The Intersection of You with Dr. Sarabeth Berk
Dr. Russell Strickland [00:20:31]
So how do you take that concept of of of asking the question, what were some of the answers, I guess what were some of the takeaways you got from your dissertation and maybe from work since then on how how hybrids present themselves or.
Dr. Sarabeth Berk [00:20:50]
So it’s a multipart question, I’ve created a five step journey to figure this out, so I’ll give you a couple of highlights. But here’s the million dollar question. Who are you at the intersections of your multiple work identities? That question lights people out there like, wow, I’ve never been asked that for. And that’s such a great question. And then we freeze. That’s the next we actually have because we have no idea how to respond. We’ve never internalized this before. So I’m coming up with such a mind blowing, powerful question that it’s a really important piece to figure out who you really are. So what I found through the research is I had to back up and give people steppingstones to answer that question. And the way to look at it is by focusing on identity first. It’s by focusing on how you feel. The feelings are signals of you being in your hybridity without realizing it. So I have people do a lot of reflection on a lot of this is going into the memories and past projects and talking about when you felt most ease your most joy effortlessness just this low in your work and what you were doing. And then we unpack that into identity words from the identity words we make a Venn diagram and then you start to say, OK, who am I in the intersections? What am I doing? And then we eventually convert that into these new keywords. Like for me, I was challenging things a lot in my intersections and pushing against the status quo or coming up with new processes. And the key idea there was being disruptive. I was being very challenging. I could have used the word challenger, but I like disruptor. And then I called that with the word creative because that was another theme and what I was doing, and that’s how I arrived at this new title. Now, not everyone has to have a hybrid title. I think it has some use cases and other times it’s just enough to say I’m a hybrid professional. I work at the intersection blank, like always customize the application depending on the context. But what I found is when people do this deep work and reflect and start to unpack themselves from a sort of Venn diagram landscape, they have revelations that they’ve never been able to like about themselves, and it gives them the language they’ve been missing because they walk into a room and they’re like, well, I do marketing sales. I help students. I’m a mentor. Sometimes I do this. That’s what I do just now. I’m like a pile of craziness.
Dr. Russell Strickland [00:23:23]
Yeah, but what do you want to be when you grow up?
Dr. Sarabeth Berk [00:23:25]
Right. And so it’s given yourself permission. I hear that a lot from people that this process gave people permission to be all of their different parts and to find a better way to say it. That’s more accurate and authentic and unique. Who doesn’t want to sound like that? Be able to represent himself in those ways.
Dr. Russell Strickland [00:23:45]
Right. Awesome. OK, so what are you doing with this now? Since the book, what’s what’s coming next?
Dr. Sarabeth Berk [00:23:54]
Now, I had a very non-linear journey, so I knew I didn’t want to become a professor because I didn’t want to be publish or perish. And I felt like I wanted to innovate and change. And it got really inspired by entrepreneurship. It was something I was never exposed to in my academic career. But I live in Denver, Colorado, with a strong startup scene and I just got drawn into that community. So by de facto, that was rubbing off on me. So I started doing innovation work in K-12 and then in higher ed and then outside of that in non-profits and startups. And I was still kind of marinating in getting the book to come to fruition. So I published a book this spring. And the book has led into a whole new journey. And what’s happening is I’m teaching people now how to find their hyper professional identity because it’s become such a powerful tool. So I got an online course.
Dr. Sarabeth Berk [00:24:47]
I’ve been doing coaching some consulting and workshops for companies and really just exploring how can I bring this tool to more people and what are the best ways for them to access it and use it?
Dr. Russell Strickland [00:25:02]
So. And it’s one of the things that I think that’s so interesting about doctoral students is they always seem to have this desire to help others, to serve others, to make the world a better place. In a sense, that sounds hokey when you say it that way sometimes. But but it’s true. I think it’s important that we do that. Do you have any specific examples of maybe someone who you kind of helped through this process and what that did for them on the on the back end?
