I've often wondered about how to identify an academic leader.
I've read books about leadership, but can't give you a crisp definition of a leader, not in an academic context.
I've written papers on leadership & strategy, but rarely have I seen an academic leader effectively implement a strategy.
I've heard folks ask, is that person a leader? As criticism of Department Chairs & Journal Editors, but these critics leave leadership undefined.
And with all due respect to the Higher Education research folks, I know of no good, generalizable textbook definition of an academic leader, and I've looked, that fits my lived experience.
What I can do, is identify attributes that I've observed shared by effective academic leaders.
Ten attributes.
1. Leaders make sacrifices. They do the best they can to do the right thing that benefits the group, even at some personal cost.
2. Leaders play the long game. They don't make big decisions until they are ready.
3. Leaders accept group votes. They don't fight the same fight, over & over again. They know when to withdraw & let an issue drop strategically.
4. Leaders speak the truth. The benefits of being truthful & consistent over time outweigh being "wriggly" in the moment.
5. Leaders let people speak. They know that letting people air out issues is a first step to solving problems.
6. Leaders recognize structural power matters. They empower managers below, above, & lateral to them in the organization. Unless something goes wrong, they trust people to do their jobs.
7. Leaders know public praise and dissent are sharp pointed tools. They know when to be heavy on the praise and lean on the dissent.
8. Leaders recognize that moral authority matters, so they use it judiciously. As an association president, I only issued one public statement about the "Trump Travel Ban." If you issue statements all the time, people stop listening.
9. Leaders stay above the rumor mill. They must decide which rumors to address. Most don't need to be.
10. Leaders recognize that happiness is the metric for success. They know that a team can only be as happy as the least happy member. Ensuring happiness does not mean always saying yes. It often means ensuring people feel treated fairly.
I realize that my top ten maps to contexts beyond academics. They may define what it means to be a good person, a good colleague, and a good leader.
I recognize that one could point to many attributes, but I only have 3,000 characters.
So what defines an academic leader?
A unicorn.
It's impossible to embody all these attributes. We are all human, after all. Perhaps, that is why faculty are so hard on leaders – we want mythical creatures to run our organizations!
It is possible to strive to live these attributes, & in doing so, perhaps become a better person and better colleague.
I know that if I'm to become a leader, I have much work to do!
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