By design, a contact sport involves physical contact between competitors or with their environment. Those who compete understand that preparation extends beyond knowledge of the rules. Those who participate in activities such as American football, ice hockey or soccer understand that they must train physically and mentally to withstand both the environmental conditions and the demands of competition. And, as with all competitive athletes, there is a general understanding that rest, nutrition and support are essential to performance preparedness. Those with longer tenures often learn to navigate the ebbs and flows of competition, recognize their limitations and understand when to reach out for help.
Higher education leaders need that same intentional preparation.
The perspective shared within this article is not to literally compare higher education leadership to a contact sport. Instead, the purpose is to figuratively challenge the means by which we have prepared or failed to prepare the current and upcoming generations of higher education leaders to understand the realities of executive and administrative service and how to properly care for themselves to sustain their service. We should also distinguish the inevitable pressures of executive leadership from unhealthy institutional practices that require change.
Consider the American Council on Education’s The American College President: 2023 Edition survey, which reported that just 2.4% of presidents responded that their onboarding included opportunities for physical, mental and emotional wellness. While this finding does not tell us what kind of support the participants received throughout their tenures, with such a lack of critical support, it raises a question about how thoroughly we are preparing leaders to meet the demands of the office.
This article is part of a monthly column in Community College Daily by Mordecai Ian Brownlee, president of the Community College of Aurora in Colorado. Read previous column articles.
The importance of a break
Due to the disruptive economic and political environments being experienced all across the country, higher education executives are being expected to do more, perform better and improve learners’ return on investment in an increasing competitive workforce market with declining resources. With such high-stakes ever-so present, work-life balance becomes a concept rather than practice – which can lead to burnout and disengagement.
According to a CUPA-HR 2025 Higher Education Employee Retention Survey, participants who served as supervisors reported that 72% worked beyond their institution’s full-time expectations, 60% said work caused anxiety or stress and 38% reported difficulty taking paid time off. While these findings encompass supervisors in higher education broadly, it does illustrate how additional responsibilities, chronic workload pressures, role creep, rising employee turnover and limited opportunities to disconnect can make work-life balance difficult to practice.
The consequences reach beyond the person holding a title. Deferred self-care, lack of boundary setting and chronic stress experienced under these sorts of working conditions affects colleagues, those we serve and the people we share our lives with.
For many higher education leaders, public visibility also extends into the communities they call home. At any given time, whether it be a trip to the grocery store, attendance at a place of faith worship, a meal at a restaurant or simply walking your dog around the neighborhood, that leader (and their family) can be forced to engage directly with institutional matters. Leaders need the ability to protect their time and the time they spend with loved ones, and institutions must support those boundaries.
Shielding yourself and loved ones
After more than five years of serving in the college presidency and more than a decade in non-presidential administrative roles, I offer several considerations for navigating the contact sport of higher education leadership:
- Be intentional about how you involve your family. When serving an institution, there are times when partners or children are invited or informally expected to participate in institutional events. Be sure to determine, without pressure, their capacity and desire to engage and revisit those conversations as circumstances change. Remember, you accepted the job. Not them.
- Develop a wellness routine and protect it. Your body and mind physically take the toll of every stress you are faced with. Prioritize your sleep, exercise, preventive care and mental health support. I encourage you to prioritize these responsibilities with the same intention you bring to your institutional responsibilities.
- Give your personal relationships the attention they deserve. Leadership begins at home — with how we govern our own lives, honor our commitments and maintain the integrity of those relationships. There are too many people who are praised for their leadership abilities at the institution but are absent in spaces where their family needs them most. Protect time with your partner, children, extended family, friends and others you care for.
- Pay attention to how you feel and what your body is communicating. How do you feel? Are you recovering between demanding seasons? Has it become a norm for you to function in exhaustion? Has irritability become routine? Failure to ask these sorts of questions, and failure to answer them without making changes accordingly, can be costly. There will be times when someone else should attend the event and when an opportunity should be declined. Delegation and accountability are two essential leadership responsibilities you must exercise appropriately.
Supporting the culture
It is important to note that these practices also require institutional support. Governance boards, district and system leaders and supervisors have a responsibility to foster a culture where healthy and successful tenures are normalized. Leadership development programs should take more time to develop content and curriculum to properly train fellow educators on how to withstand such realities, in addition to the core topics of budgeting, political navigation, governance, accreditation and strategic operations. Wellness must become a core component in the onboarding experience and a core element when evaluating leadership effectiveness.
Higher education leadership carries physical and emotional demands that can affect many aspects of one’s life. Those of us who have had the privilege of serving in these positions have a moral responsibility to assist in the preparation and support of fellow leaders to come. Preparing for the contact sport of higher education leadership must include building the proper support systems and infrastructure that allow people to serve in excellence and remain well.
