Academic Writing Amplified

Have you ever been scared to admit all that you want for yourself and your career? I’m here to give you permission to go after that influential, fulfilling and impactful career. Here’s how to start.  It’s time we in academia have a talk about ambition and wanting more. Because friends, there is more for you in your career! As womxn, we have often been socialized not to be seen as “ambitious”. We’re not going to give that idea more time that it is worth. What I want to emphasize to you is: you are allowed to want it all! You are allowed to want a great career, to be influential and impactful in your field, and to do it without feeling burdened and burned out.   For full show notes, visit cathymazak.com/episode99.

How do you get writing and publishing done to enhance your career, get that promotion, impact your field - without breaking down or burning out? I’ve got the roadmap that shows the way.   I’m covering a lot today, as I share all about my Navigate: The Writing Roadmap program, how it can help you write and publish more, and set yourself up for success in your career without burnout and overwhelm.   For the full show notes, visit cathymazak.com/episode98.

What will get you from the start of the tenure process all the way to full professor? What worries do you have and what should you focus on instead to achieve your career goals? I’m often inspired by concepts from the entrepreneurial space. I see a lot of parallels between entrepreneurship and academia. A recent inspiration came from a business coach of mine, Rachel Rodgers. Her entrepreneurial growth scale shows the steps for business growth, what entrepreneurs are worried about at each step and what they should be worried about to achieve the growth they”re looking for. I love this model, and am working on adapting it to the process of growth during an academic career.  In this podcast episode, I’m using this model to break down the tenure (permanence) process into career stages. In each stage I look at what might be happening for you in terms of research, teaching and service, what some common worries are, and what you should be focusing on instead. What you’ll gain is a better understanding of what it takes to make it to full professor, and what you might need to change to get there.  For the full show notes, visit cathymazak.com/episode97.

Are you still exhausted after getting tenure and don’t know why things haven’t changed? Feeling like you’ll never not be tired? I’ve got 3 steps to take to help you take control.    Are you tired? Like, really tired? Maybe you're moving toward total exhaustion, or are already there. In this episode I’m digging into why you are still tired after receiving tenure, and what you can do about it. Yes, you can do something about it! For full notes, visit www.cathymazak.com/episode96.

I’m joined on this episode by wonderful Elevate graduates Debra Gombert and Sonia Cabell. We talk about the most impactful parts of the program, tangible versus intangible benefits, and where they’re going from here. They each share great insights and inspirational takeaways to remind us all that we are worth investing in, and that growth and change never stop.  Key points discussed: What each of their careers looked like and what wasn’t working before Elevate What the most impactful part of the program was for each of them Shifting to bigger picture thinking rather than single answer solutions Zones of genius and leaning into strengths in all areas of life and career 1:1 coaching and the difference it made for each of them Discovering patterns of scarcity What made each of them hesitate before signing up, and why they signed up anyway Tangible versus intangible benefits and the impact of each Going back to the toolkit of skills Elevate equipped them with Continued growth, and individual benefits of the coaches and community   For the full show notes for this episode, visit cathymazak.com/episode95.

What if being a leader in academia doesn’t have to mean taking on an administrative role? Listen in for my take on what it means to be a leader in your mid to late career. When we hear people talking about leadership in academia, what they often mean is admin. Leadership to your institution probably means a department chair or associate director, or other role that helps the university to function. But if admin just isn’t a fit for you, does that mean you’re not a leader? No way.  For the full show notes, visit cathymazak.com/episode94 Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page Follow me on Clubhouse: @cathymazak

