The history of leadership clings to outdated notions—dominating a room, commanding attention, or speaking so forcefully it pierces people’s listening. But what if effective leadership is less about convincing others to follow and more about bringing an authentic voice that invites genuine engagement? 

We constantly calibrate our efforts around time horizons—immediate tasks, short-term goals, long-range plans. Being tactical keeps our attention on what’s right in front of us. Strategic thinking, by contrast, implies stepping back, surveying the landscape, and making deliberate choices about the longer term. Visioning demands imagination. It calls on us to step out of constraint thinking and into possibility. It’s about seeing success in a particular domain and giving ourselves permission to believe it’s achievable.

For decades, finance in higher education has operated behind the curtain—crucial, yet often disconnected from the conversations that shape the future of our institutions. Budgets were built, reports delivered, and progress—at least on the surface—continued.

But what happens when that model begins to break down? When the pressures of rising costs outpace tuition revenue, when external funding dries up or becomes uncertain, and when the equations that once held things together begin to fall apart?

People don’t have a problem with change; they have a problem with the uncertainty it creates. Change forces us not only to recognize that we can’t rest in our comfort zone, but that we need to confront the fact that we might not be able to look forward sufficiently to see where we will land. Let’s explore three common reactions to change in the workplace.

A true team operates with a shared purpose and unified goals. Too often, organizations assume collaboration will magically happen, while in reality, individual departments prioritize their own objectives, leading to siloed efforts and competing priorities.

Want to transform your meetings from time-wasters to productive powerhouses? Discover the five essential elements that can elevate your facilitation skills and engage your audience like never before. Learn to unlock the secrets of effective facilitation and take your group discussions to the next level.

What is a bias toward action? It’s moving quickly on an idea with a recognition that there is never enough information to guarantee success. It’s making time for conversation and, when the time is right, declaring the conversation to be over. It’s leadership delegating authority to someone who will pull the lever and begin the work.

Social practices can also be applied to innovation. Across organizations, individuals are responsible for taking care of concerns and bringing awareness to problems that affect how work gets done. Recognizing these inefficiencies, however, is not the same as addressing them. In order to bring new ideas into being, consider the action of making offers.

Leadership is about exercising power and influence, but not as force or domination. We increase our personal power by engaging authentically with others in the mission while exercising the authority we’ve been granted to improve outcomes. What allows some to lean in and make unpopular decisions?

A complaint is simply a manifestation of unresolved dissatisfaction that lingers over time. Each one of us has experienced this at work as well as in our personal lives. One way to address a complaint is to name your concern and turn it into a request.

Colleges and universities, corporations, local government — pick any organization with two or more departments — have got a silo problem. What would have to change to tear down these artificially constructed walls that create misunderstandings, gaps in communication, all leading to rampant inefficiencies?

Shared governance is the decision-making model that guides leaders across all higher education institutions. There is much written about this model of authority being delegated from the board to administration, and then from administration to the academy. In a perfect world, the Board oversees and guides, the administration develops tangible strategies to fund and execute, and the academy provides the intellectual rigor and evidence that validates the strategy.

Culture is your greatest strength and greatest weakness. When leaders put new processes, systems or structures in place, the reaction is often some form of resistance. Your people do not have a problem with change, they have a problem with uncertainty.

What is Patrick Lencioni's major premise on how groups develop into high-performing teams? In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, it comes down to five qualities that people bring to group dynamics: trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and a focus on results. When these qualities are present, groups are able to accomplish extraordinary things. In the absence of these qualities, groups become mired in personality and political distractions that take away from achieving their goals.

Anticipating a difficult conversation in your education institution can be challenging, uncomfortable, and anxiety-provoking. Whether it's delivering bad news, addressing a sensitive issue, or confronting a direct report about their behavior, there are practices you can build to increase your confidence and produce the result you’re looking for.