Read Time:
If you don’t protect time to zoom out, your urgency will decide for you.
“I know my work would be more impactful—maybe even more meaningful—if I could be more strategic. But I’m moving from project to project.”
This kind of tension is everywhere in higher education right now. And if your days look anything like this, it’s no wonder that you may be feeling this kind of stress:
- Back-to-back meetings
- Inbox-driven days
- Constant requests
- Little time to think
You’re responsive. You’re productive. But over time, something subtle occurs: Your leadership becomes purely tactical.
Sure, you execute your tasks well. But you rarely step back to ask:
- Is this work aligned with departmental goals?
- How is this work leveraged?
- Is this work moving us forward?
This isn’t a discipline problem. It’s an altitude problem.
Most higher ed leaders don’t lack strategic capability. However, their thinking, by necessity, is at the ground level. It’s too close—it’s tactical. And at that level, they lack the protected space to search out new horizons. And without that protected space, the tactical expands to fill every available minute.
When everything feels immediate, nothing feels directional.
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