From Rachel Toor
Leaders: Since you’re being attacked (including by some retired colleagues) for not speaking out or “doing something,” could you please take a few minutes and email me some thoughts about this? I want to give you space next week to sound off without fear of having your funding cut or your students getting arrested.
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Given that presidential tenures are now about 15 minutes have declined precipitously in recent years, it may be a strange time to ask veteran leaders about their decision to leave the job.
Some institutions doing well now have presidents who defied the odds and averages to last long enough to have earned the hard-won trust of their constituents. We know how the course of true love runs, and these days it’s Class-5 rapids, with eddies, strainers, and undercut rocks.
The physical and emotional toll of this “life-shortening job” is immense, and the draw of leaving may be tempting: Return to faculty! Join corporate boards! Get to know grandchildren (or spouses)! Write books! Read books! Who can blame folks for wanting to leave?
And I can’t help but wonder about those who follow a beloved—or feared—leader. (We’ve all watched Succession.) I often ask presidents about their relationships with those who preceded and followed them. When I hear about outgoing presidents making painful and unpopular cuts before vacating the campus manse, I want to send them cookies. Or bourbon.
But really, how does anyone decide when their time should be up? If you love your job, are invested in what you’ve built, know there’s still essential work to be done, and believe only you can save the day, how do you know if hanging on means standing in the way of progress? Or if, having taken an institution through tough times, you understandably want to nosh on the fruits of your labor?
At some point I hope someone will be able to explain to me the thought processes of certain beloved public servants. I know a lot of spry 80- and 90-somethings. But I also know that the aging train goes in one direction and most of us are not as sharp as we once were.
I asked a few presidents from vastly different institutions about their decision to step away. One of the ways I can tell that they were in the job for a while is the number of spaces they type after a period. Oh, and a legacy of achievement. (Note: None of these folks are out there beating on you for not speaking up. They all get it.)