Courses taught at Cal Poly Humboldt: Leadership Studies 311 (Intro course)
Please tell us about yourself.
I was welcomed to the Cal Poly Humboldt faculty in December 2020, just a few weeks before my wife of 20 years was suddenly diagnosed with surprise cancer of an unknown primary and died 20 days later. I am re-emerging and re-investing in all of the many ways I can make a positive impact on the world.
I’m a certified Welcoming Schools program facilitator for the Sonoma County Office of Education through the Human Rights Campaign. I recently completed a DEI certification from Cornell University. I am a member of the North Bay Leadership Council where we are focused on community issues. I sit on a variety of boards with other thought-leaders of all disciplines, including the International Museum of Dance (SF) and locally for the Polly Klaas Foundation.
Having worked in many different environments, I have developed all types of people and programs to meet unique goals across a village of different businesses for entrepreneurs, artists, renowned experts, and philanthropic billionaires. I enjoy navigating complex organizational structures and fostering collaboration across diverse stakeholder groups.
What experience do you have as a leader?
As early as I can remember, I have loved supporting and organizing people around a common cause or goal. I learn so much from my students through the different paradigms we explore together. For me, leadership is connection – person to person, time to time, experience to experience – moving us all into future challenges and dreams together. When you feel connected, you feel good and you are able to do more good in the world.
I live by the Susan Scott quote: “While no single conversation is guaranteed to change the trajectory of a career, a company and relationship or a life – any single conversation can.”
Tell us about the classes you teach.
I co-teach with my colleague and friend, Professor Joy Hermsen. I light up whenever I say her name, JOY, because she literally sparks Joy in me every time I think of her. We met in 2019 and promptly designed a conference about the future of work, for business leaders all over the Bay Area, held at Skywalker Ranch. It was a retreat-style conference to help alleviate burn-out and focus on capacity-building for the future of work through deeper, more meaningful connections.
Our course focuses on understanding the capacity that we have inside us. When we have the awareness, we can focus on increasing that capacity. We also emphasize that while theory and strategy is important to understand, it’s the synthesis of one’s own journey in finding those “a-ha” moments through experience that builds the skills for leadership (and then connects them to the greater theory). None of it is new, but it becomes something new because we all come to these skills in vastly unique ways.
Professor Hermsen and I are embarking on a book together. Her idea — not mine — but I’m embracing it fully with enthusiasm! Stay tuned.
What do leadership and teaching have in common? How are they different?
Leadership and teaching are very similar, in that the goal is to mobilize a group of people towards a vision. We help everyone see themselves inside this vision, set up goals, and measure progress towards those goals in both the classroom and the world at large.
Why do you think this program is important?
Leadership is inside everyone. There are endless ways to be a leader in the world. It takes humility, curiosity, adaptability, and interest in communicating with others. In our class, we engage that spark inside each student to help guide it to the surface for cultivation. The qualities of leadership support and nurture every relationship in our lives. Leadership sits at the intersection of your life and your career and when you invest in yourself and your skills, everyone around you benefits!
What is your favorite thing about teaching at Cal Poly Humboldt?
The people! Our colleagues in Leadership Studies are phenomenal professionals. Wise, humble, collaborative, compassionate. I learn something from them every time we get together. The students are smart and generous, dedicated and delightful!
And I align deeply with the sustainability pledge and I’m honored to carry it forward into my work and home life. We champion how small changes can turn into big changes over a lifetime. The key to a successful career is repeatability, which is easier with sustainable practices, so that you are not consistently paying a personal cost to the success of each project or role.
What do you do when you’re not teaching (or otherwise working)?
Hang out with my kids! My son is 13 and my daughter is 10, and they are really fun! We go out to the coast, hike around, ride bikes or watch movies.
