7 Crucial Books and Resources for Faculty Affairs Professionals

Kimberly Skarupski, PhD, MPH–The Faculty Factory–

Listen now:

Janet Bickel

I sat down with Janet Bickel on today’s episode of the Faculty Factory podcast. Janet mentioned a host of different books and resources that faculty affairs professionals will benefit from checking out. (The link to play this week’s episode is available above and/or by visiting our podcast homepage.)

Janet is a well-known leadership and career development coach with 45 years of experience in academic medicine and science.

Make sure to listen to the full episode for all the details on why Janet recommends these resources. The books and resources she encourages us to check out (in no particular order) include:

  1. Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization (A book by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey)
  2. The Three Marriages: Reimagining Work, Self and Relationship (A book by David Whyte)
  3. Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling (A book by Edgar Schein)
  4. Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (A book by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Sheila Heen)
  5. What Got You Here Won’t Get you There (A book by Marshall Goldsmith with Mark Reiter)
  6. The Power of Vulnerability by Brené Brown (This TED Talk with more than 10 million views is available here on YouTube.)
  7. Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living (This is a book by journalist and entrepreneur Krista Tippett. Krista hosts “On Being” a public radio show and podcast. You can learn about “Becoming Wise” on National Public Radio (NPR)’s website.)

As you’ll hear when I joke at the end of this podcast, the ironic thing is, we have these built-in expectations for overcommitment and now we all have a new commitment for more books to read!

“You Can’t Measure the Good You Do”

Perhaps the most impactful quote that Janet left me with is the one above. She claimed faculty affairs professionals can’t possibly measure all the good we do, even though we try!

Janet says that short-term evaluations never really reveal all the good that we do and sometimes we have to be at peace with that.

It serves as a reminder that we can’t be discouraged when we can’t fully quantify every bit of good that we do.

I hope you enjoy today’s episode. Please listen to the interview in its entirety through the podcast player embedded above. You can learn more about Janet on her LinkedIn page or you can contact us at the Faculty Factory and we’ll make sure to put you in touch with her!