Dr. Sarabeth Berk [00:25:31]
That’s a great question. I definitely have many examples of a gentleman in New York City found me and he was at a low point. He’s like, I’ve been trying to move out of my job. I’ve been in an advertising industry and like doing industrial design. But those don’t like me. But I think he also had a Ph.D. and he was really great at research and really great at writing. But he just was sort of like floating between whatever work he can cobble together. So as we did this process of who are you and what are you really doing? And let’s look at that closely. We found a couple of really interesting words for him. One, his hybrid title became tension methodologist. So essentially, he was really good at noticing when things were out of balance and when people and processes weren’t kind of using their best talents, their energy was mismatched and methodologies because he understood methodologies, he was good at putting these different parts together and processing. So he walked into an interview, actually two different ones. And he used this term with the interview committee, like I see myself as this tension methodologist. And he said almost immediately the reaction he got from the interview committee was like, wow, what a great term. We totally get that and you really need that on our team. And he got the offer. So what he saw the reaction and the shift of energy, how people responded to him and could see who he really was and he didn’t, which was even more important. And then it turned into a new outcome that gave him other opportunities.
Dr. Russell Strickland [00:27:11]
But I think one of the things that’s very interesting and important about this process or the outcomes at least, is that these hybrid titles that you’re coming up with, they kind of spark curiosity. Right? I’m assuming that when he said that, I I’m guessing they didn’t say, oh, I know what that is. They probably asked him, what is that? Right. And he he got to to explain and I mean that. It’s great to ask questions. That’s that’s a great way to engage people, the best way to engage people is to get them to ask questions. Then you’re really when they’re authentically asking questions, not they’re sitting there and they’re saying, well, we have to know this, that or the other. But they’re like, what is that?
Dr. Sarabeth Berk [00:27:51]
You’re absolute right. That is the perfect reaction of interest and intrigue. How many times do people introduce themselves to you.. Oh, I’m a professor. I’m a marketer. I am an author. And you just gloss over it because you’re like, oh, I know what that I know that is.
Dr. Russell Strickland [00:28:09]
I can put you in this box now.
Dr. Sarabeth Berk [00:28:11]
You kind of get stereotyped and it doesn’t mean the conversation shuts down, but it’s not stimulated. And the difference of showing up with your hybridity and having a new name for yourself that’s fresh and you do have to find that line between being too jargony or whimsical or whatever. So when you find those right keywords, you can sense the energy and connection and people go, wow, tell me more about that. That’s exactly the response you want, because you a deeper connection point.
Dr. Russell Strickland [00:28:42]
Correct. Yeah, absolutely. It’s good marketing, basically.
Dr. Sarabeth Berk [00:28:46]
Yeah.
Dr. Russell Strickland [00:28:48]
So how did this what was the transition for you from the dissertation to writing a book to actually having a business? Because that’s something we’re beginning to take people through that process who have earned their doctoral degrees. They’re experts, but then they need to establish themselves as experts. They need to come out there and have credibility pieces, credibility collateral, so to speak. And they need to then figure out how they’re going to help people and make that transition to actually helping people rather than just knowing things. Actually helping people with that. How did how did you make that transition?
Dr. Sarabeth Berk [00:29:25]
It’s definitely a process over time because I didn’t have a coach or mentor guiding me, saying, here’s how you come from dissertation to this on thought leadership. I needed to build on my own self confidence first, I didn’t trust or feel that the dissertation idea was strong enough to stand on its own. So I think there was a few years of just more validation. And even though I was having coffee meetings with people, they were pseudo informal interviews. I like to know about yourself. What do you do? What do you really do? How are you more than your title? I’d add that in and it actually became a great way to build rapport that I was inside research to be like, this is my idea, work in this context and with this person that kind of built up some more strength over time. I also really needed to understand what entrepreneurship meant. What are the building blocks of taking an idea to market? It’s very different than taking an idea into a journal. And I kind of apprenticed or shadowed or just observed many, many entrepreneurs and founders doing what they do and talking and what the thought process was. And that helped me emulate. And it’s like a dissertation. You have steps and you need to develop your strategy and develop your plan and know who your audience is and figure out the pricing structure and figure out the delivery mechanism. And so I just thought as more checklists, I would say it has been incremental. I didn’t jump into this overnight and I kept a day job while I was doing this on the side because it was really kind of become a passion project. And I just keeps getting bigger and bigger to the point where it’s taking a life of its own. It’s saying like this is the direction you need to get.
