Switch up the seating (moving the desks into a circle is my personal favorite)
- Pick a random day on which everyone has to wear the same color.
- Hold the class off campus (like in a park, a cafe, or an amusement park).
- Have people decorate the classroom (with movable decorations).
- Put tablecloths on each desk.
- Teach from the other end of the classroom (just for the heck of it).
- Bring a beach ball and throw it around during class.
- Have the class shout something every time someone says a particular word.
- Have the class plan a lesson that the professor has to teach.

Okay, so all this won't necessarily make the lecture more interesting, but it will give students something to bond over, talk to their friends about, and remember about college. Plus you can open a professor's eyes to new, unchartered pedagogical grounds.

The Perfect Cocktail Party (without the cocktails).

College is a cocktail party, and as student leaders, we are cocktail party hosts, responsible for making sure that everyone is chatting pleasantly and ending the evening with hugs, kisses, and memories of people's first names. But to make this happen, throwing a party and inviting a bunch of people is not enough. Neither are cocktails.

The expert host knows how to set up self-sustaining conversations with everyone at the party. This means making the introduction, subtly suggesting a discussion topic, then sneaking away only to return occasionally with some light hores d'oeuvres to sustain the appetite.

The trick I like to use most for setting up a connection between strangers is an oldie but a goodie, and the ingredients are simple: pick a shared interest between two strangers and say something like, "Hey X, Y also likes hitchhiking!" Sparks tend to fly naturally then, particularly if you manage to find a connection point that is niche enough (so not all people can bond over it) and expandable enough (so that it can turn into a conversation rather than awkward smiles and nods).

If I can't think of a link or if my link proves too shallow (e.g. "Oh, so you also like chocolate ice cream, huh?"), I use plan B, which is to pose some sort of thought provoking or explanation requiring question, and often answer it myself first--though not conclusively--to get the conversation going.

Of course, all of this well-intentioned manipulation has to happen smoothly, with no trace of the artificial or effortful, and the host must never walk away until it's clear that a connection has been established. But once it's there, who knows what can happen? Lives can change, opportunities can open, and the party can be one heck of a night out.

Organizational flaws and a bitter shortage of Milkshake Moments.

In his lovely new book The Milkshake Moment: Overcoming Stupid Systems, Pointless Policies and Muddled Management to Realize Real Growth, business growth consultant Steven Little manages to put his finger right on the weak pulse of my college's problems.

He describes a strange little experiment he's been conducting unofficially at numerous hotels in which he calls room service and asks for a milkshake (his favorite thing of all things) even though it's not on the menu. Almost invariably he is met with a worried and hurried, "Sorry, sir, we don't have milkshakes." At this point the dialog goes like this:

"Do you have ice cream?"
"Yes."
"Okay, do you have milk?"
"Yes."
"Then please bring me a bowl of ice cream, half a glass of milk, and a long spoon."

Once the ingredients arrive, he makes his own milkshake and wonders what makes organizations restrict their members so much that creative problem solving is pretty much stifled.

At Hunter College, bureaucracy is the rule of the land, even though no one can quite figure out what the rules are. Limited power for each member of this thick web leads to crankiness and a zombie-like state of apathy, and dumb policies lead to chaos and frustration.

Little's lesson? Don't be afraid to challenge the beast. Question stupid policies and demand explanations. And within the organizations that you run: beware that growth often leads to more and more rule making and structuring. Make sure the rules you have make sense and that they serve to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of each member. And have milkshakes whenever you can.

A lot of them.

Many questions follow tragedy, but one is asked the most. "What do we do now?"

A tragedy took place at my college Tuesday morning. A Post Secondary Enrollment Options student jumped from a second story walkway through the open atrium to the basement floor (basically the equivalent of 40 feet). This was confirmed by witnesses. The 15 year old boy died Wednesday morning and the coroner ruled it a suicide. But there was so much more to the story, things people should know. His mother shared some private details in an email sent out to friends and family that put this in a totally different perspective. This boy was a very gifted child (taking college classes at 15 is not an easy feat) and had shown no signs of suicidal thoughts to family members. Life for them had gone on as normal up until the moment he jumped.

