For Our Edification

Over the past few years, there has been an explosion of higher ed marketing podcasts that explore what it's like sitting in the seat of a higher ed marketer. It sounds like fun, right? The truth is that it is an incredibly fun job, but things also get quite real. One podcast that candidly explored the world of the higher ed marketer is Thought Feeder, on which I had the pleasure of appearing. 

I invited Thought Feeder co-host and principal/CEO of Bravery Media, Joel Goodman, to join me on "For Our Edification" to chat about what he heard from guests about the challenges and the victories of their work. Our conversation turned into a pretty interesting direction, as we also picked apart the internal politics that higher ed marketers endure in managing their college/university websites. It got so good that this is a two-part interview.

The views expressed on "For Our Edification" do not reflect the views of any entity with which the hosts or guests are affiliated.

Doing social media for a brand can't be all that different from doing it for a personal account...right? A lot of folks, including hiring managers, still haven't gotten the memo. As a higher education marketer who has managed social media for three institutions, I know how different and emotionally taxing social media management can be for a brand.

Jon-Stephen Stansel, who is the director of social media for Chaotic Goods studios and who has managed social media in higher ed, also knows all too well. JS visited For Our Edification to put the role of social media manager into perspective. JS is also the co-host of the podcast Thought Feeder. Learn more about him by going to jsstansel.com.

The views expressed on "For Our Edification" do not reflect the views of any entity with which the hosts or guests are affiliated.

When there are major changes in any company or institution, the focus is often on what the leaders will do. But how do major moves, such as leadership changes or mergers and acquisitions, affect the employees?

Change management expert, Dr. Robin M.L. Johnson, joins the podcast to provide insight about the very important role of emotional intelligence and how organizational changes affect those not in power. Robin is the founder and chief change leadership advisor for DesignOrg Solutions.

About Robin M.L. Johnson | designorgsolns.com

Dr. Robin has spent more than 18 years helping organizations navigate leadership development, company turnarounds, mergers and acquisitions, and large-scale change. Her experience leading organizations through disruption was shaped during her time at a Fortune 500 company following a major acquisition - an integration that was costly, chaotic, and losing nearly $800K per month.

Over the course of 18 difficult months, she successfully turned the business around. That experience taught her that most integrations, restructures, and turnarounds are far more complex than leaders anticipate. Bringing together different cultures, systems, and ways of working requires managers who are prepared to lead people through uncertainty, resistance, and change.

Since then, Dr. Robin has made it her mission to help organizations navigate chaos and equip leaders with the skills needed to lead through change effectively. She built the Change EQ™ Framework - the natural evolution of her organizational change work - which pairs emotional intelligence with proven readiness strategy.

The views expressed on "For Our Edification" do not reflect the views of any entity with which the hosts or guests are affiliated.

Deion Sanders' leaving Jackson State University to take the football head coach job at the University of Colorado inspired lively debate on social media and sports talk shows. And, somehow, quite a few folks decided that Sanders "saved" HBCUs!

I brought in Jackson State alum and PR professional, Eddie Brown, to discuss the bigger issue--how Jackson State and other HBCUs provide opportunities to the Primes of the world, and also why HBCUs don't need heroes. Learn more about Eddie's agency, Brown Public Relations, at http://www.brown-pr.com/.

The views expressed on "For Our Edification" do not reflect the views of any entity with which the hosts or guests are affiliated.

On January 1, 2022, the mentoring organization, Son of a Saint, celebrated its 11th anniversary. It came from the vision of Bivian “Sonny” Lee, III who wanted to help young men without fathers in their homes. Lee's vision resulted in one of New Orleans’ most respected nonprofit organizations.

On the old Eddie Francis Podcast Show a few years back, Halima and I had a chat with Sonny about Son of a Saint’s work and the road that he personally traveled to change the lives of the young men his team serves. What started as Sonny simply doing what he thought was right has grown into a fully functioning nonprofit with a diverse staff of case managers, finance people, mental health specialists, marketing professionals, etc. as well as a diverse class of mentees.

Want to see where Son of a Saint is headed? Enjoy this video.

The views expressed on "For Our Edification" do not reflect the views of any entity with which the hosts or guests are affiliated.

My dude David Grubb visited For Our Edification again to talk sports. This time, we had a rich conversation about mental health in sports. David is a sports reporter who has been in the locker room with pro athletes after crushing defeats, and he has seen the effects that injuries have had on athletes' mental health. He is even open about managing his own mental health. David commented on Naomi Osaka, we chatted about what athletes don't own us, and I explain why I am no longer a sports fan.

Check David out on "Crunch Time" on 103.7 The Game, "Hard in the Paint," MLBbro.com, The Bird Writes, and The Bird Calls on Spotify.

The views expressed on “For Our Edification” do not reflect the views of any entity with which the hosts or guests are affiliated.

There is no doubt that creativity is ever-present in our lives, but how much do we take away from ourselves when we don't invest in our creativity? And do we take creativity seriously in the Black community? After watching the documentary "The Creative Brain," I had questions.

I turned to a couple of great, creative friends, Khalilah Elliott and Jamal Sterling. Khalilah is the founder and chief disruptor of Gafford Communications, and Jamal is an actor and educator. Both also host the arts and entertainment podcast Whatever We Want with Jay & Kay. Besides creativity in the Black community, we talk about the creative process, barriers to creative output, finding creativity in whatever you do, and why it's good for creativity to make people nervous.

The views expressed on "For Our Edification" do not reflect the views of any entity with which the hosts or guests are affiliated.

When 6th-grade teacher Dee Holt told his class that he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, they joked that he was a member of "Apple Fried Apple." Dee decided to do what just about any Divine Nine member may be tempted to do. He turned seven of his students into a "line" of "Seeds." Apple Fried Apple captured the hearts of many Divine Nine members and even the nation. 

My fellow Alpha brother did me the honor of joining me on For Our Edification to talk about how Apple Fried Apple. Most importantly, we chatted about how D9 members in education leverage their memberships to expose their students to higher education, especially HBCUs.

The views expressed on "For Our Edification" do not reflect the views of any entity with which the hosts or guests are affiliated.

Does motivational speaking get you...motivated? With so many motivational speakers out there, some question whether or not they hold real value. At the same time, maybe there isn't enough motivation out there. 

To talk this out, I turned to an old speaking colleague of mine, Mark Wiggins. Mark is a speaker, author, trainer, and host of the "Off the Bench" podcast. We talk about how he got into the business, when he realized that his words were reaching people, and what motivational speaking does for folks' identity and value. Mark also talks about why the word "until" is special.

The views expressed on “For Our Edification” do not reflect the views of any entity with which the hosts or guests are affiliated.

If you followed me on social media, you may have noticed that, at times, I reference narcissistic leadership. You may even believe that I have somewhat of an obsession with narcissism. The reason narcissism tends to be such a big deal to me is 1) my professional experiences, and 2) I researched narcissism in leadership for my master's degree. What a revelation! In this episode, I break down what narcissism does to followers' identity and value, and I also explain why narcissism is an actual epidemic.

RESOURCES

The Narcissism Spectrum Model

"Why Is Narcissism Increasing Among Young Americans?"

The views expressed on “For Our Edification” do not reflect the views of any entity with which the hosts or guests are affiliated.