Navigating Exhaustion in a Culture of 'Winning'

In the words of the prolific & poignant Rakim / Timbaland, "It's been a long time... we shouldn'ta left you (left you) without a dope beat to step to..." (*if you don't get the reference, pause and get your life here). SO, I haven't written in a bit because I was attending, participating in, and decompressing from a national conference that is especially important in the work that I do full time. I've done reflection after reflection about what spaces like national conferences can bring to the professionals who engage. There are clear positives: the chance to engage in affinity building spaces, the exchange of knowledge through learning sessions, the ability to network with those who are in your field, the satisfaction of reconnecting with colleagues, and much more.However, as the years have gone by, I've noticed a trend... there is an unspoken push for conference-goers to "win" the conference itself. You've probably seen it before but it's very subtle. It shows up in the questions whispered from professional to grad student, and from colleague to colleague: "How many sessions have you gone to? Are you presenting? Who / how many people came to your presentation?" Conference #winning culture measures its success by the amount of people you've networked with / connected to, or even just feverishly handed your business card to. Conference #winning culture shows itself in the race of audience members who put their hands up in Q&A, in hopes of being the most poignant participant. Conference #winning might even include the measurements of selfies taken with "pillars", the pictures of session titles, and the tweets and retweets conference goers hope to attain.Now, before you think I'm 'going in' on my chosen full time profession, let me state that I see this same culture in the work that I do as a writer / blogger. It is a culture of  hashtag "winning": the constant comparison of shares, stats, tweets & retweets, likes, dislikes, comments, and even trollage (yeah, I definitely made that word up)! How many Twitter chats have you participated in and how many times were you favorited or retweeted? How many shares did you get and how many posts are you cranking out per week?And I get it. I get why we have this culture of hashtag winning. It is one that extends itself beyond writing or blogging and into many professional spaces. Why? Because a significant part of success (both on and offline) does come from networking, sharing information, and finding those people who are willing to believe in you and endorse you. I would not be where I am today if I had not done my due diligence in networking, building professional relationships, sharing my work, and being clear about my relevance in professional spaces. I must also state the fact that I have taught this before, influenced the culture of #winning, carefully instructing my students: "Make sure that when you're networking you get a business card... you write down one thing you talked about... you follow up with them to nurture the network".However, if we are honest, we understand that most, if not all, professionals walk a tightrope: What is strategic placement / practice toward a successful career trajectory versus what is merely 'posturing' and 'pretending'?Writer Allison Vesterfelt alludes to this culture of winning in her quote:

The posturing. The self-promotion. The pretending to have it all together. The only-showing-your-good-side. Can we stop? It's exhausting.Posted by Allison Vesterfelt: Writer on Tuesday, March 31, 2015

So, I think that finding that balance between what we NEED to do to be successful in our endeavors and posturing or pretending requires that we ask ourselves the following questions:

• Do I feel the need to 'win' in a conference space, or in an online space? If so, why? What is prompting that (i.e. new job search? career transition? looking to move upward within the field? internal / personal reasons)"? Ask these questions without judging yourself. Simply reflect, understand your answers, and adjust where and if necessary
•  How can I show up as my authentic self while also fully engaging in strategic writing, blogging, conference going, professional networking, etc? Here is where a written reflection or a conversation with a trusted colleague would be helpful.
• Finally, if I do not "win" these likes for my blog... or if I do not go to every networking event... how do I process that in ways that empower me as a professional"?

If you are reading this blog and asking that last question, you're in luck... because that is the only question I have a concrete answer for. ;) In order to process in ways that empower you as a professional a) talk to your mentors / colleagues because they really can help you get your life sometimes, and b) understand that it is essential to remember why you are doing the work in the first place. (I got that one from Shannon Kaiser over at Mind Body Green... check out her work when you get the chance).I don't necessarily blog for likes or shares (although if you do share and like I will be on my side of the computer grinning it up and throwing imaginary confetti). Likes and shares are helpful and even necessary for the success of my blog, but that is not the core reason that I engage in an online space. The core reason evidences itself in my mission, "to offer information, ideas, & counter-cultural narratives that will empower readers to thrive and to lovingly & creatively challenge secular and sacred systems toward greater levels of inclusion". So, as I decompress and debrief from conference season, I'm asking myself the same question, "Why am I doing this"? I am doing this for those who will benefit from my experience, expertise, authenticity, and accountability in higher education and academia. I am doing this with confident hope that my presence and representation, along with my savvy and innovation, will assist marginalized students in their academic and post-college success journey. I am doing this because I like to! I am doing this because as I do good work, the networking connections will flow easily to me, and strategic career moves will also become clear to me... sans pretending.So as you reflect on the work that you do, either online or offline, share with me... Why are you doing this work?Navigating Exhaustion in a Culture of 'Winning'? by Jade T. Perry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.