RA*Chat Ep 65: “Leadership is an Act”: A Conversation on RAs and Leadership

Crystal Lay:
Hello and welcome to another episode of Roompact’s, Res Ed Chat, where we highlight cool people who do cool things and talk about cool stuff in residence life and college student housing. I’m your host, Crystal Lay and I use a she/her series pronouns.
Today, we’re talking about three primary areas: leadership, learning, and development, as it relates to RAs or whatever term you use for the student staff who live on campus at your particular institution. Today, I’m excited about this topic because our guest is well versed in learning and development and has a really fantastic housing background and is going to share some tools and skills with us as it relates to RAs and leadership skills. I’ll have our guests introduce themselves.

Edwin Serrano:
All right. Hey, everyone. My name is Edwin Serrano. I use he/him/his pronouns. I’m currently working at the University of Southern California as a senior learning and development specialist, and it’s been many moons since I was in residence life at UC Berkeley, but that is where I met Crystal. Very happy to be here with you all as well.

Crystal Lay:
You stole my line. I am also happy to be talking to you, and I really enjoyed our time together and all the talents that you shared with the students and staff at UC Berkeley, and so proud of your success and again, everything that you’re going to share with us today, so thank you, Edwin.
Let’s get started with our first question. How do you define leadership and the age old question, do you believe leaders are born or made?

Edwin Serrano:
I love that. All righty. Just straight up, I think leaders are made, and I say this because it is totally the environment that really dictates how people thrive, shine, or whether they can actually sit in comfort and let others do the work. I’ve always believed people like to say, “Oh, they’ve been go-getter since they were young.” Well, I look at one of my little sisters, she’s five years old and she is such a very confident little girl, but I see the way that she tries to keep up with all the adults in the house, and, in my opinion, that’s how she was made into a leader. Because now, whenever her little friends come over, she’s the one calling the shots and she tends to be the teacher, so I think it’s a perfect example of how your environment really can help you become a leader.
Leadership in general is an act. I think people like to find symbols or images and whoever that is for you, always remember that it’s the things that people are doing, think of it like that verb. I think about who are you doing it for, the community that you’re serving, the group you’re advocating for, or maybe you’re just a supervisor responsible for a team of 15 student staff, but really thinking about who you’re serving is one of the things that I think about. You are often required to make decisions, and I think that’s where leadership really stands out is when you take risks or when you make calculated informed decisions, which is what we like to fall on but that’s what I think we need to remember is being a leader requires you to move. Sometimes, it is against the trends or the current, but that’s really, I think in my opinion, where great leadership goes even further. Because we can be leaders but I think going one step further is also really where you see more of that mark or where you leave that little print on others as well.

Crystal Lay:
I love that. Leaving your mark, leaving a print, and your first sentence, you said, “Leadership is an act.” I think that’s really, really powerful. Most folks I think would agree that RAs are viewed as leaders on campus. What leadership skills should they gain or exhibit in the role?

Edwin Serrano:
Honestly, I think back to my first year of college versus what it may look like today in college and the world is so different. I think we are at a very interesting time and place where technology is going to just continue to be the good and the bad. Really, I’m expecting the future leaders to really know how to use technology to their advantage. I think we have leaders who are making millions on TikTok already who are only 16 years old, and I think we need to learn how to use that to our advantage and use it for the right thing, not to hinder us from developing the social skills necessary to really be able to go up to somebody and just say hi. I’m really big on community and I think that’s something that’s always stood out to me. Use technology to your advantage, but also think a little bit about how you can also bring people together and do something good in the world with technology. I think about that.
I also think a little bit about the event planning, that was one of my favorite things to do as RAs. You are often tasked to do an X amount of programs throughout the semester or execute any type of initiative, but really, I think learning that that’s something that’s going to really pay off in the future because you’re thinking about an audience, you’re thinking about how much money do I have, when, where, how am I going to market this? Those are tangible skills that are going to really be able to help you whether you decide to go in the health industry or into sales, those are strategies that are going to pay off.
One of the other things I think about is holding others accountable. I think that’s, in my opinion, where you see that leaders really are courageous and sometimes, it goes against something that you were very comfortable or you were taught. For example, we are always reminded like, okay, if you don’t have nothing nice to say, don’t say nothing at all but sometimes you do have to say something because if it doesn’t feel right within you or somebody is doing something they shouldn’t be. You do need to hold people accountable. Oftentimes, RAs are put in that position when you’re doing rounds or you’re doing your community walks, you come across incidents that there’s so many different things that could happen, but you need to do what’s right.
I think in that, you start to develop those really good values of integrity, accountability, and just practicing really good skills overall that will help you. There’s so many things. I think lastly, what I’ll end on is really considering the fact that we need more folks who are social justice advocates. I know many Res Ed programs around the world, or around the country, we prioritize that because we want our future leaders to really consider how… Just more inclusive practices can really start to make a difference. Like I said, the world is just at this teeter totter where so many people’s lives and identities continue to be undervalued or just erased in general. We need advocates who are out here reminding themselves or reminding others that what’s right and that people matter. I’d say continue to inform yourself whenever you’re in the position and use your pro staff or all the programs to your advantage to learn, because there’s so many resources at a university that you don’t really get that when you leave and you graduate college.

