2024: The Year to Stop Pretending You’ve Got It All Figured Out

Happy New Year!

It's that time again – resolution season. You know, the time when we promise to hit the gym, cut down on the sugary stuff (maybe just a little), and generally strive to become the superheroes we know we are inside.

In the world of higher ed, there’s a resolution that’s increasingly not being made. Yet it’s as vital to our continued functioning as remembering to charge our phones.

I'm sure that, by now, many in higher ed have read the story of Joe Gow, former chancellor of the University of Wisconsin--La Crosse. A bit of a shocker, right? Sadly, it’s a textbook case of the “No problem! I got this” syndrome, where university leaders think they’ve reached the top of their game and they're doing nothing wrong. I’ve seen and worked with my share of those men and women who think they are bulletproof.

It’s a lie. It comes from not getting outside your own head. The little voices that populate that little echo chamber can be quite compelling, like the Sirens of ancient Greek mythology. Boards that insist on leaders having an executive coach or external trusted advisor (other than a spouse!) go a long way to ensuring that the person at the helm isn't going to drive the institutional ship into the rocks, listening to the little voices in their heads.

Another equally famous lie is: “My team is good. They will figure it out.” Sure, they might. But not if you don't invest in their professional development. We don’t all have the budget lines for sending our teams to those fancy Ivy League workshops where they train mid-level and executive-level leaders at $10,000 a seat. At the same time, looking at developing your team as an unaffordable luxury isn't an answer either.

I recall a Vice President once asking me, "Dr. Mueller, why are you offering professional development to adjuncts? They are only going to take the training and leave." Without missing a beat, I responded, "OK. How about this? We don't train them and they stay?" He laughed out loud and said, "I never thought of it that way," and never bothered me about it again. My adjunct faculty ended up falling into two camps: those who landed full-time jobs with excellent institutions and those who taught for us for 10 to 12 years and then chose to retire, feeling that they worked for a place that cared about them. The same will be true of your teams if you invest in them.

As of this month, I now have 31 years of experience in this wonderful world of higher ed. I've seen what investing in our own development and our teams' development can do. I've also seen what happens when institutions don't invest in people and their growth. And unfortunately, we are all reading about those university leaders who don't feel they need any professional development for themselves.

So, as you set aside the sweets this month, I hope you and your institutions make a different kind of resolution as well. I hope you commit to being the leaders who never assume you’ve got it all figured out. Be the ones who nurture your own growth and development. And be the ones who develop your teams, knowing that every bit of knowledge they gain makes your institution stronger, nimbler, and ready for whatever the coming year throws at them.

2024 is your year to shine, not just as individuals, but as teams of inspired, constantly evolving people. Let’s ditch the “I got this” and the “they’ll figure it out” mindset and...

SHIFT.THIS.FRAME(TM)

Embrace a culture of continual growth and professional development.

Trust me, the view from this side of leadership is pretty spectacular.

Here’s to a year of learning, leading, and lifting each other up!

c. 2024, Alfred G. Mueller II