Insights

Help Your People Connect the Dots on What They Do Best When I was a baby assistant director, I had this magnificent boss who was very popular for her people skills. She was the beloved adviser of the college student Read more

How to Lead with Value When the Dollars Don’t Show Up In higher ed, we’re no strangers to scarcity. Budgets get trimmed. Positions go unfilled. Technology is “refreshed” less and less often. And still, we show up—managing events with borrowed Read more

Clarity Isn’t Intrusive: Why Clear Expectations Are a Gift “They should know what’s expected of them.” Should they? It’s a phrase I’ve heard from supervisors more times than I can count. It usually surfaces after frustration has simmered too long—after Read more

Passive vs. Active Relationships: Know the difference. Use ‘em both. We’ve all walked away from a day full of meetings, events, and conversations—and felt completely disconnected. There’s a weird paradox in student affairs and higher ed work: you’re surrounded by Read more

Your Wellbeing Depends on Your People: Why Social Connections Matter More Than You Think Leadership can be lonely. You’re the go-to problem solver, the decision maker, the “let’s circle back on that” guru. But if you’re not careful, you’ll look Read more

Open Your Ears (and close your mouth!) Earning a PhD is an exciting and triumphant accomplishment, and a ton of work! Several of my clients are in various stages of their doctoral programs, and I always enjoy hearing the stories Read more

BCC, FWD, OOO and All the Trappings of Email I am old enough to remember using PINE for email.  That flashing green cursor, the old-school noisy keyboards, the packed computer labs.  I also recall that, as a very new professional, Read more

Full Capacity Protocol Like so many of us, the hubs and I enjoy a hospital TV show – one of our favorites was ER, which was popular when our daughter was young.  Watching ER together was important date night material Read more

Burnout: It’s not me, it’s not you, it’s all of us. In higher education world, February is often one of the hardest months of the year. Not only is the weather still wintering, and we are (so close!) to experiencing Read more