December 2008 Lawlor Focus

Raison d'être

The month of December is typically a time for celebration and looking ahead to the prospects of a new year. December of 2008, however, will go down as a time when Americans put their forward momentum on "pause" and waited with trepidation and anxiety about what the future is going to bring.

But none of us can afford to wait. Janus, god of doorways and passages, after whom the month of January is named, awaits us. He is no doubt curious about how we will choose to walk through the doorway when 2009 becomes reality.

How each of us (and the organizations we represent) chooses to begin the new year will create first impressions that shape lasting impressions. As management guru Tom Peters has written, "You can't move up if you don't stand out." We need to give thought to whether we want to truly stand out as we walk through the doorway into the new year.

Our actions define us. We can choose to celebrate new opportunities, some no doubt disguised as very difficult challenges. Or we can succumb to the cacophony of the Siren song of unconsidered reaction, incessant worry, and perhaps inaction.

Harvard economics professor Sendhil Mullainathan has noted that "most behaviors are driven by the moment. They aren't purposeful, thought-out choices." And while this unconsidered reaction or inaction may be what's currently typifying the general public's "buyology"—Martin Lindstrom's term for "the subconscious thoughts, feelings and desires that drive purchasing decisions we make each and every day of our lives"—our own considered behaviors and actions can and do shape the general public's perceptions of our individual and institutional identities.

All of this leads us back to the basics of putting the focus on what matters most: our raison d'être, our reason for being.

2009 will bring plenty of new questions. No matter what the solution, the answers will be shaped by your institution's core values and your willingness to commit to those values. There are people out there who share the same values. They may be just waiting for you to walk through the doorway with confidence and a purposefulness that they are not seeing or hearing today.

We wish you the best in this coming year. Reflect. Resolve. Act. Janus awaits you.

In the news

Chronicle Research Services, affiliated with The Chronicle of Higher Education, released "Financial Uncertainty and the Admissions Class of Fall 2008," an analysis of the effect the faltering economy, shortage of student loans, and increasing competition had on admissions yield at colleges this fall. Of the colleges surveyed, 46 percent said the yield of admitted students decreased this year, unexpectedly for three-quarters of this group. The most commonly cited factors having a negative influence on yield were the economy and the housing crisis, summer melt, more students attending community colleges, and the availability of student loans.

Did you know?

Unlike most industries, the federal government intends to boost its recruitment of fresh college graduates this spring and has increased its class of 2009 hiring targets by more than 19 percent.

Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers