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Step 1 of 4 Interpersonal · Module 2.5 Creating Space So It Doesn’t Go Underground What doesn’t get said in the room gets said everywhere else. Silence in a meeting is not the absence of concern, it is concern finding somewhere else to go. 1 Where the silence actually goes You announce a high-stakes change. You ask the room if anyone has questions. Nobody says anything. That silence can feel like a good sign. It usually is not. The meeting ends. Where does it go from here? The concerns that stayed silent in the room do not disappear, they move. The hallway conversation after the meeting. The message thread that starts the moment people are back at their desks. The version of the discussion that happens everywhere except where you could actually hear it and respond. By the time a concern reaches you secondhand, it has usually gotten less accurate and more negative than it started. The goal is not to eliminate concerns. It is to get them into the room while they can still be dealt with directly. 2 How you ask matters as much as whether you ask Inviting concerns into the room only works if the invitation […]

Step 1 of 4 Interpersonal · Module 2.2 Behavior Over Talking Points You can deliver the message perfectly and still undermine the change. Your team is watching what you do, not what you say in the room. 1 Say the right thing, do the wrong thing Picture a workload policy that changes how faculty are compensated for overload or summer teaching, streamlined to control costs. You supported it. You told the provost you understood why the change was needed, and you told your team the same thing. You meant it, in the room. So far, so good. Where does it get away from us? Then your team starts lobbying. Someone has an exception. Their department is a little different, more clinical faculty, a different tenure mix, a reason this specific policy should not quite apply to them. You make the exception. It feels reasonable in the moment. Multiply that by a dozen small exceptions, and you have quietly told everyone the policy is negotiable, no matter what you said out loud when it was announced. 2 The two ways this leaks out Undermining behavior rarely looks like open defiance. It shows up in two quieter ways. Quiet exceptions Granting a […]

Step 1 of 5 Interpersonal · Module 2.1 The Signals You’re Sending Most leaders do not undermine a change loudly. They do it in small verbal and relational tells that feel like honesty in the moment and read as permission to their team. 1 Notice the tell Picture a workload policy that changes how faculty are compensated for overload or summer teaching, streamlined to control costs, and landing harder on some schools than others. You are leading one of the schools hit hardest, and you say to your team: “I know this isn’t ideal. Honestly, I pushed back on this and lost, but the provost is making us do it.” That sentence feels like honesty. It is also a signal, one that tells your team you are not really behind this. 2 Why it erodes trust The moment you say “the provost made this call,” you stop owning the decision as your own. You are no longer a member of the leadership team implementing a change. You are a bystander reporting someone else’s choice, and painting that person as the source of something unwelcome. A Five Paths connection This often shows up in the shadow of the sage, when you […]

Step 1 of 4 Interpersonal · Module 2.4 Empathy Without Commiseration Acknowledging that a change is hard is not the same as agreeing it is wrong. One keeps you in the leader role. The other quietly hands it back. 1 Know the difference Both empathy and commiseration start the same way, by naming that something is difficult. What happens next is where they split. Empathy Acknowledges the difficulty honestly Keeps you in the leader role Keeps the team moving forward Commiserating Feels good in the moment Ultimately erodes trust Leaves the team without a leader 2 Name the harder problem honestly Sometimes the difficulty is not just discomfort. It is a real disagreement with the decision itself. Picture a program you have built for a decade, marked for closure in a round of budget cuts. The enrollment numbers behind that decision do not capture everything you know about the program’s value. You are being asked to lead your team through a change you genuinely disagree with. This module will not pretend that tension resolves cleanly. What it can do is separate two different things: the difficulty of the situation, which is real, and the choice to let your team carry […]

Step 1 of 6 Interpersonal · Module 2.3 Where to Spend Your Energy Most leaders try to get everyone on board at once. That is not where the leverage is. This resource walks through the 20-60-20 framework, then helps you map your own team, see where your time is actually going, and rebuild your week around the people who can genuinely move. 1 Understand the 20-60-20 split When a change is announced, your team does not respond as one group. It splits, roughly, into three. 20% Already on board They see the need for the change and are ready to work. They bring energy and ideas without much convincing. 60% Waiting to see Skeptical, not resistant. They ask hard questions because they want this to work, not because they want it to fail. 20% Will not move Cynical rather than skeptical. Success, for them, often means watching the change fail. The distinction that matters Skeptical and cynical get treated as the same problem, and they are not. A skeptical person asks a hard question because they want a real answer. A cynical person has already decided the outcome, so no answer will satisfy them. Confusing the two means you spend […]

Leading Through Conflict: A Department Chair’s Guide Resource 1 of 5  ·  Quick Reference Guide 10–12 min Higher education needs more conflict — the well-managed kind. The goal is not to eliminate it. It is to understand what it is telling you. Most chairs enter conflict trying to make it stop. This series starts somewhere different: conflict is not a problem to eliminate — it is information. It signals that something important is surfacing. This resource focuses on the structural conditions that make conflict inevitable in the chair role — not because of anything you are doing wrong, but because of where you sit. Naming these conditions is the first step toward approaching conflict with clarity rather than surprise. Leadership Mindset Reminder The challenges you are experiencing are not a reflection of your capability. They reflect the complexity of the role. You cannot eliminate every structural tension — but you can lead thoughtfully within it. Your effectiveness comes not from controlling every outcome, but from building trust, communicating transparently, and responding to conflict with clarity and intention. Download the one-page quick reference guide Eight Structural Realities That Create Conflict The Middle Management Squeeze Authority Without Power Peer-to-Supervisor Transition Academic Culture […]

Reflection Goal Setting Development Plan Check-ins Download the Worksheet Work through each section with your manager, then use this page as a reference as you move forward. Download as PDF Work through this plan together in your 1:1 conversations — the employee leads the reflection, the manager serves as thought partner and coach. You do not need to complete it in one sitting. Engage in a conversation that is focused and distraction-free. Dialogue with candor. This is a planning and learning tool, not an evaluation. Capture ideas in real time — imperfect notes are better than no notes. Revisit the plan at agreed check-in points to learn together and adjust as needed. 1 Part 1 Reflection Before setting goals, look inward. These three subsections build on each other — take your time here before moving to Part 2. Looking Inward Explore your strengths, values, and what energizes you. Self-awareness is the foundation of meaningful growth. Career Direction With strengths in mind, look ahead. Where do you want to invest your energy in the next 6–12 months? Skill Gap Analysis Identify 3–5 skills most critical to your growth direction. Rate your current level, target level, and priority for each. What you […]

Mid-career faculty often find themselves at an inflection point — without a clear map for what comes next. This set of four short reads is designed to help you name where you are, understand what you are up against, and orient to a framework for moving forward intentionally. Read them in order, or start with the one that feels most relevant to where you are right now. 1 5 min read Is Your Career Happening to You? Why most academic careers are shaped by default — and how career planning creates agency. 2 6 min read What Faculty Are Really Up Against The five most common mid-career obstacles — and why they are systemic, not personal. 3 5 min read What Career Planning Can Do for You Five concrete outcomes that make the time investment worth it. 4 7 min read The 3-Phase Career Planning Framework Dream It Up, Make It Real, Make It Work — orient yourself to where you are and what you need most. Reflect with Sophia Start here with your AI coach Does your career feel like something that is happening to you, or something you are actively shaping? What is one thing you would change […]

7 min read You will understand: The three phases of the career planning process — so you can orient to where you are and know what comes next. A Framework for the Whole Journey Career planning is not a single activity. It is a three-phase process — each phase building on the last, each addressing a different kind of stuck. Understanding the framework helps you figure out where you are right now, so you can focus your energy where it will have the most impact. Phase 1 Dream It Up Get clear about where you want to go Articulate a professional vision that captures the impact you want to have Distinguish your vision from your research statement or promotion goals Identify 3–5 anchor goals that give structure to your vision over the next 5 years Use your vision as a decision-making filter — not just an aspiration Phase 2 Make It Real Translate vision into a concrete, actionable plan Write SMART goals that create measurable milestones for the next 1–3 years Take stock of what you already have working for you — people, resources, skills Name the real obstacles standing between you and your goals Map the resources you will […]

5 min read You will get: A clear picture of the five concrete outcomes career planning produces — and why each one matters at the mid-career stage. The Skeptic’s Question Faculty are busy. Genuinely, structurally, exhaustingly busy. So it is a fair question: why spend time on career planning when there are manuscripts to finish, students to advise, and meetings that will not cancel themselves? The honest answer: career planning does not add to your workload. Done right, it reorganizes it. It is the process that helps you stop spending time on things that do not move you forward — and start protecting time for the things that do. Here is what it actually produces. 1 A vision for the next stage of your career A professional vision statement is not a motivational poster. It is a working tool — a one- or two-sentence articulation of where you want to go and why. It gives you a reference point for decisions, a filter for commitments, and a reason to say no that is not just about bandwidth. 2 A system for intentional decision-making Most mid-career faculty make decisions reactively — based on who is asking, what is urgent, or what […]