Issues Definition of senior leadership is not clear (People do not know who the ‘senior leadership’ is, or different groups may think of different people as being senior leaders. Deans are not on the Cabinet, but faculty probably consider their Dean a senior leader.) Inherent distrust, deficits in the “trust bank” (Past senior leaders may have acted in ways that cause the current leaders to be distrusted not because of something they did but because of something done by a prior occupant of their position; learning about the legacy of distrust is the first step to resolving it.) Participation too often is after the fact (Decisions are made then announced when it is too late for any input to be given thoughtful consideration before action is taken. “Input” thus becomes an act of lip service only.) Know what we are going to do – and why (One phrase comes to mind – “keep the one big thing the big thing.” It too often seems that we try to do too many separate things at once which … [Read more...]