Looking for Your Next Career Move?

Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?

My five-year-old daughter: I want to be a doctor, police officer, firefighter, artist, ballet dancer, farmer, the president, and...hmm.

No matter where you are in your career, there comes a time when you wonder if a change is necessary. You may consider changing organizations, seeking a different role, or leaping into a different profession altogether. This condition of wonderment was on full display for me as I recently participated in a panel discussion for a class of educational leadership doctoral students.  The course was full of mid-career educators and administrators pursuing a doctorate to open doors in their career.  Toward the end of the panel discussion one of the educators posed the question, 'How do you know when to take the next move in your career?'.  My response may have surprised a few students, although I don’t believe it was profound.  It was merely based on nearly two decades of seeking the same answer for myself.Consequently, I believe that I have finally arrived at a response that guides my career moves and keeps me fulfilled.  I think that before we seek a new career opportunity, we should stop trying to “follow our passion” and depending so much on our jobs for fulfillment.  It doesn’t matter what career move you make if you seek opportunities to arrive at a “professional nirvana,” you may find yourself looking for new jobs far too often.    After all, we don't find our passion, we develop it over time.  In fact, we can have more than one passion at the same time, and they can change. Also, not all passions manifest themselves into livable wages.  These realities shouldn’t preclude anyone from looking for growth opportunities, but it should frame one’s approach to the question, 'How do you know when to take the next move in your career?'.  To this end, the way I believe we should approach the question should be very similar to the way young children respond to the question, 'what do you want to do when you grow up?'. Why children? The truth is, young people, like my five-year-old daughter, are open-minded about their interests, and they are filled with unfiltered, unapologetic, curiosity.  Here are three approaches to exploring career change options that I have learned from working with children.

Explore all of your interests

At a young age, children begin to consider what careers intrigue them.  Ask any child what they want to do when they grow up, and they will describe or name jobs that seem cool to them at that moment.  Even if those careers choices seem divergent, depending on the age of the child, each one appeals to a part of who they are as a person at that moment in time.  Interestingly, this highlights how children at some level are in touch with what interests them.  Likewise, we as adults should explore what appeals to all of our interests. Just imagine what we may pursue if we are open to all tapping into all aspects of our personal interests.  Dig deeper into what interests you and why, and don't hold back. The most important thing is that you don’t automatically shut down something before mining it for all possible jewels of knowledge and skills.

Embrace the power to change your mind

Another key lesson we can pick up from children is to stop acting like you can't change your mind.  Children don't seem to understand the word 'no' when it comes to envisioning what they would like to do in life.  There is power and beauty in this simplistic view.  It is empowering for each of us take on a mindset that allows us to change our mind about what career paths interests. We should avoid limiting ourselves with self-imposed constraints.  There are no rules against having multiple areas of interest or changing interests, and we owe it to ourselves to allow our acquired knowledge and skills to continue to mold and shape our attention.

Don’t worry about what others think

We sometimes muffle our career options by being overly concerned with what others consider is successful.  Your success is not determined by titles or the approval of others. By now I am confident that we are all aware of this truth, but for some reason, it doesn’t stop us from being weighed down by what other people may or may not be thinking about our career.  So we need to get better at tuning out or minimizing the mental pressure we put on ourselves. The reality is that everyone has an opinion, but what matters most is that you can stay true yourself and your family.So, the next time you find yourself in a job not feeling fulfilled and wondering what is next for you to pursue, just remember how children approach the question, 'what do you want to be when you grow up?'.  More specifically apply the three lessons from children (1) Acknowledge all of Your Interest; (2) Embrace the Power to Change Your Mind; (3) Don’t Worry about What Others Think.  With this approach, you will gain clarity as you choose a career path that brings you joy and satisfaction.

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The Individual in Education

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." Leo Tolstoy

It is hard to imagine a segment of our American society in 2019 that has not been impacted by the dysfunction of our current political and social structure. Nevertheless, our inability to find unifying solutions to matters that we agree upon is an indicator of a much deeper problem that we have not begun to understand. Sadly, these issues are magnified in the public education system in America. I am sure we have all heard the adage derived from the writings of Thomas Reid, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Unfortunately, today the strength of character of the individual educator is the "weakest link" and is often overshadowed by the debate over the effectiveness of the United State's public education system.

