Culture is higher education’s greatest strength and greatest weakness - it's what allows our institutions to be resilient over the past 400 years and why it’s difficult to get things done that have any real consequence.

When you attempt to put new processes, systems or structures in place, some segment of your population will react with resistance. The issue is not the change itself but the ambiguity that change creates. A useful thing to remember is that people don’t have a problem with change, they have a problem with uncertainty.

Is it possible to help ourselves and others relate to big changes in a way that enables a positive reaction, even when the change appears to be negative? Can we support our people to shift their mindset, from anticipating the bad things that might come out of a new process to envisioning the opportunity the change can produce? The short answer is: absolutely!

Futurist and author Alvin Toffler once stated that the illiterate of the 21st century won’t be those who can’t read and write, but those who can’t learn, unlearn, and relearn. Unlearning is about recognizing that as a human being, it’s normal to anticipate the worst when faced with change. Then, it is up to us to choose to open ourselves up to new possibilities.

The leadership skill that makes culture shifts possible is not your own ability to embrace change, but your capacity to guide others around you out of skepticism and resignation and into acceptance and ambition.

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Learn how to cultivate these skills in our Online Leadership Program. Attend our Summer 2023 course with peers from across the country!

Check out these podcasts on Culture Change: