Leadership roles have great potential to stifle creativity. The calendar pressures of meetings and travel can sap time that could otherwise be invested in planning, new ideas, and new ways of looking at old ideas. Being trapped in a reactive mode, responding to the crisis du jour, can crowd out the creativity of proactive thinking. DwellingContinue reading “Creativity is critical to leadership.”
Tag Archives: leadership
Starting a new academic year
As the beginning of the fall semester approaches, I realize that, for the first time in nearly two decades, I am truly looking forward to it. As a university president for last 21 years, the start of the academic year has brought some very specific expectations: speeches, welcomes, receptions, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and referring studentsContinue reading “Starting a new academic year”
Leadership lessons from…roller derby?
In November 2013, I visited the State University of New York at Oneonta, and I had the opportunity to talk with a number of faculty and students. Most of them were from the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, the other natural sciences, and the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies. In one of theseContinue reading “Leadership lessons from…roller derby?”
Sometimes, the jump rope breaks.
People in leadership positions sometimes feel like they are ringmasters in a circus. Many things are happening at the same time. Some of the animals are dangerous or, at best, unpredictable. The star performers need to have their egos stroked. The clown car breaks down. Everyone needs to work together to put on the show. Continue reading “Sometimes, the jump rope breaks.”
A leadership lesson from Gettysburg
Last week marked the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Because I grew up in a historic part of Virginia and I lived 30 miles from Gettysburg for a number of years, I have always known the presence of history on a daily basis. Today, I can see Kennesaw Mountain, site of another CivilContinue reading “A leadership lesson from Gettysburg”
Recommended summer reading for 2013
As you plan your summer reading list, I hope you are including some of the great books about leadership that have been published recently. Here are two that I have just finished. I recommend them both, and I see some interesting connections between them. “The Fearless Fish Out of Water: How to Succeed When You’reContinue reading “Recommended summer reading for 2013”
Mentors, role models, and the Queen Bee Syndrome
I spent some of last week at the American Council on Education (ACE) annual meeting in D.C., which was preceded by meetings of ACE’s Women’s Network Executive Council (which I currently chair) and of the state coordinators for the Women’s Network. The Network focuses on developing women leaders and helping them advance to leadership positionsContinue reading “Mentors, role models, and the Queen Bee Syndrome”
Leadership lessons from the scarab
A colleague here at Southern Polytechnic State University gives a speech about “Think like a bee.” Her point is that groups of people (like bees) can accomplish things by working together that individuals cannot, and she makes a great point. But after hearing a piece on NPR recently about another insect, I think dung beetlesContinue reading “Leadership lessons from the scarab”
The anti-resolutions for 2013
Most new year’s resolutions begin by putting goals on our to-do list for the coming year: exercise more, make healthier food choices, be more patient with Aunt Mildred. Several recent articles have emphasized the value of setting new year’s goals to take things off the list – focusing on what we won’t do and, atContinue reading “The anti-resolutions for 2013”
Developing a plan
When I was in college, we all assumed that jobs – and careers — would appear when we graduated. Most of us found the Career Center on campus a few weeks before graduation, when we walked in and stated, “I need a job.” In the current economic and technological climate, the process of finding aContinue reading “Developing a plan”
On Leadership 