Is your team the "Cognoscenti" of your campus?
Brad McCormick, CCBO President
VP for Business Services & College Facilities
John A. Logan College

Strange title?  You will have to give me a few moments of your time to circle back to the title. But, first, let me tell you that in preparing to write this Bottom Line article, I began doing some research into what it takes to be considered an expert in your field. After all, that is what CCBO is all about!  We are about giving our members access to the experiences, people, and tools to become good – no, great – in their profession.

Before finishing the first draft of the article, I attended the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) conference in Washington, D.C. in early April. I heard Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, speak about the traits of companies and leaders that outperform others in the long run. Later on in the conference, CCBO offered an educational session titled "Faster than a Speeding Bullet, Getting the Most from your Business Officer."  Keith Houck, vice president for operations and finance at Valencia College, moderated this panel presentation that was comprised of three community college presidents from around the country. Keith is one of the board of directors for CCBO and the AACC liaison. I heard a common theme among all of the presidents as they spoke.  They all look to their business officers as the experts in a variety of areas. It became clear that the business officer’s role is to protect them and their colleges.

Earlier in the conference, while meeting people at the CCBO booth in the exhibit hall, I listened to a college president describe how he viewed his business officer. He said he felt he had an angel on one shoulder advising him, and his business officer on the other. Before you laugh, I assure you he wasn't considering the business officer as the devil opposite the angel on the other shoulder. He spoke of how much he valued the advice and opinion of his business officer.  Essentially, he had two angels on his shoulders.

Whether you are the chief business officer, staff accountant, IT professional, or facility director, how do you attain the status of "expert"?  Some would say you are an expert if someone else says you are. What they may mean is you have to score high on some validation instrument.....you have to be certified. Others say you must stay current in your profession, which is the purpose behind CEU’s for continued licensure in professional fields. In the online blog, "Barking up the Wrong Tree," Eric Barker tackles this question. According to Eric, the first requirement is a lot of practice. This has also been written about extensively by authors like Malcom Gladwell, author of Outliers and other great books. In Outliers, Malcom says many people have great talent, but without 10,000 hours of practice, you will never see it. Interesting. If we assumed we were 50% efficient in our time, it would mean about 10 years of experience (1,000 hours per year). But, is it just a matter of putting in the time? I don’t think so. Other components of becoming an expert listed by Eric Barker were: Have Grit, Find a Great Mentor, Focus on the Negative, and Get Fast Feedback. I encourage you to look at this list and the supporting information by visiting his blog entry.

Still wondering about the title? Well, so far, I have been writing about YOU becoming the expert. But, is that really the point?  Isn't it more important that your TEAM be viewed as the campus experts? I am at a community college in Illinois, a state where a recent pension reform act has caused a rush for the retirement door. As I watch the disruption in the work place caused by this sudden move, I’m reminded of the importance of having a solid team so the institution is not overly dependent upon the skills and abilities of any single individual. The word "cognoscenti" is the plural of the word cognoscente, which is referenced in the Webster’s Dictionary when defining "expert."

As the Marvel movies sweep box offices and the television series Agents of Shield grow in popularity, creating a second generation of comic enthusiasts, I bet someone reading this article already knew where this was going. The Cognoscenti first appeared in the Marvel Universe as a three-person team of superheroes born with the knowledge and desire to protect humanity. We have not seen this team of "experts" on the movie screen yet, but they exist in community colleges across the nation, as protectors of their colleges. Please allow us at CCBO to be an asset to you and your team as you pursue excellence.