Friday 7 April 2017

Thoughts on teaching as a marketing professional

About this time last year, I investigated the possibility of teaching University students as a part-time lecturer. I was accepted to teach two separate marketing courses, beginning last fall. When those went well, I was offered to teach two more courses in the winter semester. The final day of classes wrapped up yesterday.

As a solo marketing practitioner who must assess a breadth of information each day, I am acutely aware of how limited my range of experience can be. I know what I know, and I read as much as I can, but nothing matches the benefit of shared human experience and knowledge. I expected to learn as much from my students as they learned from me, and that expectation has proven to be accurate.

My “day job” focuses on brand development, which is the act of distilling the entirety of an organization’s assets into a few core ideas, before sharing those ideas through focused goals, plans and objectives. Teaching is similar: in a world of options, the trick is to deliver focused learning in a compressed time frame - to choose and deliver the most relevant information within the confines of a single University course. It’s a challenging task, but it is exciting too – especially when you “get it right.”

Strategy is a fancy term for planning, and good plans require accurate, relevant information. Marketing professionals have to understand current trends as fully as they must know theories, tools, tactics and best practices. I can tell you that engaging in a structured dialogue with hundreds of marketing students will sharpen your mind better than any book, video, or colleague discussion can. Part-time teaching provides very little monetary compensation, but that was never the point – my experience has demonstrated that teaching provides so much more.

A few faculty members have moaned to me some negative clichés about “Millennials,” but my experience has proven that today’s students are uniformly smart, applied, focused, and practical about their future. To suggest anything less does these students a great disservice, and proves that you aren’t paying attention (or are clinging too tightly to fading skills and credentials). Today’s University students know what they can offer. They understand that they have a lot left to learn, they embrace a spirit of lifelong learning, and they are realistic about how their skills will connect to future opportunities. I can’t say the same thing about peers in my age group. It would be easy to be threatened by their competence and confidence, but I choose to be inspired by them – especially when they are so generous in sharing what they believe. Teaching and learning should always flow both ways, and these students are proving to be fantastic teachers.

As I look back on a whirlwind academic year, I am genuinely surprised to have a year of University teaching added to my list of accomplishments. A calendar year ago, I didn’t even think it could be an option. It has certainly been a time-consuming avocation (especially with preparation and grading), but I wouldn’t change a thing. I hope to add a few courses of teaching to my professional calendar for the foreseeable future.

If you are an expert in your field, I strongly recommend that you share your knowledge, without any thought to the return-on-investment. I strongly believe that your investment of time in sharing your experience with students who are eager to learn - regardless of monetary compensation - will provide a huge return on your own development as a professional, and as a person.

Starting a Communications class with Sloan's "Underwhelmed" - to ensure nobody misses the point




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