American higher education faces the most challenging environment across demographic, financial and economic factors in our modern history. No institution can successfully weather these conditions without effective leadership, yet everyone recognizes that our sector has a weak track record in leadership development and success. This challenge magnifies the risk that Boards and presidents will confuse control with vision and forcefulness with direction – and look for a leader to singlehandedly save the day.
The hero leadership model doesn’t work in complex organizations and environments. My early experience as a CEO led me to the terms “facilitative leadership.” I recognized that the strength of organizations lies in its people, culture and reputation. No single person can do it all. Thus, the most effective leaders found ways to unlock the potential of an organization, help its stakeholders share a vision of where it needed to go and empower – and challenge – all involved to do their part in achieving success.
In a lucky “throwback Thursday” experience last week, a 2013 Public Agenda case study funded by the Lumina Foundation on Seven Practices of Enlightened Leadership in Higher Education came through my inbox. I’m a big fan of Public Agenda’s work in higher education and other issue areas so my interest doubled when I realized this report was based on the change initiatives underway at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee. I had previously met their then Provost, Tristan Denley, and was very impressed by their Degree Compass initiative to help students achieve their educational and personal goals.
While you should read the full report, let me share my paraphrase of Public Agenda’s seven principles for effective leadership:
Lead by listening
If you won’t listen to people, how can you expect them to listen and follow you? I know this is not easy for accomplished professionals, but success is not derived from raw power or authority. Leaders need to connect to those they seek to lead and build common ground around mission, values and strategic direction.
Show respect for the campus community
Putting yourself in the shoes of the other person is a big step to success – and this equally applies to presidents, faculty, staff, students and everyone else facing a challenge. If you show respect, this can open the door for even those who initially disagree with you to hold off on judgment and be willing to contribute to a shared effort.
Focus the academy’s natural inclination for inquiry on itself
Successful organizations are willing to take a hard look in the mirror and engage in open inquiry about where they are, what is happening in the outside world and where they want to be in the future. They have to work at separating fact from opinion; and they must be open to sharing important information that informs a change process, especially about campus finances.
Make authentic student success the central rallying cry
Effective organizations know their mission and focus on it relentlessly. Everyone may not line up exactly in the same place, but the vast majority of faculty and staff are in higher education to support their students’ educational and life goals. Others may try to define what student success means for your campus, but if you build your own definition with buy-in from faculty, students, staff and other stakeholders you will have a set of goals worth sweating for.
Celebrate and build on success
Cynicism and initiative fatigue are powerful enemies of success. People and institutions also have short attention spans when it comes to strategic initiatives. Leaders need to communicate constantly with their campus constituencies and put early stage progress front and center.
Support risk-taking
Most change initiatives in any sector of human endeavor don’t work out as planned. That’s why it is so foolhardy to spend several years planning a massive change agenda and attempt to roll it out with detailed directions. Empowering faculty and staff to lead change requires a willingness to experiment quickly at small scale, learn what works on your campus, and build that knowledge into your next steps. The “blame game” kills motivation faster than anything else. Presidents will have to take on Board members, political officials or the media who are too often consumed with finding fault whenever something fails to work out exactly as planned.
These seven attributes of successful leadership are not unique to higher education. They are grounded in the fundamental nature of human and organizational behavior. We all want to be a part of something meaningful and successful. When we see no path to those goals, we turn inward and turn off. The challenge facing college presidents today is to get all segments of the campus community turned to each other and to the outside world ready to capitalize on the incredible opportunities that await institutions that help all succeed.
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