Let’s Meet Dr. Brent Lewis!
Dr. Lewis is a larger than life personality that I (honestly haphazardly) met while completing my doctoral studies. You see, I was an eager doctoral student—ready to learn and prove my academic worth. I attended conferences, applied for fellowships (and became the inaugural Holmes Scholar of our institution), submitted articles for publication, etc. So when it was time for me to prepare for comps and begin to think about my own dissertation research, it was recommended that I attend the open and public dissertation defense presentations to occur that term. I had been to a few before, and knew ‘of’ Dr. Lewis, but had not yet had the opportunity to engage with him in the classroom. He was a few cohorts ahead of me, and Dr. Lewis’ dissertation defense was one of the first few defense presentations I had ever attended. On the day of his defense, I walked into the room and took my seat—notepad in hand—as I heard his study was qualitative and I was thinking of conducting a qualitative study of my own. He stood before the room, smiling and ready to get going. Then, he began. He wasn’t nervous, his speech didn’t feel rigid or forced. It was almost as though he was having an engaging conversation about a topic of his passion and expertise, with people who wanted to listen. I never experienced a dissertation defense like that before. He was poised, articulate, confidently answered questions— it was like watching a carefully planned and executed theatrical performance. He was definitely passionate about his study, his topic and the impact that his research would have on higher education, student affairs and the social and cultural experiences of gay and lesbian students attending historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). You can read Dr. Lewis’s dissertation here.
“Leadership is an ever evolving space, regardless of our generation affiliation [i.e. millennial, Gen X, Z, Boomer], I think its about you as a person. I think the biggest thing that’s helped me, has been having a passion, and knowing my passion.”
Passion and dedication are the ultimate drivers for this non-traditional educator and influencer. Dr. Lewis currently serves as the Director of Identity, Culture & Inclusion at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia. His passion is what sustains him in his work on both the easy days and on the more difficult and challenging ones. Dr. Lewis maintains that having and knowing one’s passion will get one through anything in life; especially the work. In an era where salaries and prestige aren’t always reflective of the value, energy and sacrifices put into our work, having passion for the work that you do [and theimpact thereof] and for those you serve will get you through it in the end. Let’s get into it.
The Interview
You know the drill. The interview consisted of three ‘stems’ to which each participant provided open-ended responses. As always, there were no right or wrong answers and participants were able to provide as much or as little information as desired. For each stem, I provide a few meaningful quotes from the interview and then my reflection. Here we go!
Talk to me about your journey to your current leadership position(s).
“My journey started as a graduate assistant…I had no clue that higher ed, student affairs, was a career…but I went to college and knew we had people who engaged us and worked with us outside of the classroom.”
“I served as a grad assistant for one semester, and then was promoted to be a full-time hall director, with an apartment! And I’ve literally been in higher ed/student affairs since. I had no clue that my calling would still be, an educator, just outside of the classroom.”
“In all of the work I've done, even when I worked in housing, I was always a part of inclusivity conversations, and how we think through working inclusively with all students.”
“In my career, I’ve always been big on honing in on new experiences and letting my passion for students and their experiences, and their success guide the work.”
“Over the span of my career, I would say the joy in this work is the impact that you see and have on the students.”
In higher education, there are a lot of moving pieces. There’s so much that goes into the successful ‘running’ of an institution of higher learning: there’s enrollment management, academic affairs, student affairs, research, facilities, administrative boards/state regulations, etc. Similar to Dr. Lewis, prior to attending graduate school and acquiring an assistantship, I had no idea that student affairs was a ‘thing’. I knew that there were events and activities to keep us, otherwise uninterested emerging adults, out of trouble and engaged while on campus [I wonder how many other higher educational professionals, arrived to higher education by way of graduate school, on-campus work study job, etc.], but I didn’t know it was a job, a career, a profession. Dr. Lewis also mentioned that he always wanted to help people and that his previous ambitions of education as it related to K-12 teaching and learning, were quickly transformed into his work as a student affairs professional in housing and residence life. The application of skills and techniques learned not only in his academic studies, but through his assistantship work as well, provided him with the necessary experiences that led him to identifying and honing his passion into a meaningful and progressive career.
As millennials, we know how to get a job. Sometimes may not set out to end up in that profession initially. I will even go so far as to say, we may not stay even in that one job or specific company for 20 years like our parents and grandparents, but we know how to get a job. We know how to maximize our learning experiences in order to be promoted to the next step and role within that discipline or organization. We know how to talk about and market our experiences as meaningful parallels to the desired 10 years of experience some places require for entry and mid-level jobs. We seek meaning and meaningful experiences in our work and develop our passions to work for and not in spite of our professional development and careers. And if we get to a space or place where we are no longer fulfilled in that job or duty, we leave. We move. We change paths. We seek out a meaningful and purposeful personal and professional life—where we can be authentic to who we are and to what we believe [and what pays the coin…let’s be real].
When you hear the term ‘millennial leadership’ or ‘millennial leader’, what do you think? DO you consider yourself a millennial leader?
“When I hear millennial leadership I think of ‘out-of-the-box’ ways of doing things. I think about shared leadership and new ideas.”
“I would consider myself a millennial leader, because I am a millennial. I’m very open-minded to trying new things. I think i’m very relatable to people, regardless of where they fall in the generational spectrum.”
“I think millennial leaders are adaptable. I would say as a leader and a scholar, I have to adapt daily to different scenarios, different experiences and different types of individuals….part of millennial leadership is being flexible, adaptable and open to change.”