Collectively, we are channeling billions of dollars into innovative programs to close the growing achievement gaps between students from diverse racial and economic backgrounds, which only result in pockets of change and overall no lasting effects. We publicly claim a focus on student learning and the quality of public education, yet we are growing in our over-reliance on standardized tests and other evaluation systems that don't accurately capture the state of student learning. We have teacher shortages across the country coupled with struggles in the recruitment and retention of effective teachers.  Moreover, increasing numbers of currently employed teachers are crossing the line with students and exercising poor judgment by engaging in inappropriate relationships with students. At the same time, more students are committing suicide and carrying out mass shooting in schools while politicians and the media argue over gun control and mental health support. These problems interfere with optimal academic performance and degrade the strength and vitality of our society. So, how can we begin to solve the issues that plague our public education system?

For starters, we should be asking ourselves individually; How have I contributed to these problems? Before you stop reading let me be clear, I know that no one wants to have the finger of blame pointed at them. As I stated earlier, there are tons of people sincerely working to address these problems on a political, financial, even spiritual level, so there is enough blame to go around. What I am claiming is that we all have a responsibility to examine who we are and the content of our character.  Before we can look at how public education can improve student achievement at the classroom, campus, or school system level, we have to hold ourselves accountable to a higher standard of character and own up to the fact that when we don't, it negatively impacts our students and the communities we serve. Just look at your average elementary teacher. She has the responsibility to make hundreds even thousands of decisions every day that will, in the long-term, impact the lives of hundreds of students. As such, we can't lose sight of how her character, in addition to her professional knowledge and skill, will help her accurately diagnose students' instructional needs and adequately utilize the resources and strategies available. Principals have the added responsibility as the instructional leader, to ensure that teachers have the resources, professional learning experiences, and collective vision for all staff to do their best work. With these weighty charges on the shoulders of a collective few, it is imperative that each educator has the highest moral character and is more cognizant of how their values and integrity impact the broader system.

To this end, the more that teachers and teacher leaders enlist the courage to address their responsibilities and personal character, the more likely it is that more campuses and school systems will be able to take a different approach to mitigate the problems public education faces today. The individual in education makes all of the difference in the world!

Considering Family to Prepare Students for their Future

Remember when “21st Century Skills” was the buzzword plastered across every professional development session? Teachers were told we had to prepare kids for jobs that didn’t even exist yet, for industries so futuristic they might as well have been ripped from a sci-fi novel. The message was clear: teach differently or risk leaving students unprepared for the brave new world ahead.

And we bought in. Many of us were mesmerized by those “Did You Know” videos—glossy, fast-cut reels showing how technology would reshape life as we knew it. We imagined our students stepping into careers filled with wonder, solving humanity’s greatest challenges with cutting-edge innovations.

But here we are, a decade later, watching universities launch degree programs in—wait for it—the cannabis industry. Northern Michigan University now offers cannabis studies. Cannabis! Is this what all that futuristic hype was for? Is this the grand payoff of years spent reinventing classrooms, revamping standards, and retraining teachers?

Let’s be honest. This isn’t just about marijuana. This is about whether education has lost sight of its true North Star: the family. Have we become so enamored with “innovation” that we’ve stopped asking the most basic question: Will this strengthen families—or weaken them?

Because families, not industries, are the bedrock of society. Strong families create strong communities. And when families crumble? Communities crumble. Nations crumble. That’s not ideology—it’s reality.

Just look around. Addiction isn’t just a crisis; it’s practically a cultural identity. We toss around words like smartphone addiction, porn addiction, food addiction, opioid addiction. Some days it feels like Americans are addicted to being addicted. Even our politics runs on addiction—to outrage, to emotion, to attacking anyone who dares to disagree.

Where does self-control—the antidote to addiction—come from? Families. Where do children first learn resilience, restraint, responsibility? Families. Yet our education system, in its blind pursuit of “the next big thing,” often undermines the very institution that teaches those foundational skills.

So yes, whether or not you support cannabis legalization is beside the point. The real question is: when universities embrace controversial industries, do they consider the ripple effects on the family? Do K-12 schools stop to ask how their policies, practices, and trendy new programs affect the home lives of the students they claim to serve? Or are families just an afterthought in the race to be relevant?

Education should be more than a conveyor belt to industry. It should be a partnership with families to raise healthy, grounded citizens who can think clearly, choose wisely, and lead responsibly. Otherwise, we’re just fueling cycles of indulgence and addiction while patting ourselves on the back for being “innovative.”

So, let’s ask the question few seem brave enough to ask: what will the next decade’s “Did You Know” videos glorify? More industries that exploit our weaknesses? Or educational choices that finally honor and strengthen the institution most critical to our collective future—the family?