The question on most people's minds was "What do we do now?" This was especially weighing on the minds of the Student Government, Newspaper and Phi Theta Kappa (all organizations I have a relationship with in some capacity). How do we let people know the whole story? How do we curb the negative and disrespectful comments being made by insensitive students? How do we show the student and his family respect? What about other tragic losses the college has suffered? So many questions and the one group that should be coming up with answers was Student Government.

At our weekly meeting held yesterday morning, we took a moment of silence in remembrance. We also discussed all of the questions that had been on each of our minds for 3 days. We came up with a few immediate ideas, including donating the remaining money in our charity account to a camp for disabled children (this was a request, in the obituary, from the family in lieu of flowers). A bake sale to raise additional funds for the camp is in the planning as well as a reflection board or book where people can write their thoughts. A long term plan of Student Government is to plan a memorial to be placed outside for all of the fallen students of Tri-C. There have been at least 5 students pass away in the last 4 years (this includes 3 from suicide, 1 from a car accident and 1 from a bar brawl).

The other half of the question was, what do we do to prevent this kind of tragedy? Of course there is always free counseling available to all students, as well as access to a crisis center hotline. There has been extra security on campus to prevent any copycat incidents from happening. But in my opinion the best way to avoid similar things from happening is to reach out to the student body and embrace their differences. Tri-C has a very, very diverse population. We have students from all over the world, all different ages and all different backgrounds. How do we let them know we do in fact care?

One of our most successful events on campus is Diversity Day. This could be because we give away a ton of free food, but I think it still shows that people are willing to embrace different cultures. This event is only a few days away and I hope that people realize that Diversity isn't just in reference to people from other countries. Diversity is also about the 15 year old, home schooled students that also call Tri-C their school.

The mood and attitude on campus did show a significant change (at least in my personal and professional circles). No one can completely answer all of the questions that are brought up after such a horrible thing happens, but as a student leader I feel I should at least show some effort in trying to do so.

When there is poop on your party.

Today was one of the bestest brainstorming sessions ever. My coworker and I started with a few vague ideas on staff fun-days and an hour later had two pages worth of actionable plans and enthusiasm levels so high that I was actually jumping up and down throughout half the conversation.

And then came the poop.

When we presented our ideas to one of the executives at the office, our shining eyes and glowing smiles were basically met with: "Meh. I don't think that anyone's going to go for it."

Of course, it stung. But that's not the topic of this post. I'm interested in thinking about the pooped upon rather than the pooper. What does one do in that situation? Give up? Complain? Rebel?

It's perfectly possible (maybe even likely) that she was right--maybe no one will want to participate in the events we had planned for the staff. Or maybe she's wrong, and everyone will burst with excitement as soon as we announce our ideas. Or maybe it's a little of both and what we need to acknowledge is that our ideas may first be received with ambivalence or even a few "boos" and rotten vegetables, so we need to find the right way to build enthusiasm and get people on board.

Like Megan said in her post--as student leaders, we develop ideas that are supposed to aid students in enjoying college. Well maybe they just don't know what will make them enjoy college more and they are suspicious and skeptical (as people tend to be these days). If that's the case, then we, the pooped upon, should see lackluster participation as a sign that we should be putting more effort into the "marketing." We've got to grow enthusiasm (while receiving and incorporating feedback).

So there. I'm sticking to my plans, damn it.

The credit whore and the invisible visionary: giving and getting due credit.

I had just spent an entire evening at my job polishing a presentation of an idea I had, with the care and love of a true brain parent, when my coworker bounded up to my desk.
"I've got a great idea!" he said and proceeded to describe it with bubbling enthusiasm. Within a few words I realized that it was nearly identical to my own. I quickly minimized the window bearing my presentation and paused for an imperceptible moment to work out the fresh dilemma in my head.

Should I tell him that his idea was one I had had weeks ago and was now sitting patiently inside my PowerPoint file? Or should I reward his willingness to get involved and bring ideas to the table by giving him the credit?

If I say I had already thought of it, it could be a kick in the gut of his enthusiasm. But if he takes credit my organization doesn't see my own initiative. So what matters more?

"That's a great idea," I said, and he beamed. We proceeded to flesh out his idea, just as I had done with my identical one, only now it was even stronger and more vivid. This was now our idea, and it was even better.

When it came time to present we had that lovely embarrassing exchange of "he thought of it," "no, no she thought of it," and everyone was happy.

P.S. The image in this post does NOT look like me or my coworker.