Bottom-Line Leadership
A friend of mine posed a question that I’ve been grappling with: “Why are so many college and university presidents so … bad?” The question caught me off guard since many of the college presidents I meet are hardworking, creative, dedicated leaders. But I knew exactly what he meant. Increasingly,...
Developing Formal and Informal Faculty Leaders
Leadership is not restricted to those in formal leadership positions. Rather, all faculty members in one way or another fill leadership roles and may eventually become formal leaders. Therefore, it’s important for them to develop their leadership abilities. In an interview with Academic Leader, Mariangela Maguire, associate professor of communication and...
Maintaining a State of Readiness for Sudden Transition to Deanship
Many deans enjoy long, productive careers that terminate with retirement. In some cases, deans may make a voluntary strategic career move to a larger institution as a step in a grand plan to move to the highest levels of administration. In cases of impending retirement or an announced move, time...
Making Soup from Rain: My Year as Provost
A year ago I found myself serving as my university's interim provost. After six years as a dean, I had been enjoying a sabbatical, a quiet time of writing, reading, and preparing for re-entry to teaching. I had grown tired of the administrative life and its seemingly endless series of...
Failing Gracefully
Make no mistake about it: If you serve long enough as a university administrator, sooner or later you will fail at something—massively, undeniably, and embarrassingly. Either the result that you intended from an initiative never came close to being achieved, or you’ll have a new supervisor who feels you’ve wasted...
Zen and the Art of Higher Education Administration
One of the best books on how to be an academic leader actually has nothing to do with higher education administration. Daniel Levin’s The Zen Book (Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2005) is a combination of introduction to Buddhist practice and guide to daily life. It is also a wonderful summary...
Using Stress to Create Change, Just as Nature Intended
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...
Bridging the Digital Divide
The following is a conversation between Dr. David Probst, a senior administrator who is trying to encourage his senior staff to integrate technology into the classroom, and Dr. Jesus Fidelio Garza, a young technology coordinator who uses technology daily.
Reading the Boss’ Mind: When Less Really Is Less
“No, that’s still not what I had in mind. You need to do it over again.” If we ever hear those words (or similar ones) coming out of our own mouths, a bright red flag should go up immediately for one of the following two reasons...
Developing a Leadership Philosophy
In the busy, sometimes chaotic world of academic leadership, it’s all too easy to be overwhelmed by the managerial tasks of the position and not give adequate attention to the broader, more important leadership duties. To be an effective leader, it helps to have a set of principles—a leadership philosophy—to...
