Building Leadership Communities
[Today’s Tuesday Reading is from Brian McDonald, President of MOR Associates. Brian may be reached at [email protected].]
Just imagine if all the people who have been through a MOR leadership experience within your university could form a cohesive community of change agents who collaborate to propel the initiatives needed to make transformational progress versus incremental.
Community can be defined as “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.” In addition to these attributes, MOR provides participants with a common language, common frameworks, and tools that enable people to communicate and work together more readily.
Within most every cohort, MOR forms and facilitates previously unfamiliar individuals rather quickly coalesce into a cohesive learning community. The hallmarks you can see are the high degree of trust and openness. Early exercises create deeper connections and investment in helping others to become more effective leaders. Participants come to the realization we are on this leadership journey together.
Yet what has the greatest long-term promise is the opportunity to create similar leadership communities broadly at your university. Groups where individuals across different units work collaboratively to make even bigger contributions to the strategic initiatives for the university. This would be the ultimate return on the investment in the individuals nominated to participate in these leadership experiences. When people complete the MOR Leaders Program many of them are ready to take on “big challenges.”
At the outset of the pandemic there was an extraordinary inflection point. IT communities across higher education collaborated to accomplish remarkable results, converting everyone to on-line teaching and remote work. This was a very visible demonstration of what a leadership community can do when there are clearly stated shared priorities, an urgent call to action and the ability for people to lead from where they are.
Here are ways we could invest in building leadership communities to move the university forward to deliver important strategic results. What would it take to catalyze your colleagues to undertake one of these approaches or an adaptation to make progress on some institutional priorities?
- Broad identification of shared goals. The CIO or senior directors or Leadership Steering Committees could invite leaders from across the organizational units to identify the top 3 to 5 shared goals that are important to the university looking forward. In a subsequent meeting outline the work needed to move these “big ideas” forward. Then create a fast cycle process like what occurred in March of 2020.
At the University of Iowa, CIO Steve Fleagle was faced with a five-million-dollar budget reduction and brought together leaders from both central and distributed units. He invited them to propose ideas to reduce costs. He also asked them to form cross organizational working groups to develop these suggestions into concrete plans and then move these toward implementation.
In 2018 when it was time for the University of Iowa to develop a strategic plan for IT across the whole university, Steve invited 50 leaders from across all the units to provide their input into a fast cycle process resulting in shared strategic goals.
Recently at the University of Notre Dame the CIO Jane Livingston initiated a strategic planning process that cascaded throughout their organization giving everyone an opportunity to provide input on the goals and actions needed to move forward.
- Collaborative visioning of future state. Once goals or initiatives are identified, consider creating a “think tank” to get people invested by asking for their input on these priorities. Develop scenarios people could sketch out. What would incremental progress look like compared to a quantum leap? What is our preferred future compared to the current state and how do we close the gaps at light-speed? Creating work groups that meet every two weeks for 90 minutes for six months is the old unsuccessful way to tackle an issue.
The University of Illinois at Urbana Champagne formed an IT Community that meets monthly and focuses on both current developments as well as longer range initiatives. These IT leaders – despite all the organizational, political, cultural and historical boundaries – can work together to accomplish what’s needed for the success of the enterprise.
When the University of Nebraska was directed by the President to create one IT organization combining four different units based at various campuses, the CIO Mark Askren said the MOR Leaders Program was instrumental in building the relationships and skills needed to accomplish this integration. A working group of fifty individuals from across the units was assembled to help generate ideas on the priorities and how best to bring about the desired outcome.
- Recruitment and retention. Or take a current challenge like retention, recruiting and reengaging the workforce post pandemic and set up a 3-4 week sprint where teams will develop the goals, strategies and actions needed to turn these threatening trends into targets of opportunity.
- Continuous workforce planning and talent development. Engage leaders across all units in a long-term strategy to develop the workforce. This could involve having a team outline career pathways to start. There could then be a deliberate mentoring program designed to help those earlier in their career develop the requisite skill sets needed to move up the ladder. This initiative would be a one-year renewable plan so it is refreshed by new leaders taking on this pursuit each cycle.
- Steering Committees or Councils to Engage IT Leader On Current Challenges. There are campuses like the University of Wisconsin or Harvard University or Penn State that have formed an IT Leaders Steering Committee or Council to ensure there is continued investment in leadership. These groups have sponsored periodic professional development and social events to connect the community. It is timely to have these leaders convene sessions focused on current work-related priorities.
For example, these groups could facilitate a session designed to engage people from across campus in how to maintain the university’s values and connected culture in a distributed work system. What are people doing to ensure during this hybrid and remote positioning of the workforce that we are communicating and adapting to this way of working?
Our organizations have made significant investment in supporting individuals on their journey to becoming more effective leaders. It is possible to engage the community in taking up the issues that the university faces. Bringing together leaders and creating coalitions excited about tackling current challenges and building momentum behind institutional priorities is going to do several things:
- Provide the energy and ideas needed to forge progress at a faster rate
- Develop greater buy-in from the community
- Demonstrate leadership is a collective sport not a solo act
- Create a return on the investment for the university that goes well beyond more effective individual leaders
Wishing everyone a safe, relaxing and reflective July 4th weekend.
This Week’s Survey What strategy would work best to create a more connected leadership community at your university?
|
From Last Week Last week, we asked: Which resonates with you most as a basic ingredient of leadership?
