As we move further into the age of artificial intelligence, we are increasingly reminded that the future will require a deeper understanding of what it means to be human.
In a world where technology continues to accelerate capability, the uniquely human capacities of character, judgment, empathy and moral discernment become even more important. If the recent Presidents Academy Summer Institute (PASI), an annual professional development event held by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), demonstrated anything, it is that leadership development needs to evolve beyond training and toward formation. Our current moment needs wisdom as much as expertise.
My understanding of the modern community college presidency is personal, with 20 years as president of Mohawk Valley Community College (New York). Today’s presidency goes far beyond performing a leadership role. It requires evolving an identity that is continually formed through relationships, purpose, reflection and failure. At the same time, it requires a grounding in values — a tethering to a moral center.
(Editor’s note: This article was first published in “Focus Forward,” the biweekly CEO-to-CEO newsletter from AACC President and CEO DeRionne Pollard)
This is an ambitious and delicate balance. The future of our colleges will depend on leaders with operational skills who can also manage the demanding work of shaping their character and judgment in service of mission.
In truth, I am still learning about being a president. My two decades of leadership have taught me that being a president is distinct from doing a presidency. While doing leadership is a calendar, being a leader is presence. While doing leadership is command and control, being a leader is connection and commitment. The distinction is critical to the depth of experience and effectiveness in the role.
Building endurance
When AACC President and CEO DeRionne Pollard opened this year’s PASI program, she argued persuasively that the pressures shaping modern community college leadership are not passing storms — they are the climate. Training for such endurance requires mental and emotional effort. These realities are vividly outlined in a recent monograph “Reimagining Leadership for a New Era,” which also envisions a new approach to leadership — built on a new depth of character formation.
Politicized board environments, culture wars on campuses and eroding public trust regularly test our virtues and judgment. Moral crises (cyber, fiscal, media, or campus safety) are omnipresent. Increasingly fragmented communities have left leaders to broker complex cultures on their own, both inside and outside their institutions. Presidents are increasingly expected to do far more than their traditional roles. We are called to be cultural interpreters, public narrators and political navigators, among many other responsibilities.
A different PASI
These expectations require something deeper: leadership formation. This year’s PASI was an intriguing prototype for pushing beyond what we have traditionally understood as professional development. Dr. Pollard called this the ongoing work of becoming the leader the moment requires.
Unlike a typical conference primarily filled with presentations and inputs, PASI was designed around generative outputs and deep personal work. Led by expert facilitators, we spent two-and-a-half days provoking some deep reservoirs of formative insight. Each experience prompted us to areas of deep self-reflection on personal values, moral influences and how we define “human flourishing.”
It was challenging work but deeply centering. It was personally revealing to me and collectively empowering to many participants. The most valuable outcome of spending such intentional time with other community college presidents was the collective wisdom that emerged. A couple of my favorite takeaways:
- “A wise person knows how and when to make things happen — and how and when to let things happen.”
- “Wisdom without understanding is just a theory without action.”
These gems were just some of the gifts I received from this interior leadership experience, different from others I have experienced. The reflections and insights I gained from PASI left me energized and renewed — newly cognizant of how character is tested and values inform decision-making.
I am also convinced that the next generation of leadership development is even more about human formation. As artificial influences crowd into the professional spaces, leadership formation rests even more critically upon human essence. We have the opportunity — and maybe even the responsibility — to maximize this impact in our roles as community college leaders.
