We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful William C Golston, Jr. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with William C below.
Hi William C, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
Developing confidence and self-esteem is not always the easiest thing to do. When you come from a place of not always having the best clothes and shoes, even having to scrape by at times, it can tremendously affect your ability to understand your value. Growing up, life was not easy for me but I did not allow that to be a crutch. I did reasonably well in high school, but college failure produced my self-esteem. When I was able to find success, it made it easier to discuss when I didn’t. From there forward, my confidence grew and my self-esteem did along with it. It became commonplace to talk about getting up from failure with the students I serve, and there was even a podcast episode that came out of it. Moreover, a new podcast season was spawned from the thoughts that a co-worker and I shared about the significance of failure. Through this, I have continued to press forward and I am now on the precipice of my doctoral degree. Had it not been for that failure, my self-esteem and confidence level may not have reached the point of me becoming Staff of the Year in my first year.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I enjoy mentoring. Any job that I have had, I have found a way to mentor someone, mostly the youth that I have worked with. From Pre-K to College age students, I enjoy being a person that they consider not only for advice but for mentorship. It is so important to foster relationships with others that they can look back on and say “That person had an impact on who I have become.” I take pride in that. I am also working towards my doctorate in education, as well as participating in a podcast (as I mentioned previously) for my workplace that is entitled “Instructional Ecology: A podcast towards sustainable teaching” which has been heard in over 30 countries worldwide and at least 30 states in the US. You can discover it wherever you listen to your podcasts. The episode I was apart of is in season 3, episode 6, but every one of them are valuable listens!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The three most important qualities for me are: being relatable to the people you work with and serve, having a sense of accountability to do your best, and not leaving others behind that you can bring along with you. When I work/have worked with people of various ages, I maintain a level of relatableness with them. Whether it is being aware of Paw Paw Patrol, knowing about NBA Youngboy or JVKE, or sharing conversations about what “used to be,” maintaining that ability to relate is the reason I can develop successful relationships. I believe in maintaining accountability. When you did not do what you said you would, own up to that. Don’t pass the buck because it’s easy to do. Accept responsibility and be accountable. Most importantly, include others in your success. When I was named Staff of the Year, I believed it was necessary to mention that it was a reflection of the department, and not just my own work. Making sure that you recognize others will always buy more members to your team and you’ll have more buy-in from them in the future because they know you give them shine, though the spotlight is on you.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
My parents, especially my mother, were important in pushing me to be successful. When I was much younger, I used to be concerned about what I didn’t have. We weren’t the most well-to-do family and it was hard at times to make ends meet. I always would see others my age, and it seemed they had more of everything. More money, more friends, more clothes. It had me down and I discussed it with my mother. I will NEVER forget what she told me. She said, “Son, don’t look at what people have. You don’t know what they had to do to get it.” That stuck with me forever. Now I look at things differently. I am grateful for what I have because I didn’t have to do anything but work hard to get it. I believe her instilling this life lesson in me has taken me further than money could.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Positioned_4_Purpose
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-golston-jr-mba-m-ed-gcdf-5a4a3259/
- Other: TikTok (where I try to say something inspiring and motivational lol) WILLG723
