86: AGB President Rick Legon on Board Leadership, Adaptability in the Face of Tectonic Change in Higher Ed

The 2015 National Conference on Trusteeship from the Association of Governing Boards is coming up April 19-21 in Phoenix and this year’s event promises a rich line-up of leaders and board members tackling the biggest issues facing higher ed institutions around the world. Howard Teibel is on the docket  this year, joining the list of facilitators for the Leadership Institute for Board Leaders and Executives the day before the main session, April 18. 

We’re thrilled to welcome AGB President Rick Legon to the show this week. Rick has served as AGB President since 2006. This week, he shares his keen insights in the challenges facing board leadership in today’s institutions, and how the Conference on Trusteeship serves to align leaders to face them. How do we maintain an affordable education while ensuring the highest quality? How do we address the glass ceiling of tuition revenue in supporting the institution? How do we adapt to the changing relationship between state and federal regulation and the education experience? This is a wide-ranging conversation that dives into the fundamental question: how do we frame the board’s role as one critical piece of the institutional leadership puzzle?

85: Loki's Wager — Building Trust through Difficult Negotiations

In Norse mythology, Loki was the trickster. In one of his particularly sticky exploits, he wagered his head with a group of dwarves and lost, creating a wonderful metaphor describing the complexities of difficult negotiations for us today known as “Loki’s Wager.” 

Seemingly impassable problems are common in the boardroom. But in most cases, such challenges stem from weak trust and a poor culture around handling conflict. Astute leaders know that the great benefit of team work is leveraging different perspectives toward big problems. To do so requires reframing the intractable, and moving beyond Loki’s most frustrating wager. 

This week on Navigating Change, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright discuss Loki’s Wager, and share insight that can help to adjust our natural assumptions around conflict, trust, and the ground rules required for an effective problem-solving and decision-making engine at the negotiating table. 

Photo Credit: Inspired by Escher by Morgan Paul

84: Year in Review: 4 Big Trends to Watch in Higher Ed 2015

Howard Teibel

Holiday breaks are coming to a close and students are heading back to classes as we celebrate one more trip around the sun. This week on Navigating Change, we take on four key trends bound to influence your decision making in 2015 as we reflect on the year gone by. In doing so, we’re setting the stage for our own conversation for year to come around institutional responsibility for external mandates, the role of academic performance measurement in data driven decision making, continued consolidations and shared services, and the leader's role in positively engaging the workforce in the face of great change. 

Photo credit: Chris Schroeer-Heiermann
Faculty of Theatre and Dance — ArtEZ, Arnhem, Holland