Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change, Second Edition

by Joseph Grenny

Can you guess the three vital behaviors that drive success during students’ first year in college? The dropout rates for first-year students at some colleges are as high as 50 percent, so academic leaders worry endlessly about influencing these students to succeed during their first crucial year. Dropping out is disastrous for both the students and the schools. This time, since it may not be obvious to your average citizen, we’ll rely on our second quick-search tool—experts. In this case, a quick Internet search put us in touch with researchers from a large Midwestern university who culled reams of data examining patterns of success and failure and identified three vital behaviors. If you want to make it past that first tremulous year: attend class, complete assignments (duh!), and make friends (really?). The first two sound pretty obvious, and they are clearly underused by the dropouts. But does making friends really separate the A’s from the F’s? So we asked the experts why making friends was vital. They taught us about a rite-of-passage that often happens over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. First-year students go home for their first real vacation from college, and many either break up with or get dumped by their high school sweethearts. These Thanksgiving breakups are so common that college counselors have given them a name: the “Turkey Drop.” And college counselors welcome these Turkey Drops. The students return from Thanksgiving serious and a little depressed. The...