Crystal Lay:
That’s so true. The amount of resources that we have access to on a university setting or campus is unreal. Once you get into the community, you’re like, “Wow, how do I find this?” You don’t have someone readily handing you things or putting up a bulletin board in your personal life to help you navigate things. I appreciate all the things you shared because I think those, for our student staff, or anyone that is in leadership, it’s staying current, it’s being inclusive, it’s knowing you’re going to be facilitating spaces and events to create a welcoming environment, and then that accountability piece. Definitely relevant things that I think contribute to or should be seen as leadership opportunities for our student staff.
In your current role, you do the learning and development pieces, I want to talk about leadership learning and development and how that comes up with regards to personal or professional growth. How do you tie all those together when you think about our student staff? Does that question make sense?

Edwin Serrano:
Yeah. This is something that I would do during my one-on-ones with my RAs all the time. I would always ask, “What’s your end goal? What’s your personal goal? When you’re graduating, where do you see yourself going,” so that I can understand all the things that I’m asking you to do with this RA position, how can I help you start getting in that mindset or doing things that’ll help you for that? I do believe that professional development, I had to break it down for one of my student staff members the other day, because they’re like, “We don’t know what that is.” I tell them, “Okay, well, you have access to go and learn or watch a video on LinkedIn or go watch a video on YouTube or TikTok about a skill that you want to learn.”
For example, how do I use Excel more to my advantage or how do I start an LLC because I want to start my own business, et cetera. I tell people that some jobs when you become a professional will give you a budget or they’ll give you your free schedule to make time on your schedule to do any professional development.
Very similarly, I think the RA position, whether your school calls it a job or whether just call it a leadership position, it is an opportunity for you to really develop those skills for the professional that you want to be and so, I always think it’s a very personal journey. In my role as a senior L&D specialist, I’m working with a lot of staff members that are… They’re in our business units and so, they’re not faculty, they’re not student affairs folks, they are sometimes hospitality restaurant managers on campus, or they are bookstore staff members. They all have very different goals and so, I do think a little bit about, “Well, what is my expertise with conflict resolution, communication, inclusive practices?” I always own what I can offer, but I also own the things I’m like, “Okay, well, I’m not the expert in that, so how can I help you find resources on that?” I do think a little bit about that, like how can I be a hub?
Yeah, turning back to the question, am I on the mark?

Crystal Lay:
Yes, you’re doing great because RAs are a hub. They’re referral agents, they’re not the experts, and they’re leading all these different folks who are going to have these different goals and ideas of what they want to do. What you shared is definitely applicable to the RA role as far as I’m bringing all these people together, living in my community. They all have different needs, they might have different majors depending on if you have living learning community or some type of academic tie to the community. But ultimately, they’re all very different humans and so, what are the things that they’re learning that can help them remember what their role is? But I do enjoy what you said when you talked about whether your institution views it as a job or a leadership opportunity, there are still things that you’re learning that can contribute to your personal and professional growth. I really liked it.

Edwin Serrano:
I love that, and it’s true.

Crystal Lay:
You said it. You said it.

Edwin Serrano:
No, I said that because I do believe at some schools, they’re like, “We don’t call this a job,” but I’m like, “Baby, there’s still a contract, there’s still some expectations.” However you want to call it, I do think you have some expectations and an obligation or duties to fulfill.
What I will tie back to that question is just the personal growth. I think one of the best things that you get out of that position is just the number of people that you come across and that you’re meeting. I think that in itself, you learn something from every person that comes into your life, in my opinion. I do think of your coworkers or your peers on your staff, your residents, your RDs or your supervisor, that will eventually become your network once you leave.
All these years later, I’m talking to one of my former supervisors, Crystal, I have one of my mentors who is in my Miami, those are people that become your go-tos. We need to remember whether it’s for professional or it’s also just for a personal like, “Hey, I’m selling this baked goods or dah, dah, dah,” those are the people that you call your network. I do think we need to remember that many other students don’t get that when they’re on college campuses. They wish they had done experiences like this because you have now unlocked that network that that’s going to be there for years.