It is our second podcast-iversary! Thank you SO much for listening. To show my appreciation, I’m sharing part of my Career Design Workshop with you-free-on this episode!   It is our second anniversary on the podcast, and I want to say thank you so much for listening and for helping us reach 207,832 episode downloads! That is amazing, and I am truly grateful.    As a thank you, I want to share part of my Career Design Workshop with you. Normally, you need to attend one of the retreats included with our Elevate or Amplify coaching programs, which are a significant investment. But since we are celebrating, I want you to have this sneak peek! I hope you enjoy and find it helpful.  For the full show notes, visit https://cathymazak.com/episode93 How a Designed Career Feels I’m going to illustrate how a designed career feels vs. an undesigned career using bookshelves.    This first picture is of my living room bookshelves at home.                                              These shelves started out organized, clean and set up how I want them. But as you can see, over time they have been stuffed full of many things that don’t really belong there, or aren’t even mine at all. My husband and children have put their things on there, a bunch of random things no one knew what to do with have been shoved in, and the more stuffed it gets, the more overwhelming it feels to deal with all of it. So it just keeps coming! If these bookshelves were a career, it is definitely undesigned.    This next picture is of my dream bookshelf.    It’s curated, calm, everything has a place and feels like it belongs. If this bookshelf were a career, it would be an intentionally designed one!    I hope you can see where I’m going with this illustration. Career design gives you room to breathe, and helps you curate the career that feels right to you, full of the activities that you have chosen.  What Gets in the Way Just like with my personal bookshelves, we might start from an organized place, but life in academia throws so much at us, that if we’re not extremely careful and intentional, we end up with something chaotic that feels overwhelming. Here are some things that get in the way:   The snowball effect. The more things that come at us, the more fires we have to put out, the less time we have to reflect on what we’re doing, the fuller the “bookshelf” gets.    Our default setting is react. If there’s not a solid plan in place, when new things get thrown at us, they often just get shoved in wherever they fit. Instead of responding with intention, we react, and therefore never feel like we have enough time, space, or control. We believe we have no control. There is a long list of things in academia that we can’t control, so we give in to the feeling that our whole career is out of our hands.   What is Career Design? Career design is all about intentional planning and intentional action. The key is that your career choices and plans are driven by you, not others. You decide what you want your career to look like and what direction you need to go, and you make choices about how to get there.    The goal is to create a career that is joyful, and then to set boundaries to protect that joy.   “You should get joy out of your career.” -Cathy Mazak   Is my career designed well enough? To get an idea of where you are in terms of a well-designed career, take a minute to complete this assessment.    After each question, give yourself a grade of:  RED: Not designed at all; things just come at me and I react YELLOW: Somewhat designed; I’m able to make some intentional choices, some of the time GREEN: Well Designed; this area is driven by me, intentional and well-defined   1. Is your calendar designed? Is your schedule intentionally created and controlled by you?   2. Is your email management designed? Do you have a system for dealing with email or are you just reacting? Are there boundaries in place around your email?    3. Is your writing system designed? Do you have a regular process, systems, and a way to engage with your projects in an intentional way? Do you know how to get back into it when you fall away?   4. Is your pipeline designed? Do you have a curated pipeline full of strategically chosen projects for specifically targeted journals?   5. Is your path to promotion designed? Whatever point you’re at in your career, are your next steps defined? While the process and requirements may feel arbitrary or out of your hands, have you decided how you will approach the goal, and what steps you’ll choose to take?    What color came up most for you on this assessment? How did you feel about it? Checking in on what’s working and what isn’t is a vital first step toward designing a career that feels good to you. Once you get a handle on what’s tripping you up, you’ll have a better idea of what needs to change and where to start.    The Career Design Process Set Intentions--Take Action--Reflect & Revise Having a well designed career is not something you can do and have it stay done forever. As with my bookshelf example above, you have to revisit it if you want it to stay the way you want it. You have to set clear intentions, take action on them, reflect on what’s working, and revise as necessary. You also need to be relentless with your boundaries.   Ready for More? Did you enjoy this sneak peek into our Career Design process? If you’re ready to find space to think and plan your next career moves, our Elevate  program could be right for you. Happy academics make more knowledge and create more change. You deserve to be one of them!    Click here to sign up for a free, live info session to get all your questions answered about Elevate, a program for post-tenure academics who are ready to create careers they love, make an impact, and leave a legacy.   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page Follow me on Clubhouse: @cathymazak  This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode93.

Does spending time and money on your own development feel selfish? What if investing in ourselves actually improved not only our lives, but spilled over to improve the lives around us too? Elevate graduate Despina Stavrinos joins me to share how investing in herself helped her to create time in her schedule, energized her career, and improved her relationships.    Key points discussed: Despina’s background, career as a founding lab director and family situation The role of technology as a tool for career and personal development What made Despina apply for the Elevate program How the program changed her definition of “winning” Impacts on her time management and calendar including her first unplugged vacation Creating space in her day and how pulling back contributes to a better view of the big picture Returns on investment and the importance of investing in ourselves The value of a community that is engaged, understanding and willing to share knowledge while cheering her on Key Quotes: “I decided to do something ‘selfish’.” -Despina Stavrinos “I think it’s one of the best professional financial decisions I’ve ever made.” -Despina Stavrinos “I strategically planned for taking that time off and it was amazing.” -Despina Stavrinos “The sum is greater than its parts.” -Despina Stavrinos “Technology can help us set those boundaries and keep those boundaries.” -Cathy Mazak “You need to have networks of people that get [it].” -Cathy Mazak “When you pour into you, then you have that overflow effect.” -Cathy Mazak “You’ve gotta take care of you.” -Despina Stavrinos “Once you get supported...it really changes the way you think about those moments when you feel overwhelmed…” -Cathy Mazak   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page Follow me on Clubhouse: @cathymazak This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode92.

