When I served in a cabinet-level leadership role, my leadership style was rooted in my belief that success was determined by strategy, collaboration, and execution alone. I had a clear vision and a strong sense of responsibility, but what I did not realize at the time was that there was a powerful tool – leadership coaching – that could amplify my effectiveness in ways I could not anticipate. Looking back, I can’t help but wonder how much smoother some challenges would have been, how much more I could have developed as a leader, and how much stronger my team could have become, if I had embraced coaching earlier. With the benefit of hindsight, rooted in my growing knowledge of coaching, I am confident that leadership coaching would have been an invaluable asset – both for my own growth and the success of my team. This is the power of coaching: the ability to unlock untapped potential, overcome obstacles with greater ease, and evolve as a leader in ways that go beyond what I can do on my own. Higher education is facing profound challenges. Our students, institutions, and communities are grappling with uncertainty, burnout, and ongoing crises. The world is […]
I support faculty and leaders in crafting a clear vision, navigating conflict, and building buy-in—empowering them to manage change, align their purpose with personal growth, and drive meaningful success on their campuses. With over two decades of experience across small regional universities and large public and private R1 institutions, Kevin has navigated the challenges of leadership at every level, serving as a faculty member, assistant chair, research coordinator, director, and dean. Throughout his career, he has focused on coaching and leadership development to cultivate the skills needed to drive change and serve others. As a classically trained musician, Kevin brings a unique perspective to leadership and change management, emphasizing the power of creativity and teamwork in driving progress. The soft skills he honed as an artist—discipline, collaboration, adaptability, connection, and creative problem-solving—help him navigate the complexities of higher education, from managing diverse teams to guiding institutions through organizational change. Kevin is a certified coach through the International Coaching Federation and partners with academic leaders to tackle their most pressing challenges: Through coaching, Kevin helps his clients uncover roadblocks, embrace new perspectives, and move toward their goals. He believes in a collaborative process that fosters self-discovery and empowerment, enabling leaders to […]
A small but growing number of colleges and universities have been adopting restorative justice (RJ) processes as an alternative (in some cases) to traditional, sanctions-focused student conduct proceedings. Taking an RJ approach requires a philosophical shift for the student conduct office – it entails new sets of questions for student conduct hearings and an alert ear for cases in which there is the possibility to restore harm that’s been done, rather than simply (or only) penalize. If a hearing indicates that restorative justice may be possible and desirable, RJ processes usually proceed to individual pre-conference meetings held with the offender and those harmed in the incident. Ultimately, if all parties are willing, the issue is dealt with through a group conference with trained facilitators. The goal of the conference is to arrive at a mutual understanding of the harm caused and a mutual agreement for how the harm will be repaired. To learn more about how to make a restorative justice program most successful, we interviewed two officials from Colorado State University, which has frequently been recognized for its restorative justice and other student conduct programs. The two officials are Paul Osincup and Melissa Emerson, the associate and assistant directors […]
Empowering leaders and executives to successfully navigate change by turning challenges into opportunities, and to ascend the leadership ladder by providing unique perspectives to problem solving and personal branding. Christie Chung, PhD, is an Executive Director (aka CEO or Dean) of a multidisciplinary institute at an R1 University. Apart from this executive role, she has also served as Associate Provost, Associate Dean, and many other key Chair and leadership positions at both R1 and liberals arts college settings. Christie has over 1.5 decades of experience as a cognitive psychology faculty and researcher, is a TEDx speaker, and an accomplished author in cognitive aging and cross-cultural cognition. Christie also has extensive experience in navigating complex institutional changes, especially ones involving institutional restructuring and mergers. In her coaching practice, Christie empowers leaders and executives to turn challenges into opportunities for growth and advancement. Christie is skilled in personal branding principles, which are critical as leaders position themselves for job opportunities and promotions. Christie inspires academics to impact the world through their leadership while championing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion/Antiracism/Belonging (DEIAB) principles. Christie has experience in supervising programs and grant-funded initiatives, fundraising, mediating conflict, and has been a key leader in supporting the campus community […]
Introduction As a higher education leader for almost 20 years and a former department chair for ten, I have witnessed time and time again how the right department leader can animate an academic program. As John C. Maxwell once said, “The reality is that 99 percent of all leadership occurs not from the top, but from the middle of an organization.” Sitting at the nexus of the student body, the faculty, and the administration, department chairs are poised to provide crucial leadership in the effort to help students progress toward graduation and their institutions toward transformation. Despite their important positioning, department chairs are rarely taught how to lead nor are they typically rewarded for good leadership. Nearly 50,000 currently serve as department chairs in the United States with about a quarter of them being replaced each year (Gmlech and Buller, 2015). And yet only 3.3 percent of department chairs came to their positions with formal coursework in the administrative skills they need (Cipiano and Riccardi, 2012). While challenges facing higher education grow in intensity and become more complex, many department chairs enter the role woefully unprepared for the challenges that await them. The convergence of interconnected crises in recent years—including […]