Crystal Lay:
Well, hey, you give me the phone number to the person with the baked goods. How about that?

Edwin Serrano:
I love that.

Crystal Lay:
All right, Edwin, so talk to me about supervisors. What are some things that you think supervisors can do to help foster or encourage or develop leadership skills in the team that they supervise?

Edwin Serrano:
I’ll think about two things that I used to do that would set me apart. I don’t remember some of my other co-RDs that do this, but I used to let some of my RAs run the meeting or weekly meeting, and I would tell them, “It’s your task to help me prep the agenda,” and then, find a discussion topic or some article. I would tell them, “Find something on BuzzFeed or find something that is in regards to social justice or some kind of professional development topic.” I would have the RAs facilitate somewhat of a discussion during our staff meeting. I think that when you’re with your residents, it is difficult to probably lead a program, but I think it’s something said about being able to facilitate a discussion with your peers and so I would like to challenge them every now and then about that.
Also, like I said, one of the things that I would do was really get them to find one resource on campus or one program office or a faculty member that they could bring in to residence so that they could, one, I think they needed to just get out there. I think that was one of the things is a lot of the RAs sometimes were just very like, “Oh, we met them during training,” and then that’s it. You never ever came across the transfer student center again, or you never went up to the veteran student center. I do think I was very adamant about either you’re going to do something with a resident faculty or you’re going to do something with a program or an office on campus. It is very annoying, but I’m like, “That’s really something that you’re going to learn from.”
Like I said, getting to know your staff and asking them what’s your end goal? Because sometimes, some students are just really in it just for they’re personal reasons, but we need to really find ways to really see how we can help them develop those skills to get ready for their profession. I had a lot of students at UC Berkeley, I think some of the most brilliant students ever, and they had bigger goals. They weren’t going to be in residence life forever, so we needed to really think about how we could find them a mentor or find them some kind of opportunity for them to really be prepared for those type of experiences. Often it was, let me just help you review your resume and so, I would lead leadership. I would lead little talks during our staff meeting where I was reviewing the resume and provide different examples, or I would bring in somebody from the career center to make sure that I was just giving them extra resources because I think that’s one of the things that we do is we have that knowledge that we can provide them.

Crystal Lay:
This is perfect because I wanted to ask you about how do you encourage RAs or how do you coach them on using their leadership experiences when they’re going out to get, let’s say, an internship or even move into the career field? How do you talk about the RA experience and the leadership things that you have gained?

Edwin Serrano:
Yeah, this is what I tell people all the time. I’m like, “You are doing way more than you know, and you’re responding to crisis, emergency situations at night.” Sometimes, that involve students’ well-being and health. Guess what? If you’re going to the medical field, there you go. You just have an example right there. Marketing, I think when you’re thinking about the programs that you’re doing and you having to think about, “Well, how am I going to get the word out about it?” For all those who to leave it to last minute and just text people or do things unplanned, think about the success you’ve had when you put in the work versus when you don’t. That’s a prime example of marketing and communications, if that’s something that you’re interested in.
I do think people need to really spend time with their RD or their supervisor and talk about what type of next role or professional position they want to go into because your RAs or your supervisors should be able to help you identify what key skills or what things, accomplishments that you’ve had will help you be a perfect example. I think the other thing is really considering just being able to facilitate discussions or speak in public crowds.
I think that is such an… I don’t even know how to say it. People don’t really recognize that that is such a hard thing. For many, it’s the biggest fear that they have in life. I used to stutter over my words and I used to fear having to stand up in front of others, and I got involved in Hall Council, and now, I get paid for a living to facilitate these trainings and discussions for professional staff at USC. I do think these type of roles that we have with RAs, you’re put in these positions and little did you know that you were going to just start to blossom and help others grow as well. I do think that there’s many things that I think it’s a very personal conversation that you need to really consider, what is the next step and which skill sets do I need to highlight?

Crystal Lay:
Okay. Now, I’m curious, in the professional realm, how did you find your confidence to shift from, you just shared this nervousness and now you’re like, “I am speaking in front of all these people at this prestigious university.”
As you’re talking to a student staff who may be listening or watching, how do you find that inner voice or that confidence to say, “Okay, you can do this, or, I’m enough. I can do some good work and I’m going to try something different?” Not saying that’s your experience, but just wondering if you have any tips or thoughts.

