Seven Key Questions for Improving Communication with Your Dean
Being a department head is one of the hardest jobs on campus. Representing both the unit and the administration can be a real balancing act, and your most vital partner in this complex role is likely to be your dean. New department heads may never have worked closely with the...
Collective Terms Perpetuate Stereotypes and Biases: Change Begins with Leadership
It was a sweltering July morning when an email from one of my librarians arrived in my inbox, its subject line proclaiming, “THE LIBRARIANS ARE HOT!” I had recently taken over management of library faculty and staff, and this was my first crisis. The library’s air conditioning unit had failed,...
Becoming Stewards: Transforming New Leaders through Reflective Practice
Whether one subscribes to the notion that leadership is simply one of several roles a manager plays in an organization (Mintzberg, 1989) or that management and leadership are two distinct processes, with the latter being the more visionary and inspiring of the two (Kotter, 1990), one cannot dispute the plethora of research on...
Where Advocacy and Sound Leadership Must Part Company
The world of higher education is one where advocacy plays out on a daily basis. We see it at the lowest professional levels of our institutions, where faculty are advocates for students, academic programs, policy, colleagues, and curricula as well as for themselves. At the highest level, our presidents are...
Being a Young Chair: Advice I Wish I’d Received
Whoever said, “Age ain’t nothing but a number” certainly never served as a division chair. I am equally certain that few division chairs have ever thought, “When I grow up, I plan on being the youngest chair in my division.” Yet after moving up the ranks from adjunct instructor to...
Pure Heart Leadership
Pure Heart Leadership™ is a leadership approach that recognizes the individuality and strengths of leaders. This model that draws on my more than 20 years of professional experience within higher education and blends the ideas of Maslow, Rogers, and Bandura with a mindfulness approach to developing talent. We all have a...
Managing Conflict: Please Don’t Leave
Spoiler alert: there will be no strategy on how to solve this dilemma . . . yet. Research suggests that 80 percent of decisions made in institutions of higher education in the United States are made at the department level. Of the approximately 80,000 department chairs, a full 20 percent...
Dear Reluctant Administrator: You’ve Got This
Colleges and universities differ from most other organizations in that not everyone longs to be in charge. At corporations, government agencies, and even non-profits, staff members all seem intent on clawing their way up the ladder, while the intrigue within a typical homeowner’s association or youth sports league might shock...
Five Emerging Trends for Academic Leaders
With innovative technologies now being infused in all facets of college and university curricula, academic leaders are beginning to rethink assessments, reconsider data analysis, and fine-tune contemporary job descriptions on college and university campuses. What kind of data should school leaders request? Which new technologies should be approved? How are...
Five Ways to Fail as an Academic Leader
Effective academic leaders teach us a great deal. They serve as inspiring role models, provide examples of best practices, and demonstrate that leadership at its best can utterly transform a college or university. But despite all the benefits we can derive from highly effective academic leaders, failed academic leaders actually...