Engaging in Racial Inequity Dialogue AN EDUCATIONAL SERIES Check back soon for more dates or sign up for our newsletter to stay in the know. Overview Let’s face it—while it’s imperative to call out racist comments, biases, and behaviors when we witness them, it can nevertheless be a difficult, daunting and emotionally risky task for some. Yet the cost of staying silent is too high to do otherwise as the fact remains that by staying silent, we continue to perpetuate harm. But how can we expect to change the inequities that exist on our campuses if we don’t consciously allow these and other vital “high-risk” conversations to take place? If we are unwilling to face discomfort and open discourse when racial bias shows up in our day-to-day lives, how can we expect to evolve toward true equality as individuals, as a group, and as a society? How It Works This educational series has been designed to help you overcome any fear or discomfort you might be experiencing in the interest of engaging more actively and confidently in conversations about racial inequity and bias. It consists of three live events, taking place on April 19, May 24, and June […]
Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable: Engaging in Dialogue About Freedom, Favoritism, and Fairness Recorded on July 10, 2024 September 2024 and January 2025 events covered the same content VIEW RECORDING Gain confidence entering conversations about favoritism and fairness in the workplace. Overview During this two-hour virtual workshop, Dr. Sandra Miles, Head of Practice for Team Development at Academic Impressions, will lead us as we explore the ways feelings of defensiveness and discomfort can be very common when engaging in conversations around favoritism and unfairness. Even those who have done extensive reading on topics related to conflict management can find themselves fumbling if they haven’t yet reflected on how their personal feelings may impact the ways they show up in the world—and in these difficult conversations. To get more comfortable engaging in these dialogues, we must first lean into the discomfort of individual reflection and actions that prepare us to enter into them in an open and effective way. Join us for a two-hour virtual training where we will explore four key concepts and how they come into play during conversations around topics that are deeply personal: Identifying favoritism Understanding personal perspectives Managing emotions Focusing on fairness You will be given a workbook […]
Drawing on current research on high-performing leadership teams both within and outside of higher education, Pat Sanaghan, president of The Sanaghan Group and author of Collaborative Leadership in Action (2011) and the forthcoming book, How to Actually Build an Exceptional Team (2013), has identified 10 differentiators of exceptional teams, 10 qualities that enable teams to rise to and perform at high levels consistently. Of the 10, Sanaghan points to trust as the most important quality that differentiates high-performing teams in higher education. “In a high-trust environment,” Sanaghan remarked in an interview with Academic Impressions, “you can do many things even with limited resources. But if you have low trust, even with high resources you can’t get much done. To build trust, you need transparency with information — especially around financial realities, decision-making roles, and process.” Higher education is by its nature a collaborative and people-driven enterprise — yet often, too little investment is made to improve the professionals within the institution work together. As the speed of change accelerates and higher-ed’s operating environment grows more complex, those institutions that will remain competitive and thrive will be those characterized by high-performing teams across all parts and levels of the organization. The High-Trust Environment […]
Building Stronger Teams with Empathy and Humility as a Leader A TRAINING AND DISCUSSION SERIES Recorded On July 18, 2022 | July 25, 2022 | August 1, 2022 | August 8, 2022 Overview Leaders set the tone for the team but too often don’t focus on developing the traits necessary to create environments where their team can thrive. If a leader focuses only on what specific tasks the team has completed or what goals each member of the team has accomplished, members of the team can feel like cogs in a machine. Though it may seem counterintuitive, leaders who display humility and empathy for their team members are still able to get the important work done. And by supporting their team more effectively, these leaders are better able to retain their employees. Join us for a training and discussion series on how you can become a humbler and more empathetic leader—and why doing so does not conflict with what it means to be a leader. You will walk away with a better understanding of how to integrate empathy and humility in your day-to-day leadership work and how to cultivate those traits on your team. How It Works […]
We’ve never had a term quite like this, and how we close our classes this semester matters. For some students, their classes may have been their most consistent and stable community during this time of rapid change and abrupt isolation. This article offers tips and techniques for approaching the last day of class in ways that provide both closure and connection. I was chatting – well, zooming actually – with a colleague who felt inclined to skip the final class session, given that students seemed so exhausted. I absolutely understand this inclination, but I suggested otherwise. I was not promoting intentional course closure due to policy or typical good practice, but because this semester is like no other we’ve experienced and students will likely be grateful for that closure. A webinar on trauma-informed pedagogy confirmed my belief in the importance of closure this semester. Let’s consider why. Your class, while inconsistently “delivered,” might have been the only consistent and stable community for students this semester. Many students had to leave their college residences and support networks. For some, the only thing in their lives that stayed the same was your presence, and that of other students in your course. As […]