Edwin Serrano:
Yeah. Well, one, you know what I tell people is, “You have to know your stuff.” If you are coming in there and you’re just going to wing it, of course, you’re going to be a little bit nervous and afraid and you’re doubting everything. But I do think if you’re I remember one time, little 18 year old Edwin was responsible for putting on, and actually, it’s kind of timely, a lunar New Year or Chinese New Year program. That is not my culture, that is not something that I was raised celebrating or practicing, but we were just creating awareness about this tradition or this holiday. I was like, “What the heck am I going to say?” I was kind of nervous, but then, like I said, I started doing my prep. I had my speaking notes.
Speaking notes are okay, y’all. It is totally fine to have speaking notes. It’s really like the professionals and the people who have been doing the same show over and over and over again, they don’t need them because they’ve already memorized or they’ve already got the routine flow. Use that to your advantage. I think totally fine to ask for a co-facilitator because it’s okay. Sometimes, you feel a little bit more confident having somebody else, your inner voice learn to talk nicely to yourself inside your head. I do say that for every doubt that you have, follow it up immediately with, “Actually, no, I got this. Don’t fall down that rabbit hole.” Remind yourself and visualize yourself as having a really good discussion or having to go up in anything that you’re doing that you’re nervous about.
Yeah, I do think, like I said, sitting down and just kind of prepping and then doing a little power stance, putting your hands in your hips. I like to look good to feel good, and so, make sure that you’re presentable. I think that’s something that adds to the show. I do this a lot during my effective communications workshop. People don’t really remember, they remember 7% of what you said. They remember, I think it’s about 26% of your non-verbals, but lastly, it’s your tone. In all to say that people don’t even really pay attention to the words, it’s more about how you make them feel, how you’re coming across and your tone, so how loud you were. If you were really quiet and not talking loud, those are things that they’re going to remember. Just make sure that you’re very considerate of all that when you’re going there.

Crystal Lay:
I think you have modeled that so well, and you also look fantastic. Thanks for sharing those tips.
My last question for you, Edwin, if folks want to learn more about leadership skills or development, what are some recommendations that you have on where they can learn more?

Edwin Serrano:
Yeah, I think this is the best feature here, our cell phones. I sit in traffic sometimes for 40 plus minutes every day. I’ve tuned to a lot of podcasts, and there are moments where I’m just like, “You know what? I want to find a talk on leadership, or I want to find a talk on motivation.” Podcasts are really good because it can be listened to anywhere and everywhere. I, like I said, resort to a lot of LinkedIn and so sometimes, when I’m doing my own prep for my programs, I go to LinkedIn and I just find myself just glued because I do think there’s a lot of expertise out there. I used to read a lot, so… I can’t say any books, but you have your favorites of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People or all that stuff. I do think really spend time and ask yourself, “What is the topic or something that is interesting to me?” I always constantly start looking at…
I moved to reading the morning news online in my email, and I will say that it really has sparked an interest in a lot of different topics and things that are going on in the world, because like I said, a good leader in today’s world really needs to stay on top of what’s happening because a lot of stuff is unfolding in front of us. Even then, you might find something like a call or some need that needs to be addressed in the world and so, really stay current. I remember my college days, I can’t tell you much of what was going on in the world because I was so disconnected, and we were so busy and we were so distracted with all of our personal life things but you have to stay informed, and I think that’s really what your college years are about, staying educated and staying informed so that you can really become the best leader once you leave there.

Crystal Lay:
That was amazing. I love all the threads that you’ve shared throughout: holding folks accountable, learning and growing, the podcast, just picking up your phone and looking things up, and just the access to information. It sounds like there’s no reason to not try to add to your toolkit.
I also like how you talked about the supervisor part, like how are we empowering our student staff, the folks that we supervise to lead in a place that should feel safe and comfortable and practice with their peers. Lots of really good nuggets and pieces that you’ve shared with us today, Edwin, and I’m so happy that you made time for this. Thank you.

Edwin Serrano:
I’m happy to have been back. It makes me miss being an RD just a little tiny bit. Just a little bit.

Crystal Lay:
There’s some jobs out there.

Edwin Serrano:
You know what? I do think it is in my best years for sure were with Res Life, and so, I’m always grateful that I just hopped into that train and some really good times and a lot of learning moments as well. I always wear it as a badge of honor.

Crystal Lay:
Well, thank you again, Edwin, and then, thank all of you for listening today to another episode of Res Ed Chat. If you have ideas for people or topics that you would love us to connect on, please reach out to Roompact and let us know. Take care.