ELAF 786 Academic Leadership in H.E.
Summary 4 – Leading Change
By: Ronald M. Oler, Ph.D. – First Published on November 8, 2006

A television commercial depicting cowboys herding cats was created as a marketing tool for EDS, Incorporated several years ago (http://video.google.com; search for herding cats). This allegory could also be applied to leading change in academia. People, like cats, each have their own ideas of how their lives should be organized. Some like to sit around doing very little, while others are constantly bounding around stirring up a cloud of dust wherever they tread. And, herding them all together, heading in the same direction, is nearly impossible. Most will scatter to and fro towards their personal preferences and away from any new system-wide initiatives.
Differences of opinions and experiences serve to make academia the rewarding institution it has become. However, these same forces make it very difficult to manage, or to lead change. So, leading change, managing multiple academic disciplines is akin to herding cats.
The following list shows some skills, competencies, and tools that the effective academic leader will need to master in order to be successful at leading change:
 Clear understanding of their institution’s governance structure, policies, and procedures
 Flexible and adaptable
 Skilled trust builder
 Ability to manage multiple resources
 Excellent priority setting skills
 Consensus builder
 Strategist
 Thick skinned
 System thinker
 Culturally aware
 Accepting of diversity of ideas and behaviors
 Political prowess
 Good listener
 Be a walker, not a sitter – get out of the office and meet people in their spaces
 Act like a goodwill ambassador
 Skilled decision-maker and problem-solver
 Able to differentiate between the tyranny of the moment and true long-term problems
 Skilled critical thinker
Most academic departments on today’s college and university campuses behave more like small entrepreneurial groups than departments of a larger organization. Therefore, changing their behaviors must be tied to some type of reward system – faculty must be able to see how the change will positively affect their futures. The chief academic officer must act not only as a team leader but also as the CEO of a diverse conglomerate.
Balancing every department’s wants and needs with those of the larger organization takes a lot of patience and skill. Balancing also involves changing they way we think; from “my department” to “our institution.”