RWL Newsletter #98
Greetings from the University of New Hampshire, where the campus looks like a Christmas Card this week! It's not even December and we've already had our second snow storm and the temperatures have not gone above freezing for a few days. Winter has come early!
It's hard to believe the semester is winding down to a close. Well, winding down isn't actually what it feels like because that would imply things are slowing down. It actually feels more like we're careening down a winding mountain road and the breaks have just given out and there's a cliff at the bottom. It's all good. Right?
I had some good news yesterday - I found out one of my articles hit the press. It's a piece I coauthored with an old friend and colleague comparing mentorship in the Army Medical Service Corps vs. civilian healthcare leaders. You can find it here, but it's behind a paywall. If you'd like a copy, just e-mail me and I will send you one.
Anyway, this week I have a little something from everything going on in my life. Something about teaching, something about mentorship, and something about eating too much! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and/or friends, and your ready for the sprint to the end of 2018 like me.
Read
What: The Point, Subjectivity and Its Discontents, by Whitney Shia
https://thepointmag.com/2018/criticism/subjectivity-and-its-discontents
Why: from the article: “The bullshitter, on the other hand, maintains no relationship at all with the truth: it is irrelevant to the bullshitter whether what she says is true or false, and what she is guilty of misrepresenting is precisely her concern for the distinction between the two." This is actually a meditation on the humanities, but it got me thinking about how I teach my management classes. Specifically, I make my students do a lot of writing. Grading writing is painful. It is painful mostly because it is highly subjective, and there are many right answers. I give my students scenarios they have to respond to, which means there are even more right answers. So I am primarily interested in their process, and not the answer itself. Or maybe, the process is the answer, it is in fact what you can get wrong.
Watch
What: TEDxMidAtlantic, Obesity is a National Security Issue: Lieutenant General Mark Hertling (16 min)
https://youtu.be/sWN13pKVp9s
Why: Hey - we just had Thanksgiving - let's all feel bad about how much we ate! Seriously, obesity is a major cause of chronic illness in the US. Here's another spin on the issue - obesity is a national security issue - because we need to draw our soldiers from our population, and if the average individual is an overweight couch potato, we will not be able to field a strong fighting force. An interesting twist on the problem.
Listen
What: HBR Ideacast, When Men Mentor Women (22 min)
https://hbr.org/ideacast/2018/10/when-men-mentor-women.html
Why: I've done some research and speaking on mentorship. To me, it is one of the most critical leadership functions. This is a good piece on cross-gender mentoring, which is critical if we want to see greater gender diversity in the workplace. From the introduction: "In the post-#MeToo world, some men have shied away from cross-gender relationships at work. But Smith and Johnson say these relationships offer big gains to mentees, mentors, and organizations. They offer their advice on how men can be thoughtful allies to the women they work with." One thing that made me laugh when I heard it in the podcast is that they say the same thing I talk about when I speak about mentorship: if you want to be a mentor, don't walk up to someone and say, "I want to mentor you" - mentoring is a relationship. You wouldn't walk up to someone you barely know and say, "Want to get married?" It's creepy, and it rarely works. It's extra creepy if your an older man and you say that to a young woman who works beneath you in the hierarchy. There's some great stuff in here about systemic issues as well.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line by e-mail, or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
Also, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://tinyletter.com/markbonica
Have a great weekend and do amazing things!
Mark
Mark J. Bonica, Ph.D., MBA, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-0598
mark.bonica@unh.edu
Health Leader Forge Podcast: http://healthleaderforge.org
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor." - Henry David Thoreau