This July, I will celebrate two significant work-related anniversaries: 20 years at Zane State College and 10 years as president.
The higher education ecosystem has changed so drastically that the challenges facing today’s presidents look quite different from those just a few years ago. I can think of many things I wish I’d known over these past 10 years: how our local aging, rural population combined with low unemployment would virtually eliminate our adult students, or that as a new president on the job only six months, I would need to make drastic mid-year budget cuts.
This article comes from a recent issue of the Community College Journal, published bimonthly by the American Association of Community Colleges.
What if I had known that in my third year, I would have to oversee the closure of our second campus, much of it new construction that had been in operation just under five years, or that I would lead our college through a global pandemic, or that we would fall victim to a ransomware attack just one year after Covid?
Even though I regularly describe my presidential tenure as an exercise in continuous crisis management, I’m glad I didn’t know any of these events would occur. Knowing might simply have taken me in a different direction, ultimately denying me a job that, like parenting, I find exhausting and stressful yet deeply satisfying.
Internal presidents face unique challenges
Before accepting my current role, I held several different leadership roles, including dean of health, vice president of academics, provost and even executive vice president. My predecessor was an excellent mentor, and through these progressive leadership opportunities, I learned about nearly every aspect of the college and its operations.
When considering the move to the presidency, a friend suggested to me that “being the president at your own institution will be the most difficult role you will ever have.” From my perspective a decade later, never have truer words been spoken.
I wish I had known:
- Being a strategic thinker doesn’t necessarily translate to leading through strategy.
- Leave the operational details to your leadership team — the importance of level-setting.
- The importance of executive coaching.
Leading through strategy
New presidents, especially those being promoted from the vice-president level or other C-suite positions, must learn to work “on” the business rather than “in” it. This means focusing on strategic, big-picture aspects rather than day-to-day operations. This involves setting long-term goals, shaping the college’s vision and ensuring the organization is moving in the right direction. Because culture, policies and procedures may vary greatly from institution to institution, leaders who are new to an organization lack many of these operational details and will more quickly defer operational decisions to their leadership team.
Level-setting
Presidents seeking to level-set and lead through strategy should be asking questions rather than answering them. This is the most important step in creating a culture of curiosity, accountability and continuous improvement. Asking insightful questions encourages critical thinking and can inspire innovative solutions from their team. Presidents from outside the organization tend to ask a lot of questions when presented with a problem as they may lack context and procedural knowledge, while a leader promoted from within may jump straight to problem-solving.
Executive coaching
Only recently have I had any personal experience with an executive coach. My prior experiences were coordinated with human resources as a last-chance development effort to help struggling administrators. Working with an executive coach for most of the past year, I absolutely believe executive coaches are crucial for presidents as they provide an objective perspective, have access to tools that we don’t, and provide a confidential resource for sensitive issues that may be inappropriate to share, even with your senior staff.
Let’s face it, being a college president is stressful and sometimes isolating. Everybody, even the boss, needs someone to confide in and offer guidance and reassurance.
External or internal, there is nothing easy about being a community college president, especially in the rookie year. But one thing is true of leadership at all levels: for the health of the organization and development of those you supervise, just because you have the experience, knowledge and insight to offer an immediate solution or answer to a specific question or problem doesn’t mean that you should!
