“Everybody is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

~ Albert Einstein

As an educator and as a leader, this quote has always resonated with me. We are nearing the end of the critical first few weeks of a new semester. Students are settling into college life, and some of you are settling into new jobs, new roles, and/or new habits at work.

I’m going to give you the some advice I was sharing with students some time ago. When talking about their future goals, I wondered if they and others knew how much I love what I do. I make a good living AND I live my passion. People often assume those are mutually exclusive goals. They see work as their job, and their passion as something else. I have heard students say, “I love playing piano and making music, but I’m going to medical school – I have to make money somehow!” Or, "I’ll go be a business person and make a lot of money, then I’ll do what I want to do.” I've heard employees share these same sentiments; as if they are waiting to one day do what they really want to do.

Let me suggest that you don’t have time for that. None of us do. And what I really want to know is what happens in the midst of foregoing your true talent, passion, and genius? We miss out on the best of you, and you get beat down, worn out, and spend your entire life trying to climb a tree, when you were meant to swim. There are would-be philosophers studying engineering; would-be engineers studying psychology; would-be great architects studying to be economists; and would-be business women studying pre-med. That is so unfortunate.

Now, there is something to be said about being “well-rounded,” and doing things that are outside your talents for the sake of learning. But I personally believe, as do the authors of the StrengthsQuest body of work, that the best of the best leaders and professionals are not well-rounded, they are sharp. They know that they are fish, and they swim better than the rest. They reject the belief that what they did before now, at PSC or somewhere else, has set their path in stone. The best of us, though, are explorers willing to take risks on themselves to find and live their true genius.

As I look across the campus at all of the talent on our campus, I am very interested in making sure you are doing what you are great at doing, and more importantly, you feel that you are doing what you are great at doing. This year I am going to work hard with our HR staff and administration to a) confirm you are doing what you are called to do at PSC; b) provide opportunities to get even better at what you're doing; c) provide training and development in case you should or want to be doing something else; and d) create a culture that recognizes your greatness, and evaluates your efforts so you are continually improving.

Ask yourself if you are doing the work you are called to do at PSC, and are you doing it with the excellence you and our students deserve. Either affirm that and be excellent, or stop the madness, and lets help you do what you are called to do!

#WeArePSC