70: Canisius College President John Hurley on Leadership, Strategy, and Communication

Last week, Canisius College President John Hurley welcomed faculty, students, and staff to the 2014-15 academic year at the school’s convocation event. In his speech, he outlined a vision for college success by way of three key areas: Redefinition — understanding what it means to be a student-centered institution; Revitalization — embracing new approaches to the academic model; and Innovation — evolving the business model to support a more agile institution. 

This week on Navigating Change, President Hurley joins Howard Teibel and Pete Wright to reflect on his role as he begins his fifth year of service. He shares his approach to building trust in times of challenge, the critical importance of communication, and building support and understanding across a diverse body of students, faculty, and staff. 

President Hurley offers candid insight into his role and it’s many opportunities and challenges. 

About John Hurley

John J. Hurley has been the President at Canisius College since July 1, 2010. Mr. Hurley served as Executive Vice President and Vice President of College Relations at Canisius College since 2007 and 1997 respectively. 

Prior to Canisius, Mr. Hurley practiced law for 16 years. He concentrated his practice in the areas of secured lending, bankruptcy and insolvency, creditors’ rights and acquisitions of troubled companies. He is also chair the Bishop’s Council on the Laity for Bishop Kmiec. Mr. Hurley is a past member of the city of Buffalo’s Charter Revision Commission and past president of the St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institue Board of Trustees. He also serves as a Trustee at Canisius College. 

He is the recipient of the 2002 Canisius College Distinguished Alumnus Award, which recognizes alumni who have distinguished themselves in their chosen careers. Mr. Hurley is also a recipient of the college’s LaSalle Medal (1996), the highest honor conferred upon an alumna/us for service to alma mater, and was inducted into the Signum Fidei Society of St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute (1998). He is a 1978 alumnus of Canisius College. 

A native of Buffalo, Mr. Hurley graduated from St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute in Kenmore and earned a bachelor of arts degree, summa cum laude, in English and history from Canisius College. He was awarded a full scholarship to the University of Notre Dame School of Law, where he earned a juris doctor degree in 1981.

62: Cultivating Organizational Excellence with UW's Ruth Johnston

Ruth Johnston, Ph.D — Associate Vice Provost, Organizational Excellence, University of Washington

University of Washington has become a beacon for organizational effectiveness in higher education. The work of building strength through communication and collaboration across the institution has helped to drive capacity for new projects and greater effectiveness in existing operations. 

This week on the show, UW’s Ruth Johnston joins us to share insights on developing a best-in-class program around organizational excellence. Her team is behind the upcoming workshop, Effective Group Decision-Making & Communicating Strategically. Led by our own Howard Teibel, this workshop is designed for UW deans, senior administrators, and staff involved in organizational change. 

Listen in for a unique perspective on driving change in higher education from a recognized leader the field. 

• Workshop Details: Effective Group Decision-Making & Communicating Strategically

• University of Washington Organizational Excellence Program

Ruth Johnston, Ph.D

Ruth Johnston has spent her career studying organizational development and higher education. As Associate Vice Provost, Organizational Excellence at University of Washington, she works across the university leading and facilitating strategic planning, process improvements (using Lean and other technologies), developing leaders and staff, creating metrics and measuring performance, and helping to manage change. 

52: Mission, Vision, and the Strategic Planning Process

Done right, and your mission, vision, and values statements can become beacons in your institution’s drive toward a powerful strategic plan. Done wrong, it ends up a in a dusty binder buried deep in a drawer. This week on Navigating Change, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright discussion the nature and importance of your mission and vision statements to the strategic plan, and offer insights for development and structure that will help your teams understand and rally behind your direction. 

47: "With Clarity for All" — Strategic Collaboration in the Institution

In “With Clarity for All,” Gail Gregory and Howard Teibel share the results of their work with leaders from Emory University, Caldwell College, and Carnegie Mellon University as they work to bridge three key leadership groups: faculty, administration, and the board. The solutions they uncovers illustrate that today’s successful CBOs are finding the common themes of mutual respect, common language, and collaboration to be key in meeting those challenges head on. This week on the show, Howard and Gail join Pete Wright to share their perspective on writing the feature for NACUBO’s Business Officer Magazine, and the critical importance of developing a culture of strategic collaboration across the institution.

46: Economy, Strategy, and the People Factor

In his article, “Financially Strapped Colleges Grow More Vulnerable as Economic Recovery Lags,” Mark Keierleber documents the changing tide of financial resolutions that some institutions are leveraging to stem losses. In it, we see institutions resorting to staff and faculty layoffs — a relatively recent occurrence that impacts not just the short-term financial sustainability of the institution, but the culture as well. This week on the show, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright talk about this trend as part of a package of adjustments the modern institution is turning toward for support as many struggle to adapt to new economic and educational realities. 

11: We’re always selling

Walk into your next management meeting and tell your team that you think they need to learn to sell better, you're likely to feel a chill enter the room. Sales has a tough reputation inside organizations. And yet, so many core skills from the art of selling apply perfectly to the interactions we engage in day to day. This week on the show, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright discuss how we are always selling something, whether it's a project idea, a need for partnerships among business units, or influencing a group to buy into a new direction. Selling is ultimately about listening, then conveying how your idea meets another's need. It's about great communication and negotiating skills, something all of us can continue to improve on.

9: Strategies for implementing The Balanced Scorecard – Special Guest Rebeka Mazzone

Rebeka Mazzone

Implementing a Balanced Scorecard approach to quality and performance management can be tricky. Most teams are naturally cynical when it comes to new tools that measure their performance on the job. Clarity of mission and results across the organization can go a long way to soothing fears and inspiring confidence. This week on the show, Rebeka Mazzone joins Howard Teibel and Pete Wright to discuss strategies for bringing the Balanced Scorecard to your organization and fueling morale and trust at the same time.

8: Getting Started with The Balanced Scorecard – Special Guest Rebeka Mazzone

Rebeka Mazzone

Measuring performance is about more than simply measuring the work of your people. Modern managers are faced with aligning the strategic goals of the organization with daily activity, and mapping performance to a specific and measurable program for quality improvement. The Balanced Scorecard approach is just such a tool, one that can help organizations create real impact without additional process overhead. This week on the show, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright are joined by Rebeka Mazzone of Accounting Management Solutions to discuss The Balanced Scorecard, and what organizations can achieve through it.

4: Aligning Goals to Strategic Plans: Turning Direction into Work

Smart organizations run according to their strategic plan. But even the smartest managers can be challenged to take those plans and turn them into action. This is, in fact, the artistry that comes from being a good manager: being able to put into action that high-level strategic goals of the executive team. This week on the show, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright put perspective to turing strategy into action and give guidance on how you can better understand your primary charge as a leader.