Voice of a Seasoned Professional

Being a supervisor is not only my favorite part of being a higher education professional but also one of my greatest strengths. It also happens to be one of my biggest areas of growth. How can that be, you ask? In short, no matter how strong of a supervisor one staff member may consider me to be, there will always be someone whose expectations I am not living up to in this role. It has taken me nearly two decades to learn and relearn some of the lessons of being a good supervisor. Winston and Creamer (1997) wrote the book on supervision and described it as “one of the most complex activities that student affairs professionals are called upon to perform” (p. 187). However, as a field, we often miss the mark on helping staff members develop supervision skills.