There are many coaches who help scholars, leaders, consultants and creatives: Why should you consider working with Rich?
There are many coaches who help scholars, leaders, consultants and creatives: Why should you consider working with Rich?
Rich possesses a constellation of education and work experience that is truly unique. Rich holds an Master in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in social welfare from Yeshiva University. Unlike many coaches, Rich was trained as a clinical social worker/therapist, and brings a depth of practice and a diverse and expansive skill set to his coaching. Rich is well versed in existential, cognitive-behavioral, narrative and strength-based approaches to practice and uses them flexibly. He has over ten years experience in leadership and executive positions in higher education, business and non-profit organizations. He has coached professionally for 16 years with over 640 scholars and leaders, empowering them to develop the insights and tools they need to have thriving, powerful careers. Rich is a professor emeritus at the University of Washington, Tacoma, where he teaches various social work practice courses. So dedicated to his own growth and development, he studied for and received his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction in the summer of 2019! His first book on academic writing was published 18 years ago--he has been thinking about how to help scholars for a very, very long time.
A coach with serious education and training. A coach with real therapeutic skills honed over a long, successful career. A coach who has overcome obstacles in this own life in order to thrive. A coach dedicated to helping you reaching the top of your profession, if that is what you desire, or a coach that would support you leaving it all to open a margarita shack on a beach in Bali. Mostly, you want a coach who has the skill to help you achieve either.
Many scholars are productive. Few understand how to develop the capacities of others. But who else is an accomplished scholar who has spent twenty years relentlessly deconstructing how scholars thrive? Rich is the author of over 15 books, and over 120 peer-reviewed articles. His 2007 publication, Practical Tips for Publishing Scholarly Articles (Oxford University Press) has helped thousands of scholars improve their writing and increase their publication rates. In 2011, Rich was awarded the University of Washington Tacoma's Distinguished Researcher Award.
Sorry if that sounds arrogant, but it is true. I am really terrific at what I do.
For many years, I provided informal mentoring to scholars at universities throughout the country--and occasionally organizational leaders--that friends would "send my way." Typically, it was an assistant professor who was not going to get tenure if things did not change for them quickly. Often, they were not writing and publishing enough. I would help them develop the skills and tools to write more, publish more, and over time, develop as scholars, teachers, and yes, as people.
About 14 years ago someone asked if I did "this" professionally? What is this, I asked, and what do you mean professionally?
Silly Rich, do you coach scholars?
It might sound corny, but if you know me you will know that I am being sincere--I started to cry. In that moment, I realized that all my training as a clinical social worker, as a therapist, as a practicing scholar, had prepared me for this moment, the decision to start a "side gig" as a coach.
This is what I do best. I am a solid, productive scholar, but no more than that. My gifts lie in helping others become the best teachers, scholars, faculty and leaders they wish to be. I have a gift for helping my clients develop the kind of careers they dream about, or at least a career that is solid, secure, and healthy.
I am funny, playful, insightful, committed, silly, serious, thought-provoking, empowering, and challenging. I am willing to say the hard things, but I am also empathic and caring.
I am not "just a writing coach." I work with scholars and leaders on many problems. Mostly, I help them actualize who they wish to be. Assistant professors. Associates. Fulls. Deans. Provosts. Come one, come all.
Graduate school does not fully prepare scholars and leaders with all the practical, cognitive and emotional skills they need to thrive. Yet, many often do thrive through creativity, disciplinary expertise, hard work, grit and persistence. However, many scholars and leaders have developed and hold onto habits that are inefficient, ineffective and at times self-defeating. They possess psychosocial barriers that stop them from thriving. This is often true even of the most successful faculty and leaders who have reached all of their the goals, yet who have lost their passion and zest for work, who work far too hard without sufficient outcomes, who have too little time and energy for family and friends, and/or who do not live the lives they want. With Rich, you will have meaningful conversations about your career and life to help you develop new perspectives, and explore potential "hacks." Whether you focus on insight and depth or on the development of practical tools and tips, your needs will dictate his methods. In Rich, you will have a partner and collaborator.
