Make sure your heart is in it, focus on collaboration, and other advice for aspiring higher ed leaders

The privilege of leadership in higher education is tackling the biggest problems. We get to work during the most difficult times in a place where it matters the most.?

I recently shared some of what I have learned about being a leader with deans and faculty at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education Conference here in Chicago.? A few highlights:

• Make sure your heart is in it. If your heart isn’t beating out of your chest to make sure everyone can benefit from higher education, you’re in the wrong place. The challenges are too great to not be passionate about this work.?
• Check your ego at the door. Focus on a collaborative, bottom-up approach. A strategic vision for an institution can’t come from one person. For DePaul, that’s meant tapping into the expertise of others and figuring out what motivates us. It also means matching students with what they want, as well as the needs of the job market they are about to enter.??
• A central role for a university president is raising money to support the mission. We need to align fundraising closely with what our faculty, staff and students want to do. We must show what is unique to our institution and our unique ways of addressing the world’s problems.

I appreciated the venue to share more about our approach at DePaul and to hear from innovative leaders, including my esteemed fellow panelist, Chicago State University President Z Scott, JD . Thank you to CASE and our moderator Shaun Keister , vice chancellor for development and alumni relations and president of the UC Davis Foundation, University of California, Davis.?

What is your advice to aspiring leaders in higher education?