Thursday, November 20, 2008

Responsibility

It is hard to believe that the end of the year is almost here! As you know, for the month of November, our guiding principle is Responsibility. This has also been an FAS Value for many years but perhaps the least spoken. To our division, it means taking ownership of our actions and continuously seeking positive solutions. In our environment, there is no time like the present for our true leaders to emerge.

In these challenging budget times, it is often too easy to become territorial and seek safe refuge when our daily actions and decisions come under fire and scrutiny from others. Our campus’s fiscal, human and physical resources are limited and with so many competing priorities, a certain amount of stress and tension will occur. While we are not in full control of all the variables, we are in control of our response to them.

Here are a few thoughts:

1. Always remember there are two sides to every story and the truth is probably in the middle. There is a lot of anecdotal information out there which has no relationship to reality. Don’t take everything you hear as truth…do your homework and verify the facts. Knowledge truly is power.

2. Celebrate your accomplishments…our FAS biennial report demonstrates accountability, data driven decision making, and goals that tie to the campus strategic priorities and ultimately, enhance the quality of the educational experience at CSUSM.

3. Seek opportunities to be a leader! You do not have to have the words director, manager or supervisor in your title to be a leader. Leaders own their actions, admit their mistakes, and most importantly, learn from them with graciousness and humility.

Lastly, I hope you can all join President Haynes for a campus open budget forum on Wednesday, December 3rd from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. in ACD 102. This will be an opportunity to learn what we do know about the budget, what we don’t know, and to ask questions and help us as leaders understand your concerns so we can proactively address the challenges that lie ahead.

Before we close out November, it is my goal to blog at least 1-2 more times with more thoughts on Responsibility. I would love to hear from you…you can either respond to the Blog or send me an email. Your thoughts, ideas and concerns do matter to me.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I heard a great quote at a conference recently relating to #'s 1 & 2. "In God we trust, all others bring data!"