For those who wish to write and publish more, Rich has developed tools that demystify article and book writing, help you enter the writing space in a focused and efficient way, be more creative, and as blasphemous as it sounds, have fun. Rich will work with you to incorporate a variety of tools into your behavioral repertoire and make them work for you. You will be empowered to work on your own psychological strengths and "stuff" that prevent you from living and working how you wish.
Rich will work hard with and for you, but you might even have a laugh or two. Rich takes your achieving your goals very seriously, but he believes that life is too short not to enjoy and laugh.
You Want To Thrive As A Leader
Not only have I frequently taught leadership and organizational practice, but I wrote a book on it, Navigating Human Service Organizations! However, I have helped leaders, consultants and entrepreneurs in many fields develop the skills, tools and emotional intelligence they need in order to thrive. I don't need to totally understand your field to help you be the leader you wish to be--I need to understand YOU.
There are many @altac and @postac coaches, workshop leaders and self-anointed "gurus" and "ninjas" who base their practices on helping you leave higher education. They remind you of the statistics and what they see as the harsh reality--too many people applying for too few positions. They list all the ways in which the academe is oppressive, soul crushing, alienated labor. They say they provide you with the tools and resources you need to find jobs in "industry."
With due respect, and not to sound too snarky, but some of the harshest critiques might not have learned what they needed to be successful in faculty positions. Some may not have published enough to even have had a chance. Please consider the source. Sorry if this sounds unkind, but it is important to contextualize some of what is discussed on Twitter and in other social media within that context. This does not apply to all, of course--many have academic records that blow mine away, no doubt.
What do those who wish you to leave want you to do? Go into industry, and work 40-60 hours-a-week with an often inflexible schedule, have three weeks of vacation a year in organizations where you can often be fired at-will with little to no notice? Industry, which may have never been part of your dreams? Industry, business and the non-profit world are not magical lands filled with unicorn cupcakes, puppy dogs and kittens where all you eat each day is the finest sashimi prepared by Masa or Nobu. There is not a monolithic, magical there. They are places to work, good and bad, inspiring and alienating, just like universities. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. Maybe universities have their problems, but don't let the anti-academe crowd fool you into believing that they provide the key to labor utopia.
I happen to love working as a professor (on most days). I have done so for twenty years, and plan to retire where I currently work. Does it have its problems? Of course. I have seen my share of unkindnesses, unfairnesses, and oppression. Yet, I worked in the world of social work practice before that, and let me tell you, it was no better. Universities exist in a social and political zeitgeist-- in the real world. So do businesses and non-profit agencies. Silly as that sounds-- its true.
If you wish to leave university life, if you buy the @postac vision, than I wish you the best. I hope you find happiness, meaning, and fulfillment. However, if you are looking to stay, if you believe you have a shot, let me help.
I say, why not you? Yes, tenure track positions are competitive in many fields, but thousands of people get positions each year! Yes, getting tenure can be a challenge. This is especially true if you have family obligations, have not received the mentorship you deserve, are a scholar from a marginalized or underrepresented community, have writing deficits that date back to elementary or high school school, did not grow up with English as your first language (and must publish in English) are anxious or depressed or feel beat up by abuses along the way. These are real disadvantages-- I went to help you mitigate them.
Do you really want to leave? Do you really want to move on? Will you regret leaving for years? Have you done everything in your power to meet your goals? Have you developed all the skills and tools you need to thrive? Have you sought the best help to develop these skills?
If you would regret leaving, then I am here. I will do whatever I can to help.
Why, indeed, not you?
There is nobody better at helping you on this journey. Honest. I love partnering with scholars working toward tenure, or achieving full. It is more satisfying then sushi. It is almost as amazing as having a dog in my lap writing. Well, almost. Close.
Do I even need to say who I am addressing here, doctoral candidates? I have helped dozens finish their dissertations. Have a complementary chat and ask me how.