Being effective as a leader, influencing others towards shared goals, begins with understanding ourselves, our own propensities, and how we interact with others. It’s not surprising we collectively rated self-awareness as most important. From that foundation, being a leader requires the courage to stay true to our convictions and the curiosity to understand others and our environments. But these are just one set of leadership basics. What other factors do you consider the foundation of your own leadership? |
- December 2024 (2)
- November 2024 (4)
- October 2024 (5)
- September 2024 (4)
- August 2024 (4)
- July 2024 (5)
- June 2024 (4)
- May 2024 (4)
- April 2024 (5)
- March 2024 (4)
- February 2024 (4)
- January 2024 (5)
- December 2023 (3)
- November 2023 (4)
- October 2023 (5)
- September 2023 (4)
- August 2023 (4)
- July 2023 (4)
- June 2023 (4)
- May 2023 (5)
- April 2023 (4)
- March 2023 (1)
- January 2023 (4)
- December 2022 (3)
- November 2022 (5)
- October 2022 (4)
- September 2022 (4)
- August 2022 (5)
- July 2022 (4)
- June 2022 (4)
- May 2022 (5)
- April 2022 (4)
- March 2022 (5)
- February 2022 (4)
- January 2022 (4)
- December 2021 (3)
- November 2021 (4)
- October 2021 (3)
- September 2021 (4)
- August 2021 (4)
- July 2021 (4)
- June 2021 (5)
- May 2021 (4)
- April 2021 (4)
- March 2021 (5)
- February 2021 (4)
- January 2021 (4)
- December 2020 (4)
- November 2020 (4)
- October 2020 (6)
- September 2020 (5)
- August 2020 (4)
- July 2020 (7)
- June 2020 (7)
- May 2020 (5)
- April 2020 (4)
- March 2020 (5)
- February 2020 (4)
- January 2020 (4)
- December 2019 (2)
- November 2019 (4)
- October 2019 (4)
- September 2019 (3)
- August 2019 (3)
- July 2019 (2)
- June 2019 (4)
- May 2019 (3)
- April 2019 (5)
- March 2019 (4)
- February 2019 (3)
- January 2019 (5)
- December 2018 (2)
- November 2018 (4)
- October 2018 (5)
- September 2018 (3)
- August 2018 (3)
- July 2018 (4)
- June 2018 (4)
- May 2018 (5)
- April 2018 (4)
- March 2018 (5)
- February 2018 (5)
- January 2018 (3)
- December 2017 (3)
- November 2017 (4)
- October 2017 (5)
- September 2017 (3)
- August 2017 (5)
- July 2017 (3)
- June 2017 (8)
- May 2017 (5)
- April 2017 (4)
- March 2017 (4)
- February 2017 (4)
- January 2017 (4)
- December 2016 (2)
- November 2016 (7)
- October 2016 (5)
- September 2016 (8)
- August 2016 (5)
- July 2016 (4)
- June 2016 (12)
- May 2016 (5)
- April 2016 (4)
- March 2016 (7)
- February 2016 (4)
- January 2016 (10)
- December 2015 (4)
- November 2015 (6)
- October 2015 (4)
- September 2015 (7)
- August 2015 (5)
- July 2015 (6)
- June 2015 (12)
- May 2015 (4)
- April 2015 (6)
- March 2015 (10)
- February 2015 (4)
- January 2015 (4)
- December 2014 (3)
- November 2014 (5)
- October 2014 (4)
- September 2014 (6)
- August 2014 (4)
- July 2014 (4)
- June 2014 (4)
- May 2014 (5)
- April 2014 (5)
- March 2014 (5)
- February 2014 (4)
- January 2014 (5)
- December 2013 (5)
- November 2013 (5)
- October 2013 (10)
- September 2013 (4)
- August 2013 (5)
- July 2013 (8)
- June 2013 (6)
- May 2013 (4)
- April 2013 (5)
- March 2013 (4)
- February 2013 (4)
- January 2013 (5)
- December 2012 (3)
- November 2012 (4)
- October 2012 (5)
- September 2012 (4)
- August 2012 (4)
- July 2012 (5)
- June 2012 (4)
- May 2012 (5)
- April 2012 (4)
- March 2012 (4)
- February 2012 (4)
- January 2012 (4)
- December 2011 (3)
- November 2011 (5)
- October 2011 (4)
- September 2011 (4)
- August 2011 (4)
- July 2011 (4)
- June 2011 (5)
- May 2011 (5)
- April 2011 (3)
- March 2011 (4)
- February 2011 (4)
- January 2011 (4)
- December 2010 (3)
- November 2010 (4)
- October 2010 (4)
- September 2010 (3)
- August 2010 (5)
- July 2010 (4)
- June 2010 (5)
- May 2010 (4)
- April 2010 (3)
- March 2010 (2)
- February 2010 (4)
- January 2010 (4)
- December 2009 (4)
- November 2009 (4)
- October 2009 (4)
- September 2009 (4)
- August 2009 (3)
- July 2009 (3)
- June 2009 (3)
- May 2009 (4)
- April 2009 (4)
- March 2009 (2)
- February 2009 (3)
- January 2009 (3)
- December 2008 (3)
- November 2008 (3)
- October 2008 (3)
- August 2008 (3)
- July 2008 (4)
- May 2008 (2)
- April 2008 (2)
- March 2008 (2)
- February 2008 (1)
- January 2008 (1)
- December 2007 (3)
- November 2007 (3)
- October 2007 (3)
- September 2007 (1)
- August 2007 (2)
- July 2007 (4)
- June 2007 (2)
- May 2007 (3)
- April 2007 (1)
- March 2007 (2)
- February 2007 (2)
- January 2007 (3)
- December 2006 (1)
- November 2006 (1)
- October 2006 (1)
- September 2006 (3)
- August 2006 (1)
- June 2006 (2)
- April 2006 (1)
- March 2006 (1)
- February 2006 (1)
- January 2006 (1)
- December 2005 (1)
- November 2005 (2)
- October 2005 (1)
- August 2005 (1)
- July 2005 (1)
- April 2005 (2)
- March 2005 (4)
- February 2005 (2)
- December 2004 (1)