Stop stringing your harp and start playing it

I was a first semester student at the University of Wisconsin sitting in an introductory Spanish class. We had just returned from Thanksgiving break, and an older (probably all of 20 years old!) student and I were talking before class about what was coming over the next few weeks.

I’m a planner by nature, and I’m sure I was going on and on about what I needed to set up, how I needed to arrange things, etc. in order to be successful the rest of the semester. And his response was simple, direct, and memorable: “Well, that’s all fine. But sometimes you gotta quit stringing your harp and start playing it.”

I’ve been engaged in coaching and consulting in various ways over the past five years, and over the past few months have been planning how to build those parts of my practice alongside the executive search and coaching work I have the privilege of doing with colleges and universities through Academic Search. Now it’s time for me to take that advice once again…to quit preparing and start doing.

What does that mean? First of all, it doesn’t mean anything in terms of my work with Academic Search—I’m thrilled to be able to continue search work and executive coaching with higher education leaders. It simply means I’m looking to complement that work with coaching and consulting outside higher education as well.  So I’ve created a website for people interested in learning more…and I’ll be on LinkedIn, X (@scottbflanagan) and Threads (@sbflanagan) sharing thoughts for anyone on the journey to becoming their best selves.

And, of course, I’d love to hear from you from you—your reactions to my musings, to learn more about your journey, and how I might be able to help you get clear about your next steps and get moving in the direction you’ve been dreaming about, etc.