Dr. Russell Strickland [00:31:11]
And that’s the thing having we have a passion and you’re you’re more interested in helping people than you are in the other elements, like making money, for example, that’s when people come to you and throw money at you. So you’ve got to be authentic about doing something you want to do, something you love to do. And and when I said that, you know. Helping other people to let their light shine so they can make the world a better place. I said that sounds kind of hokey. And then I think I guess it does. It really is something that I consider this is the reason why we do this instead of something else. There’s a lot of something else is that you can do. There may be easier and maybe more lucrative, but this is something where I get to talk to interesting people and I get to see the light come on. When they realize I can actually do this thing that I’ve been trying so hard to do, I can I can become who I really feel that I am and then I can translate it out to the world and making other people feel better, which which I love.
Dr. Sarabeth Berk [00:32:10]
Can I add to other things I just thought of? And so I did a TEDx Talk and I think a TEDx Talk is a really great test. And can you distill this really big idea, a compelling mind changing nine or 12 or 15 minute talk? They always have a time limit. So doing a TEDx Talk forced me to make my ideas simple, easy to understand and really have that narrative. What’s the problem? What is this giant pain point that nobody else that I see? What is my big solution about that? And then here are ways that people can bring that into their life on their own. And so. Coming up with that framework was so hard and then to say it in nine minutes, I think dial your idea into something short that can be delivered to test it. That’s one way to see if you’re ready. And woman. The other thing, too, is just being careful. I think LinkedIn and social media, I had some marketing groups find me right because I just published a book and it was kind of easy to search and they wanted me to hire them to quickly convert and create a website and create this marketing funnel and become the next best person. I can talk on this and serve as a thought leader. And don’t you want to work with me? And it was like a whole sales strategy. And as as the losses were as easy as it would have been to pull the trigger, thinking I’m going to pay X thousand dollars to get this package and suddenly have this whole campaign online and feel authentic to me. To your point, it felt like I was being put into a standardized package. And this is when all the people do not have a book. And here’s how you make money really fast. And to your point of wanting to change the world. I wanted to release this on my own terms and my own way, and it needed to feel right to me. So I think just just know there are options out there to get this done overnight and are the right options for you?
Dr. Russell Strickland [00:34:11]
Yeah, well, it’s important we talk about that with all of our students is is you have to know what your goals and objectives are and how determining what the best way to reach those goals and objectives is only remotely possible when you know exactly what those goals and objectives are. So that’s that’s the starting point. And and if the goal is to try to to squeeze every every ounce out of this thing, you can as quickly as possible. There’s ways to do that. But if you’re building a career and you’re building the platform and maybe creating a movement, doing something that will change as, say, change the world, I mean, changing your corner of the world is a big deal in whatever corner that is. Yeah.
Dr. Sarabeth Berk [00:34:56]
To make a dent in the world. And the other thing I want to tell people, because I think there’s this misunderstanding, you don’t make millions of dollars on a book like your first book is not going to be the best seller, is not going to bring you tons of income. What’s the book does for you? Is it a stamp of credibility and it puts a stake in the ground. And I think it becomes your calling card. Once you’re published, people can then refer to it. Most people read the first 30 pages or first third of a book anyway, so you can’t expect that they’re even reading it. But the book gives you credibility that you have something to share. You build the business out of other things. You make money through keynote speaking or workshops or coaching or all these other ways. It just maybe, it’s important to be more transparent on the book is not the business.
