Some of the things that we assume will help us get ahead and be effective as academic leaders may in fact thwart our efforts, alienate colleagues, and lead to burnout. The following is a list of commonly held academic leadership myths and the corresponding truths I’ve learned as an academic leader.
Organizations are often anthropomorphized— attributed with the characteristics of living things. One might describe an organization as strong or weak. Organizations might be said to flourish or wither. They might be said to experience periods of peace or other periods in which they are under attack and in a position of mortal danger. We might describe an organization as a family or as a team. The stock price of a company may be said to dive or to soar. Organizations are said to be born and, sadly, they often die.
