Leaders across higher education are being asked to do more with less, often while setting aside their own professional and personal growth. When we neglect well-being and renewal, we risk burnout, disconnection, and mission drift. This resource offers a range of practical ways to support leadership renewal for yourself, your team, and emerging leaders at your institution.
Effective leadership teams leverage annual cabinet retreats to enhance capacity building and ongoing learning. These retreats are an opportunity for a president to invest in their team, clarify expectations, deepen relationships and collaboration, align and commit to institutional priorities, and build a plan and momentum for the year ahead. Presidents who approach cabinet retreats intentionally and strategically can expect heightened team dynamics that lead to a more sustained and focused impact.
We are pleased to welcome Meg Richtman as the new Director of our Executive Coaching Practice. Ms. Richtman’s extensive experience and visionary leadership will help expand our capabilities and impact. In this new role, she will lead our coaching practice operations and enhance the resources to support our Senior Executive Coaches, ultimately building on the momentum and impact of the Executive Coaching Practice and advancing our unique commitment to leader effectiveness and well-being.
We are proud to spotlight the HERS Executive Coaching Circles, an innovative initiative designed to empower women leaders within the higher education landscape. Ten of our leading women Senior Executive Coaches facilitate the comprehensive program, in collaboration with HERS, offering a dynamic platform for women in executive roles, such as vice presidents, vice provosts, directors, and other senior positions, to enhance their leadership capabilities.
Our innovative Executive Coaching Practice continues to rapidly grow in influence and impact. In addition to expanding our service areas to support, optimize, and sustain higher education executives across the academy, we have invited seven new trained Senior Executive Coaches to join our practice. Each brings a deep background of experience and wisdom into this transformational work within higher education.
As executive coaches and academics by training, one of whom has served as a university president and one who has spent his career coaching and consulting across higher education and variety of industries, we begin by asking: Is the way we’re developing academic leaders working? And, are our leadership development methods keeping pace with the changing demands of academic leadership?
If you talk to a university president, you’ll hear that there is never enough time in a day, money, or openness to change. The presidency is an endless job of fundraising, financial management, recruitment, crisis management, and juggling multiple constituents. At the same time, presidents describe the presidency as an honor, a privilege, a form of service, and even an expression of their highest “calling.” We review the external and internal forces that are exerting change on college and university presidency and reflect on how executive coaching is helping presidents navigate the changing nature of the presidency.
In higher education executive coaching, we often see a set of myths associated with engaging with an executive coach that simply are not true.
Newly appointed college and university presidents face myriad hurdles including shorter tenures and financial challenges stemming from the pandemic. The changing presidency underscores the significance of a thorough and well-executed transition and onboarding strategy to assist new presidents in establishing relationships and effectively navigating their roles. This strategy includes the formation of a presidential transition team and workshops aimed at strengthening relationships with the cabinet and the board of trustees. It centers on three essential aspects: introducing the president to the institutional community, fostering collaboration within the cabinet, and cultivating a robust rapport with the board of trustees to secure long-term success.
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