Today I have for you an amazing conversation between my 3 rockstar academic coaches Rocío Caballero-Gill, Gina Robinson, and Thea Racelis. They’re sharing what challenges, struggles, and growth they see from our mid-career/post-tenure Elevate participants, and what they love most about the program.   If their conversation piques your curiosity at all, don’t miss out on the info session for the next cohort of Elevate! Click here to learn more and sign up.   Key points discussed: Who Elevate clients are: mid to late career academics from a variety of fields who have tenure, some who have full, some who have admin or leadership positions, some who are not in traditional academic institutions. Common challenges our clients face. Helping clients find clarity and certainty in the direction they are going. Learning to pause, own, and celebrate accomplishments. The feeling of plateau that can come with tenure, and how to move past it. Managing scarcity mindset, the need for rest, and the pressure to perform at a certain level. Clients as whole people, and the rich community that results from showing up in their fullness. Community without competition. The coaches’ favorite parts about being involved in Elevate. Key Quotes: “...is there anything after tenure? And the answer is: ‘yes, there is.’” -Thea Racelis “We spend a lot of time looking for external validation.” -Gina Robinson “We don’t assume everybody is at a specific place.” -Rocío Caballero-Gill “Everything that you’re doing is going to end up contributing to whether or not that work gets done...sustainably.” -Gina Robinson “If you’re breaking your back to get to tenure, is that how you want to go on?” -Gina Robinson “Seeing people say no is part of the richness…” -Thea Racelis “How you work is going to influence academica as a whole.” -Gina Robinson   Be sure to sign up for the info session for our next session of Elevate! The coaches and I are all excited to meet you and help you uplevel your career your way. Head here to learn more and sign up: https://www.cathymazak.com/elevate-info-session/. Do you have an almost done article languishing in a virtual drawer?  A new writing project you haven’t been able to make time for? Or a piece of writing in the messy middle that needs to be revived? Grab my Writing Sprint Blueprint, a powerful productivity tool to help stalled out publications get out of your pipeline and into the world. As a bonus, you’ll also gain access to my private podcast feed “Stick to the Plan”, a 10 episode series of short, inspirational messages to keep you going. Click here to get the Writing Sprint Blueprint and “Stick to the Plan” podcast series for just $27!   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page Follow me on Clubhouse: @cathymazak This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode91.

We get our hopes up for what it might feel like after we finally get tenure, but what is the reality? I’m sharing some of my own story about getting tenure, and what came next.    Are you a mid to late career academic who got tenure (or promotion, depending on your system) and felt a serious let down? You are not alone. I’m sharing a little of my own story on this episode to illustrate what changes, what doesn’t, and what to do about it.    My Story I started out with the University of Puerto Rico just before a recession hit, around 2007. Very quickly, things went from sort of cushy and spacious, to very tight and uncertain. When I went up for associate professor, I was put on a waitlist with other colleagues and basically told, ‘when we have the money, we’ll promote you’. I sat on that list for at least 2 years. I was going up for full tenure by the time I received the final approval notice for associate professor! All the little perks like cost of living increases, materials allowances, accumulated vacation time payouts and sabbaticals for tenured professors were all gone at this point. There was no support for adding new programs, no encouragement to take risks.    I felt a pretty big sense of letdown after getting my full tenure. Yes, I had stability, but I felt like I was stuck, with no opportunity for continued growth and no support for the dreams I had for my career. No lightbulb moment, shifting of priorities or workload, or sense of freedom accompanied the tenure award. I feel very fortunate that I was able to find my zone of genius outside the ‘container’ of my institution. After a 2 year self-funded sabbatical I resigned and am now living out my post-tenure career aspirations in a new way.    Is This You? Do you have a similar experience of dissatisfaction post-tenure? Tenure does have its benefits, of course! Stability, stature, and often a pay raise give tenure it’s coveted status. However, these benefits do not necessarily affect how our careers feel after tenure. Many of the academics I’ve spoken to have shared these kinds of experiences: They feel tired, overwhelmed, overscheduled and overcommitted. Their own projects and priorities often fall to the wayside as they continue to put out fires and address the needs of others. They have so many teaching and advising deadlines and responsibilities that there is no time for other things, like writing. They have big dreams, but it seems like no one else on campus thinks the way they do, or has the same kinds of aspirations. They feel restless, uninspired, and question their validity on the path they are on.   We tend to blame ourselves when we can’t get to a place that feels good post-tenure. But let me tell you from experience, that not much changes in the day-to-day unless we make those changes for ourselves.    “If you felt like you were running on a treadmill set too fast pre-tenure, that’s how you will feel post-tenure.” -Cathy Mazak    What Now? If you identify with some of the feelings and experiences above, but what you want is a bigger, more satisfying, impactful and legacy building career, then consider learning more about my Elevate program for mid and late career academics.    My team and I have listened to the needs and desires of post-tenure academics just like you, and created Elevate to help you gain clarity on what you want to come next for you and to help you take the actions to make it happen.   Elevate is a 6-month, high level coaching program that utilizes 1:1 coaching, group coaching, and curriculum based learning to set you up for clarity and action. This legacy building program is full of people who see something bigger for their futures, and want a different experience post-tenure.    Elevate starts in February, but we want to give you plenty of time to learn more, secure your funding and decide if it’s the right step for you. Click here to sign up for an in-depth info session during the first week of October 2021 to get a behind the scenes look at the program and each step of the framework.    If you are mid to late career and feel frustrated but are ready to step into something bigger, sign up to join us at the info session. See you there! Pulled in a thousand directions and can’t seem to carve out time to write? Download my 10 Ways to Make Time to Write cheat sheet for ideas to implement today!   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page Follow me on Clubhouse: @cathymazak  This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode90.