Being a leader in higher education can be incredibly difficult. The demands on one’s time and energy, the sheer volume of challenges and the conflicting goals that are often imposed can be vexing. Yet for many leaders, these leadership roles can be remarkably rewarding. David Ikenberry embraces both of these viewpoints. Below are some of David’s key values which he leans on, particularly as a business school dean, to lead an institution forward.
For all the talking that leaders are expected to do (and there is plenty of that!), perhaps the most important trait of successful leaders is to be extremely good listeners. On a related note, they must also have high emotional awareness – i.e. the ability to grasp the consequences of the environment surrounding them. This is true in so many different settings ranging from small, one-on-one personal interactions to working with committees to working with large, complex institutions such as colleges or universities. Not unlike many deans, David has found the college he led to be emotionally complex. As such, David had to work hard to listen carefully to what he thought the organization was trying to tell him. This institutional conversation, of course, is carried through the voices of hundreds if not thousands of interactions. Successful leaders must be great listeners in the truest sense of emotional awareness if they are to achieve long-term success.
This listening skill is even more crucial if one adopts a “servant” leadership style. David would often use the metaphor that being a dean is similar to moving from being a player actively engaged in the field to being a coach on the sidelines. While his ability to teach and perform research was limited as dean, an important aspect of the job was to help other faculty and staff who were actively on the field flourish in their roles.
Integrity, ethical actions and fairness are all key dimensions for successful deans. Sometimes, organizations must evolve in how they handle challenges. As an academic leader, those around you place tremendous trust in your integrity and how you approach those challenges as a leader (more so than would be expected in the corporate sector). Reducing threats, opening up opportunities for recognition and growth and being even-handed in how you treat people or handle particular circumstances is critical to your ability to win over people’s skepticism. These can all be hard ideals to live up to when the emotions of a given situation are in play – and for many deans there are numerous such encounters on a nearly daily basis.
Optimism is a character trait critical for most successful academic leaders. The dynamics deans and campus leaders face are challenging and are not for the faint of heart. To be an effective leader, one needs to perceive and convey to the unit that success is possible. David finds that reducing the fear of failure that may accompany a given situation can shut faculty and staff down and make a difficult situation worse. Great leaders tend to be “people persons” and convey an earned sense of support, particularly when the going gets tough.
Another reason an optimistic attitude is critical is that not all decisions made as a leader will be warmly received. For example, some units may need to be cut or others may lose their funding. Faculty and staff may not receive this news well and that in turn can materialize as hostility toward leadership. This is compounded if the reservoir of trust has been depleted. During these times, David finds that those with an optimistic stride help instill confidence in a way that truly helps the organization move forward.
Finally, adaptation is another key character trait. Just as great leaders are great listeners, they use what they hear to adapt to the environment they face and then acquire the tools they need based on this environment. During David’s career, he has led organizations that were running smoothly and simply wished to advance that trajectory, and has also been involved in sheer turnarounds where upon listening to the organization he needed to adapt his leadership priorities and approach. Here, utilizing the benefits of effective faculty and staff governance can be transformational in driving change to the extent a new path is required. Not only does this help gain traction, but frankly the best solutions to the problems most schools face often rests in the hearts and minds of those doing the work.
With these tools one can build a strategic plan that has real impact. So many strategic planning efforts unfortunately turn into painfully long and futile exercises. What is key for an effective academic leader is helping an organization formulate a direction for a plan that in its heart it already wants to pursue. To the extent that plan cannot or will not be expressed, great leaders play a huge role in shaping that plan such that it can grab the hearts and minds of the core constituents they are leading. Great academic leaders not only help form strategy, but in the end are judged by their results and the impact they have had on the lives and careers of those around them.