12 Steps to AIA Fellowship #6: Waiting

Episode 6 of the 12 Steps to AIA Fellowship series is all about the time between submission and receiving official word on the results of your submission from the AIA.

Well, I’ve been more than late in releasing the Episode #6, the final in the 12 Steps to American Institute of Architects Fellowship Podcast series! Let’s just say it was a busy season, and I’m anxiously awaiting news on the AIA’s 2023 Class of Fellows. I am not alone. So, here’s a bit of a golden “oldie” video for those waiting to hear sometime mid-February (based on previous years). The following transcript has been heavily edited for reading versus viewing or listening:

Welcome to the 12 Steps to American Institute of Architects Fellowship Podcast Episode #6. I'm your host Rebecca Edmunds, AIA, here with my colleague and friend Michael LeFevre, FAIA Emeritus. We’ve been talking through a diagram Michael created 12 Steps to Fellowship, which is in our book Architect + Action = Result. You can find information on the book and many other Fellowship related ideas at architectactionresult.com. Episode 6 is all about the time between submission and receiving official word on the results of your submission from the AIA.

Good morning, Michael. Our last episode is all about getting the notification, whether you're in it or out. And, if you're elevated, what the investor experience is like.

Michael: The day you finally get that done, hit that button, and move on with the rest of your life is the most liberating, like finishing your book, even though you spent your whole career coaching people and writing and producing documents. I know—because I was there with you—what a great relief that was to get your book finished and published. I've shared that experience. In fact, as in Fellowship, you know what a great delight it is to finally press that button, to be able to confidently say, you're done. Now let's get on with the rest of our lives. No more obsessing about this Fellowship.

People say they finally get their weekends back and evenings back because it's such a time-consuming effort.

Michael: You asked about the waiting period. I think it's always been submitted in October, and then the jury meets in January, and then the announcements, in my experience, came out at the end of January, but I think now they are creeping into February.

It's like your Valentine's Day present from the AIA.

Michael: I was lucky enough to be busy with work and getting on with the rest of my life. I did not have to anxiously worry about waiting for the Fellowship announcement. I was able to push it off to the side and get on with life. The notification came when I was sitting at work on a Friday afternoon about 02:00. An email just popped up on my screen with this wonderful news: Congratulations! You've been elevated to Fellowship.

In a matter of the next couple of hours, I shared the news with a couple of folks internal to the company. By 05:00, my colleague and boss had mustered a group of people to go across the street to the Mexican restaurant and have beer and celebrate. As you said, you can’t share this publicly until the AIA announces it. But it's a wonderful thing to celebrate. Everybody does that in their own way. In my case, we were enamored with the idea that there were probably very few construction companies in America that had a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects on their staff.

It's a great start to what is a fun few months ahead for those who are successful.

People usually tell their sponsor and any significant others in their lives, including people who have helped and supported them with the submission. However, it’s essential to let everybody know it's not public yet, that this is private information because it is an exciting moment.

Then there are those people who aren't elevated, to whom I always say, “Keep going, they're going to give you a debrief, you're going to get information on why you weren't elevated and go at this again.” Because a lot of people don't get in the first shot, no matter what you hear. Some people have gone four times. I heard someone say that their spouse went twelve times. That seems really painful, but the confession was greatly appreciated.

Did you feel elated when you got that news? Especially being in a construction company and getting it, and even back to hitting the submit for those who aren't lucky enough to be recognized or elevated?

Michael: Having the opportunity to reflect on your career, give it structure—you've experienced this as I did. Going through this process helps shape your journey—part of it is reflection, part of it is current—and gives you a glimpse of where it might go in the future. Having taken the time to write this narrative and story, to be more than just someone who has slaved away as an architect for how many decades? It’s a much more fulfilling way to think of it, having completed the story, and then for those that are successful, not only have you completed your story, but you've been recognized for it. It's a wonderful thing, shifting into the process of attending the convention. I hope that anybody who's been lucky enough to do that is going to go to the AIA convention the year they are elevated, which usually happens in June, and celebrate their recognition.

In my case, my wife was able to join me. A couple of close friends were there, and we had dinner and celebrated the weekend with a couple of colleagues from school. So, I had this little entourage. One of the best stories was late at night; we all broke after a wonderful black-tie convocation at the National Building Museum after the Investiture at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. The Cathedral is a beautiful gothic building could have been in Europe centuries ago, filled with this almost religious ritual with all these—I called them the druids before—lords and in long black gowns walking in the stone interior, and all is echoing, followed by a delightful black-tie convocation.

So, all that's over. Anita and I go back to the hotel, and we're in this famous Robin's Nest* bar at Willard Intercontinental Hotel in DC. And I'm sitting there in a tux with my medal around my neck.

There's a guy at the bar and he said, “What's with all this? What's happening here?”

So, I told him.

He said, “Well, I know a guy who is an architect.”

“What's his name?” I asked. As it turns out, I’d just left the same guy, the boyhood best friend of this fellow we would not have met had we not had that last drink at one in the morning at the Robin’s Nest in tuxes with AIA Fellowship bling—a medal—hanging around my neck.

So, lots of wonderful stories like that. And being able to share with friends and family is the best.

I've been fortunate to be included in a few of those celebrations, and I always like to ask, “So what are you going to do now that you've got it? What are you going to do with this newfound status?” Because, hopefully, it's not the end of a career, but it's the beginning of having this advanced credential and being in a group of peers who have achieved a similar level of influence on others. Only a small percentage of AIA members are Fellows nationally and internationally. And there are events, like breakfast and other sessions where you get together with your class, your cohorts, and meet people who are likeminded. These present opportunities to get involved with the College and advance what you're passionate about through a whole new level of the Institute.

Michael: It probably doesn't get talked about enough but having been lucky enough to have this honor bestowed upon you comes with a set of expectations. Being active in the College, continuing to further the College’s ideals and expectations of donating to support the College and continuing to preserve the legacy. As you said, opening the door to the weekend of the convention. There's a Fellows’ lunch where every single person there is beaming and their egos are bursting with pride because they feel so special. And then there’s admittance to special events for Fellows only, getting plugged into the Fellows newsletter, which can range from being a great group of leaders collaborating and solving important issues to political rants, the pros and cons of everything. Lots of doors open, more responsibilities and, for those who achieve it younger or mid-career, it opens the door to greater things.

I was probably closer to the apex of my career. What happened to me happened when I was looking at coming in for a landing and at the end of things. Working with you has been another evolution and collaborating about Fellowship has opened another evolution for me for sure. That's absolutely true.

And the College is getting younger members. One of the most important things the College does is fund research, as you mentioned, and everybody who gets elevated probably gets hit up to contribute.

It is important research, whether it's for emerging professional component grants, for people who are doing innovative things in their state or local chapters, but also for the Latrobe, which is the largest research award in architecture, certainly, the largest one that the AIA gives.

I appreciate your time today. We've had a good time. I really appreciate your time and support as we've gone through this and of course, through the book. And our new book, Designing Words, for which you also played an important role, is now available.

Michael: It's been a blast. I hope that the podcast and the video do their thing and the book continues to do well. There's just one more important piece of advice for aspiring fellows: they need to buy your book.

Thank you, Michael. I really appreciate it.

Michael: Thanks again, Rebecca. I look forward to seeing you soon.

For more details for AIA Architects preparing a case for Fellowship, please see: ArchitectActionResult.com. You’ll also find information and resources on writing for artists and design professionals.

* Actually the Round Robin Bar at the Willard Hotel.