Faculty are godzillas

Many faculty, even senior ones, truly do not realize the extent of their power, and how this lack of self awareness is often contributes to these crises. I know this partly because I didn’t know the extent of my power.

It took a few years into my pre-tenure years for me to realize that I had a lot of power in the classroom to shape student’s lives. And through a few tense months of doctoral student advising, I learned how I communicated could make or break my students’ days. I had a few humble moments realizing that my constant busyness and anxiety had inadvertently created great distress for for the people around me, and sometimes anger, resentment, and disrespect. I did not know my power, and because I did not, I broke things and people.

If you’re faculty, you may be reading this and feeling like it's a bit hyperbolic. No one is dying in academia, right? But I guarantee you that the students and staff in your life, and junior colleagues, do not. It might only be through a very long process of building trust that they have come to not fear your 100 foot leather tail every time you pivot.