Can Confusion Be an Asset and a Resource for a Leader?

How Do Successful Higher-Ed Leaders Deal with Adaptive Change? We’re well-equipped, in higher education, to meet technical change head-on. We’re often less well-equipped for adaptive change. This is a distinction Ron Heifetz drew, first in his thought-provoking book Leadership without Easy Answers (1998) and later with Martin Linsky in Leadership on the Line (2002). With technical challenges, […]

What the Chief of Staff Needs to Do on Day One

In this series, we’ve talked about how the chief of staff can operate as an effective liaison, what qualities presidents desire in the chief of staff, and where new chiefs of staff could look for resources. Now, in our fifth article, we want to ask: What does the new chief of staff need to do, […]

What Becoming a Parent Taught Me About Assuming Leadership in a Time of Crisis

By Kayleigh MacPhersonExecutive Director, Scholarships and Student SupportUCLA Development Assuming leadership in a time of transition and tumult – parenting lessons that helped our team thrive during the pandemic. Returning to work from one’s first multi-month parental leave is challenging no matter the specific circumstances. Whether it is a crisis of identity, scheduling, responsibilities, time, […]

How Lynn University Uses Block Scheduling to Provide Flexibility for Students

By Katrina Carter-TellisonVice President for Academic Affairs, Lynn University At Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, the pandemic caused us to challenge long-held assumptions and reimagine everything from classroom schedules and course delivery methods to campus tours. As an independent institution with approximately 3,400 students from more than 100 counties, it was important to increase […]

Is It a Microaggression?

Is it a microaggression? The authors of Fix Your Climate, two leading experts on hierarchical microaggressions, discuss how microaggressions operate within an academic workplace and offer a few quick tips for identifying and reducing them. Microaggressions, microbullying, and bullying are the silent destroyers of a university’s climate. Because microaggressions have a cumulative and amplifying effect […]

Habits of Highly Effective Higher-Ed Professionals, Part 2: Finding Your Purpose

Recently, I published the article “Habits of Highly Effective Higher-Ed Professionals,” talking about how (and why) higher-ed professionals need to take Stephen R. Covey’s advice about “sharpening the saw” to life. That article stressed the importance of professional development to our careers and our effectiveness. Now I want to take a step further and discuss another habit of […]

The Power of A Coaching Mindset and Its Impact on Leadership in Higher Ed

Coaching and leadership have not always been discussed together. For many leaders, coaching is somewhat of a mystery. I would like to share my journey of discovering coaching as a powerful leadership development tool that has transformed the way I lead, and how I was motivated to become a leadership coach. I will try to […]