We grew up in some truly metamorphosing times! One day we were logging into the big-back gray IBM computers with the blue start-up screen, and the next day there were these clear and colorful Apple acorn-looking computers at every workstation. One day we had transparencies and projectors, the next day we were looking at the wall to a projected image of a computer screen for the daily lesson. I remember the first time I used a mechanical pencil…you weren’t doing it if you didn’t have the FRESH pack of mechanical pencils on the first day of school! You were REALLY POPPING if you had the clear ones, with the twist up eraser [ya’ll know what I’m talking about]. Just think about how quickly our world around us changed as it related to how we experienced education. Now think about the transitions we experienced as it related to experiencing life. Millennials grew up in a rapidly progressive culture and environment. Our childhood bred us to be out-of-the-box thinkers and doers. Flexible in our thinking and doing, always dreaming of the next big thing and thinking of ways to turn our passions into revenue, and our nine to fives into stepping stones towards entrepreneurship and financial freedom. Around the world, institutions and organizations publish annual ‘40 Under 40’ lists that celebrate the accomplishments of those in industry who have done and made great impact in their discipline and communities before the age of 40. What a celebration of the millennial leader! Some of us have been able to do so many great things and transform our communities and spaces in such a short time, and that definitely deserves celebration.
I enjoy that Dr. Lewis talked at length about the adaptability of the millennial leader. My favorite phrase to say to someone [albeit I learned this from my late-mother who was a Boomer], ‘there’s more than one way to skin a cat’. Of course we [millennials] come up with new ways of doing things—shortcuts to completing tasks that once took four hours but now take us two to complete. We find ways to circumvent unnecessary and clunky processes, streamline and find efficiencies when able. We share leadership and provide others with opportunities to exercise and develop their leadership abilities. We put our people on. We like to help those who work with and around us grow. We are the Google generation, the YouTube gurus, the tutorial titans and Pinterest pimps. Talk about a generation of marketable and remarkable leaders!
What are some of the lessons you’ve learned that you’d like to share with other millennial leaders or aspiring millennial leaders?
“Do your research. Leadership in different settings can look very different. Consider formal education. Do you have the education and the knowledge to be successful. Are we putting ourselves in the space where we stand out from the crowd?”
“Look at ways in which our current leadership translates, or aligns with the leadership opportunities we are looking for. And being able to articulate how our current or past experiences have prepared us for that next role…So always be two steps ahead. Preparing for that next role and that next opportunity.”
“Hone in on what you care about— what you’re passionate about, what makes you tick. Because that will keep you going when things get hard, when things get frustrating. Everyday in my role is not exciting…everyday is not a day where I’m happy. But then I have to think about my WHY. What makes me tick in this work? Why did I choose this work? That overshadows the frustration. Identify your passion, and then you create the way that you work through your passion.”
I am a firm believer in the intrinsic and extrinsic value of education. Intrinsic in that, learning for the sake of learning is meaningful and valuable. Exploring what is interesting to you, regardless of the financial gain associated with that knowledge. At the same time, education has an extrinsic value as well. Many of the leadership roles and positions that we seek to obtain also require knowledge: some kind of education is necessary (i.e. undergraduate or advanced degrees, certifications, etc.). When seeking leadership roles and opportunities [even if it means starting your own business], you have to take the time to conduct the necessary research to be successful. Once you have researched, write out a plan. I have had people come to me and ask to pick my brain as it relates to professional, academic and entrepreneurial endeavors. I always start the conversation with: What is your plan? If you don't have a plan, if you haven't researched, if you haven’t self-reflected, you have some work to do. Self-reflection is the impetus of your planning stage(s). Then, write it down. Determine for yourself a timeline for meeting secondary and tertiary goals which lead to accomplishing your overall goal or target. See the ‘Services’ tab for additional information about coaching/leadership development services offered by CHESS.
“The sky is the limit with creativity, and leadership innovation.”
“[knowing your passion]…takes a lot of self-reflection.”
Millennial leaders are innovative, adaptive and progressive. Within reason, the possibilities are limitless for creative adaptations to one’s own leadership development. Dr. Lewis closes with reminding me that self-reflection is necessary for the millennial leader to find one’s passion. One of the most intrinsically expensive sacrifices one will make for leadership development is self-reflection. Why? It takes time to do the work. It’s not always going to be pretty. It takes time. Some of us aren’t ready to do the work—we aren’t ready to look inwardly towards ourselves and make the necessary adjustments that take us from good to great. Did I mention the time? We have to be willing to take inventory and reflect in order to make more informed decisions about ourselves moving forward. There are a number of journals, books and guides out there that can help you if you don’t know where to start as it relates to self-reflection. Also, getting a therapist and/or seeking coaching, mentoring, etc. can also help you on your self-reflection journey. The undated ones by Freedom Mastery have helped me in planning things like work, scholarly writing, blog posts…
“It’s interesting to see how some people step out on faith and how its a challenge for some people. The faith step is a challenge..[but] you’re never ready…”
You’re never going to [fully] be ready, so why not just do it. Whatever your ‘it’ happens to be. Let’s not forget what I said earlier about conducting the necessary research to prepare oneself for leadership and other opportunities. You still have to do that. You still have to plan—don’t throw your shingle out there and open for business without doing the preliminary work. But after you’ve done that, you have to be willing to step out there. Maybe you’ll be successful. Maybe you’ll have a few challenges or setbacks. Maybe you’ll have to start over. That’s ok. Just start. If you wait to get ready, you’ll never be ready.
