From Rachel Toor
At this point, I can’t think of a single president—at least in the large group of people who talk to me—who isn’t focused on the need for change.
What, in this new world order, will be the secret sauce that will make things happen?
As we approach our 250th birthday, we’ll be hearing a lot of quips from our funniest founder. Or rather, you’ll be getting a lot of them from me. I love that when Ben Franklin put together his self-improvement plan, including a list of virtues he set his sights on, all was good until he showed it to a friend, who pointed out that he’d forgotten to include humility.
Oops, said the funny dude: “… for, even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.”
This, of course, leads me to think about which virtues we’ll see in those institutions that are able to act nimbly and quickly and, as the moment demands, make some big honking changes. I think of the arrogance embodied in a statement I heard in the old days before the shit really hit the fan (COVID, widespread awareness of the enrollment cliff). A leader, when I asked what the plan was, said, “Sometimes all you need to do is survive when those around you fail.” Yikes!
If there was ever a time for institutions and their leaders to lean into humility in order to save the republic serve all our degree-seeking students and make sure we have people who can actually think critically and know how to get stuff done, maybe I can remind you of another quip: “If we don’t hang together, we will most assuredly hang separately.”
If you were to imagine a way to get together with peers either from within the sector or outside of it, what would be the most useful thing you could come away with? Hint: I know it’s not more presidents telling you how great things are on their campus, or former leaders telling you you’re doing everything wrong.
Recently I was in a cozy huddle in a warm place with presidents from the same niche of the ecosystem. News flash: All over the country, groups of people with the same job get together informally to talk shop. Some of them even give their groups names. Some of the names are cheeky. And no, they are not “secret,” and sorry, this is not a story worth reporting in an industry publication. The topic this pack of presidential peeps kept coming back to was change management. That is, of course, the topic of the day.
Real question for our readers: What would be most useful in a gathering of presidents to help you do your jobs? Do you want to meet only with people from your same niche, or is there value in being in a big tent where you meet people you wouldn’t normally run into? What kind of format would be productive? What are some wild ideas?
Email me if you have specific suggestions, caveats, and wishes. Seriously. We don’t want to just keep doing things the same old ways—because, if you haven’t gotten the memo, things are changing quickly.
In the meantime, in honor of today, I offer you one of my favorite columns of all time. If I could ever write one this good, I would step away from my computer forever.
