Coaching for Leaders of Innovation and Change

In our work with college and university senior leaders, a key issue is managing the implementation of major change initiatives.  These are initiatives that impact organizational structure, work processes and the roles and responsibilities of individuals.

In our work with college and university senior leaders, a key issue is managing the implementation of major change initiatives.  These are initiatives that impact organizational structure, work processes and the roles and responsibilities of individuals.

In Parts One and Two, we looked at how to fire up your extended leadership team and how to build commitment for your strategic vision among faculty, staff and students. In this final installment, we deal with how to shift the culture so that it accelerates innovation and change rather than blocking them.

Recently I made a new acquaintance who asked me when he found out what I did, “how do you make people accountable for results at a university.”  He was new to higher education administration and “frustrated beyond belief” that people responsible for leading change were not held accountable when it did not occur.”

In our work with college and university senior leaders, a key issue is managing the implementation of major change initiatives.  These are initiatives that impact organizational structure, work processes and the roles and responsibilities of individuals.

In our last blog post, we noted that there is a retirement wave coming among college and university presidents. As many as fifty percent of presidents may retire in the next five years. They will be replaced by younger professionals who no doubt are bright and capable. In fact, this next generation of leaders may be better prepared to meet the innovation and change challenges ahead.

The signs of disruption coming in college and university leadership are ominous if we don’t pay attention and anticipate the changes. This post looks at what you need to know about presidential demographic trends regardless of your role.

Recently, a university president came to us with the following questions. “How do I refocus my executive team to work on the innovation and change we need? How can I do it without making everyone defensive and even more protective of their administrative areas?

Innovation in higher education is a good news/bad news story. The good news is that there are plenty of opportunities for innovation and change. In fact, there is a lot of innovation happening right now on every campus in America. The bad news is…