Higher ed leaders at all levels are experiencing an unprecedented amount of disruption right now: The day-to-day work in the classroom feels as if it’s under siege. The continued availability of funding for research and for students is uncertain at best. The very purpose of higher education seems to be on trial. You weathered the enormous disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that was different. As bad as it was, you were able to settle into a routine after several months of chaos. The current political disruption promises to continue to bring threats and changes to the higher ed and education sectors for years. Leaders are already exhausted, but the work of serving and educating students continues. So how do you manage the day-to-day reality of disruption fatigue?
What Is Disruption Fatigue?
Higher ed leaders have long experienced burnout (see here, here, and here), so you might be thinking that disruption fatigue is just another flavor of the same problem. But it isn’t the same. It’s related to burnout and can contribute to burnout, but disruption fatigue is a disruption problem.
While burnout results from things like sustained overwork and stress, disruption fatigue is a response to constant and unpredictable change—the kind of change you’ve been experiencing since the current presidential administration took office with a different set of ideas about what should be happening on U.S. campuses. Higher ed leaders feel like they have to respond and pivot what they’re doing constantly as a result, and there is a sense that there is no control over your work. Symptoms of burnout and disruption fatigue often overlap—they both involve things like exhaustion, disengaging from the work, and cynicism—but the underlying cause is different. A key concern to note is that disruption fatigue, if extended, will almost certainly result in burnout.
How Might You Be Experiencing Disruption Fatigue?
So how is disruption fatigue showing up in higher ed at the moment? You may feel that you must respond to new challenges daily, that constant pivots to strategy are required, or that you’ve lost control of your work.
Here are some ways higher ed professionals were facing disruption fatigue pre-2025:
- Faculty and staff dealing with new technologies that emerge every few months
- Title IX policy shifting as US Presidents send out new Dear Colleague Letters
- The enrollment cliff approaching and impacting certain regions of the US
- The COVID-19 pandemic resulting in a move to online education and remote or hybrid employment
While higher ed has always had to evolve in the face of national or international trends, the pace and volume of changes has ramped up since the start of 2025. Now, with the political decrees coming every day, faculty and staff are confronting extreme financial pressures, justified fears about discontinuation of their research, student fears about travel, and an uncertain future for education in the United States. You likely feel that it’s hard to be an engaged leader and pay attention to all of these changes at once, on top of your normal work stress. You may even be experiencing a growing sense of disillusionment, where you question whether your work in higher ed is contributing to real progress.
While no individual can control how the higher ed sector responds to new executive orders, you can break through cynicism and defeat by focusing on how you’re fulfilling your purpose in higher ed.
Reaffirming Your Purpose
When you’re experiencing constant change, your values and purpose are an anchor helping you shift your focus from a sense of chaos to a sense of clarity and meaning. Instead of reacting to every change, you can reflect on what truly matters to you and your institution and try to move intentionally in that direction. You may choose to reflect on your individual purpose, your departmental or discipline’s purpose, or your institutional mission and values. At all levels from individual to system-wide, a sense of purpose and values can ground your decision-making.
As faculty, in the face of uncertainty about your research funding, you might reflect on how your purpose is to positively impact the world. While you may not be able to do so with the research project you planned, you can find other ways to create a positive impact, like being an engaging teacher.
As a leader, you may be getting constant questions about the future of higher ed from faculty and staff at your institution. Although you may not have any answers, you can reflect on your purpose to communicate kindly and effectively and think about how to offer clarity on any misconceptions.
Here’s why returning to your purpose and values works to shift your mindset to one of intention:
- Purpose creates a sense of stability in times of uncertainty
In our article on Knowing Yourself as a Leader, we talked about finding the balance between challenge and stability to achieve a sense of thriving, rather than being angry, lost, or stuck (all symptoms of disruption fatigue). Returning to your purpose allows you to filter change through this lens. You can plan proactively based on institutional or personal values like integrity, creativity, and empathy.
- Values help you prioritize what changes and steps to take
While you may not have control over the changes taking place in higher ed at the national level, there are still changes occurring at your institution and in your department that you need to respond to. But not all change is worth the effort. It’s more important than ever to take the time to reflect on whether changes you can control, like student-facing policies or curricular changes, are in line with your values. If they’re not, it’s time to figure out how you might adjust those to be more impactful.
- Purpose helps restore your motivation and engagement
It’s so easy to bury your head in the sand now, or to spend your time doomscrolling, in response to the disruption to higher ed. But disruption fatigue sets in because people feel change is happening to them, not for a meaningful reason. Take the time now to reconnect with why you do the work and focus on what gives you energy. There are still meaningful ways to impact education, and reconnecting with your purpose helps you figure out how you can contribute. That feeling of making a contribution keeps you engaged and excited about your work, and it can help you remember why you chose to work in higher education in the first place.
- Values guide intentional – not reactive – leadership
When change occurs that is based on values or mission, people who are impacted can more easily see the why behind the change. This sense of clear direction and vision creates trust. Focusing on your values can help you adapt in a mission-driven way, rather than responding with chaos each time a new piece of news drops.
While the changes that are occurring will likely still feel exhausting and overwhelming at times, when purpose leads the way, you also have a sense that you’re able to thrive and not just survive. Instead of asking “What’s changing now?”, try reframing to ask, “What’s not changing?” You’ll find that your values and purpose are a stable foundation for you to build upon, even when the higher ed landscape is not.
How Do You Figure Out Your Purpose?
So how do you figure out your purpose and values? While it’s easy to find your institutional mission and values on your website, understanding your personal purpose and values, as well as how those align with your institution, is vital. If you’ve never reflected deeply on what your personal values or purpose are, here are three suggestions for activities to try:
1. Take the Five Paths to Leadership® or another assessment to learn more about what’s important to you as a leader.
Reflection is hard to build into your workday, but it’s vital for building self-awareness and confidence in your decision-making. The Five Paths to Leadership® is a dynamic assessment that shows you how you show up as a leader under normal circumstances and in times of stress. Using a self-assessment can help you see what motivates you, the strengths you bring, and your areas for growth.
2. Complete a values inventory to identify your top values
A values inventory allows you to move from a long list of personal values—all of which may seem important—to a few top values for you. You’ll take a list of many different values and identify which are in your top 10, and eventually in your top 3. Then reflect on how the values you identified show up in your day-to-day work, and how you can exemplify them.
3. Create a personal leadership philosophy to help drive your sense of purpose and contribution
A personal leadership philosophy is a tool to help you reflect on what’s important to you and how you want to show up as a leader. You can return to your philosophy when you’re facing tough decisions; it can help you solidify your response. This is also a common exercise to do in collaboration with a leadership coach. Consider partnering with one of Academic Impressions’ coaches to build your personal leadership philosophy and start to apply it to your day-to-day work.
Create a personal leadership philosophy with this activity.
However you choose to reflect on your purpose and values, keeping those at the center of your work can help restore your sense of control. Although there will likely be disruption in the future, you can push through it with empowerment rather than fatigue or resignation.
Steady Leadership in Uncertain Times
Now more than ever, strong leadership is essential—but you don’t have to navigate these challenges alone. We’re here to support you with strategies and resources to help you lead with confidence. Explore Now.
