There are many talented and dedicated people working on campuses these days. Yet, in front of your laptop or while swiping on your phone, you might get a different impression. There is scrutiny on higher ed in particular, and often the emphasis is on the failures or inadequacies of individuals and groups on our campuses.
When I’m away from my devices, I am face to face with warm and engaged leaders who sometimes are making a nuisance of themselves trying to make higher education better. They inspire me. They talk about how education transformed their own lives. They recall students, by name, sharing their fascinating stories with detail. These leaders are working hard every day on creative and visionary solutions to chore challenges at their institutions.
For me, leadership and strategy go together. If you’ve heard me speak during a conference or webinar, or you read the mStoner blog, you already know a few of my own catch phrases about strategic leadership. Here I pair up some of my thoughts with those of higher ed leaders who inspire me.
Strategy is difficult, it takes time, it involves risk, and it requires decisions. But there is a huge pay off.
A college president I interviewed recently said it better when she recalled the advice she got from her earliest mentor: “Write down everything that’s important and then put it all in priority order. And, by the way, all the items on the list can’t be priority number one.”
Without a strategy to guide your choices, everything you do (or are asked to do) seems like a reasonable option.
On HigherEdLive, Rebecca Bernstein, director of digital communications strategy at University at Buffalo, said it better, “Everything I do is something I don’t do.” If you haven’t watched her appearance on HigherEdLive, The Homepage is Dead; Long Live the Homepage?, you should. You must.
Marketing and communication plans are easy to create when you don’t have to pay attention to the facts.
My colleague, Greg Zguta says it better, “Not everything can be measured. And not everything that can be measured is worth measuring.” Learn more from Greg about measuring results on the mStoner blog.
Speaking of following higher education leaders, their use of social is at an all-time high. In our upcoming webinar, #HelpWanted: Supporting Higher Ed Leaders in their Social Media Engagement, Dan Zaiontz, author of #FollowTheLeader: Lessons in Social Media Success from #Highered CEOs, will discuss recommendations, counsel, and tips for those looking to help their college leadership enhance its social media profile.
You also can meet many education leaders virtually—live and on demand—on HigherEdLive. (Did you know HigherEdLive has a new website?) When your week needs a little inspiration about strategic leadership, go to your device of choice and watch an episode.
More from the mStoner blog:
- #HelpWanted: Higher Ed Leaders on Social Media
- Strategy Leads to Success
- Strategy = What You Don’t Do and What You Do First
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