The Pulse of Higher Ed

By Karen Pedersen

As avid backcountry hikers, years ago my family decided it would be prudent to buy a GPS, even though we had a rescue dog with an incredible sense of direction. While many out-and-back or even loop hikes didn’t require high-powered digital GPS coordinates to find our way back to our vehicle, we did appreciate launching the “breadcrumb” feature when we started a hike, since the breadcrumbs highlighted our past steps. We liked it simply because we could quickly and easily take the same path home or find an alternative way back to our vehicle, should the hiking conditions or situation change. On more than one occasion, those breadcrumbs made a difference in the outcome of our trip. Sometimes it just gave us the confidence we needed to know we would find our way back before dark!   

I share this story because I believe those GPS breadcrumbs are a great way to also think about one’s professional journey. Throughout our career, each position pursued or held, credential earned, skill acquired, certification achieved, project completed, or even misstep taken leaves breadcrumbs that tell the story of one’s lifelong learning journey of growth and transformation.  

When the hike is out-and-back, it is easy! Some aspects of our professional journey fall easily into place as well. While most hiking trails don’t follow a straight line, neither do our careers. Just as GPS recalibrates when the route changes, one’s professional development and career advancement involves constantly updating your internal coordinates and laying out an innovative map focusing on new goals, shifting priorities, emerging challenges and a plethora of learning opportunities. In times of change, it becomes even more critical to reflect on your professional breadcrumbs, seek strategic opportunities for growth, and tell your story anew! 

In recent months, as I shifted from an institutional leadership role in higher education to now a higher education consultant, the power of our professional breadcrumbs has come into sharper focus. As I review hundreds of cover letters and resumes for higher education institution clients as a search consultant, I have begun to appreciate and realize just how important a storytelling opportunity this can be. Sometimes I am drawn in, and other times an application package falls short, and I am left with a ‘so what?’ feeling.  

Whether you are applying for a new position, pulling together a promotion package, preparing a conference proposal submission, or simply laying out your annual goals/accomplishments, in what ways do you weave your unique lifelong learning breadcrumbs together into a compelling story? When you find yourself in one of these situations or the environment is changing exponentially and you need to recalibrate, here are a few thoughts for you to consider… 

1. Be Clear and Authentic – Especially About Your Why. Why you, why now, and why are you the difference-maker they need to hire, promote or award a grant to? Let your personality peek through in compelling ways. 
2. Reflect Growth. Highlight your strengths, learning, and evolution. Where your professional journey has been intentional and strategic, say so. Even detours (most of us have had at least one in our career – a job that wasn’t a good fit or a project that didn’t lead where expected) can show adaptability, resilience, and self-awareness.  
3. Quantification Matters. It’s not just about what you have done, but why it mattered and how it made a difference. In higher education, sometimes we cannot easily isolate impact. However, numbers make your professional journey real when they are translated into results.  
4. Highlight Forward Momentum. Expressing a sense of optimism, excitement and confidence showcases your future focus, no matter the situation you find yourself in (e.g., you were downsized, passed over for a promotion, reorganized out of a job, unsuccessful with a past proposal). The energy and drive you share as part of your professional breadcrumbs makes a difference! 

In hiking, breadcrumbs highlight your past route, but they can also help to optimize future routes. Likewise, purposefully thinking about and considering your lifelong learning journey can help chart smarter next steps whether in areas of personal growth, professional development, or career advancement. Your best investment…is in you! 

The GPS of yesteryear was helpful, but it had its limits. Today, the right GPS watch can not only provide breadcrumb mapping, but record your steps, altitude change, direction, as well as track your heart rate and blood oxygen level, etc. The list of features and options can be overwhelming!  Similar to selecting the right GPS watch, carefully consider how you add to your story through the professional development, networking, and mentoring opportunities you choose. Your lifelong learning journey’s breadcrumbs are unique to you and only you can curate the path. 

Karen L. Pedersen, Ph.D., is the former Dean of Global Campus and Associate Vice Provost of Academic Innovation at Kansas State University and now a Senior Consultant with Summit Search Solutions, as well as a Strategic Advisor for UPCEA Research and Consulting.  To learn more about UPCEA Research and Consulting, please contact [email protected].