Dr. Russell Strickland [00:35:45]
No. Absolutely right. That that’s a big deal. We when we do take people through this process in our expanded authority program, the what we’re telling them to do is to get that book out there as a way of it becomes kind of a lightning rod of finding people who resonate with you. And so you grab those people and then you want to be able to have a conversation with them. So you want to be able to get them to kind of come into your world, come into your sphere of influence, basically fall into your orbit. And you can communicate with them in a variety of ways. And once you’ve done that, but there is a process and a strategy to successfully taking a reader and turning them into a follower, in a sense, someone who is there with you and that you can speak to on whatever basis, whatever regular basis you might want. And then you can go from there to build a relationship with the things that would involve money. And that’s what we do.
Dr. Sarabeth Berk [00:36:36]
]And people told me to you don’t have to wait for the book to come out to start building your audience or building your name in the space. So and it’s better to do the book and strategy because if you create a book and you publish it, you won’t have anyone to buy it. Right. To build followers to be your first audience.
Dr. Russell Strickland [00:36:53]
Absolutely.
Dr. Sarabeth Berk [00:36:54]
Having a website and starting just with a blog and putting posts like one little snippet of your big idea, like I talk to people just now. What is it mean to do an interview if you’re a hybrid? And I have one little post on that that’s giving them content. That’s just the right size and interested. And then when the book or the next thing I want to do comes out, I already have my audience ready.
Dr. Russell Strickland [00:37:16]
Hundred percent. You definitely want to make sure you’re cultivating the audience as soon as possible. And there is a lot of ways as you’re developing the book that you can conceivably do that. But but yeah, you should be thinking about what it is you want to do and how you want to help people. And what I forget who said this, but there was a phrase that I’ve heard that you’re entering the conversation that’s already going on in your mind and you be doing that. You need to be telling them these things because oftentimes I’ll talk to doctoral students who will tell me. Have you been stalking me? How do you know all this stuff about me and I don’t know anything about them, but I know doctoral students who are going through this process that we help and the ones that that come to me have all of these things in common. And I know that because I’ve been working with and living that for for long enough. And that’s kind of what you need to do with the folks that you’re going to help, is that you have that understanding of who they are, what motivates them and what keeps them up at night, those sorts of things, so they can talk with them about it on a regular basis. And even if you don’t have all the answers, just being able to have someone that understands them is powerful, is amazingly powerful.
Dr. Sarabeth Berk [00:38:22]
Right.Empathy is huge. And everything you said, I completely agree with. Yes, preempt and shout that from the mountaintops. Yeah.
Dr. Russell Strickland [00:38:30]
Well, Dr. Berk, what’s next in the in the evolving and circuitous journey that I am moving along as as the world shows me what’s next?
Dr. Sarabeth Berk [00:38:44]
I think right now I’m really working on getting more traction on these online courses and coaching that I’m doing because I really enjoy building a community of people. The power too is in sharing and sort of practicing outloud, different words of different ways. You’re seeing your identity and doing it in a room by yourself doesn’t help the idea start to move. Right, bring people together and they’re in call emerging hybrid stage versus established. And the emerging hybrids are like, oh, I’ll call myself radical idea maker. And someone else is like, maybe you’re the radical charger and it just starts to help propel people. So I’m excited about just.
Dr. Russell Strickland [00:39:27]
Groups are all for creativity, just for coming up with ideas, making decisions, forget about it. But getting ideas out there. Groups are amazing now.
Dr. Sarabeth Berk [00:39:37]
So I’m constantly looking at different tools, different handouts, different types I can share. I’ve got a newsletter where I share strategies and it’s just been exciting to watch this grow and in that early growth stage.
Dr. Russell Strickland [00:39:48]
So awesome. And that’s a great place to be. I, I, I remember very early on when when Dissertation Done was growing, that notion of getting more people to come in every day and all of this, the growth was, was really exciting. And then you get to the point where you’re like, what’s the next step, how to bring this with me. So that’s amazing. So what about if you folks have you think that they might be a hybrid and don’t know. They have a title, maybe, but it doesn’t resonate. What how should they reach out to you and kind of continue this conversation, maybe find out what their hybrid title is?
