Culture

I grew up in a home where apologizing for my wrong actions, for example, taking and hiding my brother’s toys, was required.  All that it took to trigger the apology was a stern look from my Mother.  As I got older and didn’t have the prompt from my Mother, I want to believe that I […]

In the November 1, 2016 Tuesday Reading, Always on Stage, readers were invited to respond to the question  What’s the most important, or effective, way you lead by example?   Some 39 readers replied with 139 responses.  All of these responses can be found here.  I’ve included a group of responses below that I found to be […]

Once MOR begins a leadership journey with someone, we never leave their side.  Or, put another way, they keep us with them.  Perhaps that’s why our organizational client retention rate this year was 100%.  Video of MOR minute with John Gohsman MOR minute with John Gohsman Our clients’ trust is incredibly important to us.  We […]

In last week’s Tuesday Reading, Triggers, Once Again, I pointed to a set of questions Marshall Goldsmith asks at the end of each day.  These 20 questions include ones such as: · Did I do my best today to make progress on each of my priorities for the day? · Did I do my best today […]

Last year, shortly after Marshall Goldsmith’s book Triggers:  Creating Behavior That Lasts, Becoming the Person You Want to Be was published, I focused – in the August 11, 2015 Tuesday Reading, Triggers – on a practice he discussed there that has brought significant discipline into his life.  (Goldsmith is one of the best-known executive coaches in the U.S., if […]

Always on the Stage We say over and over again “Leaders are always on the stage.”  Why?  Because someone is always watching.  Someone is always taking the leader’s behavior to inform their impression of her or him and as an example of how to behave.  Good or bad, it’s OK.  We think, if it works […]

Last week’s Tuesday Reading, Toxic Staff Members, provided a set of steps a leader might take if she or he has a toxic staff member.  In outline form the advice was: Face, not ignore, the situation. Collect specifics about the behavior. Be direct in your feedback. Develop, with him or her, an improvement plan. Be extremely […]

Today’s Tuesday Reading, “Don’t waste your time looking back.  You’re not going that way,” is an essay by Mark (Bo) Connell, Assistant Dean for Hospital Operations, Texas A&M University, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas Veterinary Medical Center.  It first appeared earlier this year as a leaders program reflection.   That quote I’ve […]

Leaders in Higher Education walk a tightrope every day.  Financial pressures have sustained while expectations and demands for return on investment have continued to increase. The pace of change has accelerated and will not stop.  Market conditions have spurred new innovation and competition at the edges, some of which might be considered unwelcome. Meanwhile, as […]

I suspect that you, like me, must answer “yes.”  From a neuroscience perspective, our brains are constantly, subconsciously scanning the world around us seeking to identify and examine “events” of note – for example, the school bus that went down my street this morning at 8:15, the traffic light turning from green to yellow, the likely […]

Earlier this summer we introduced the idea (in a series of Tuesday Readings, as referenced below) that if we understand how our brain works, we can better understand why we react the way we do.  I wrote, then, that the individual’s brain, in the days of our early ancestors, had one key goal – survival, […]

On April 1 we reached out to the MOR Leaders alumni on behalf of Ed Clark, fellow program alum and current CIO of University of St Thomas, with a survey on “IT Centralization and the Innovation Value Chain in Higher Education”.  This was part of his PhD dissertation work, in which I am happy to […]

So, what do I do now? We all make mistakes.  Sometimes they are small and personal like forgetting to put the trash at the curb to be picked up.  Or, larger and embarrassing, like writing the amount differently in numbers and words on a check.  Or, sending a critical email to the wrong addressee.  Or, […]

SCARF  ::  A User’s Guide The focus of the past two issues of the Tuesday Reading has been on neuroscience and change.  Today’s essay continues this theme, providing some practical suggestions as to how you can employ SCARF to better understand yourself and to manage and lead others. The work of David Rock and others has […]

Today’s Tuesday Reading, “Plusing Up” and the Princess Doll, is an essay by Jerry Wood, Director of Information Technology, for Intercollegiate Athletics at the University of Michigan.  The essay first appeared as a program reflection earlier this year.   One of my biggest professional passions is providing great customer service.  I think it’s an art […]

Yesterday was the 240th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  This document announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with the Kingdom of Great Britain, regarded themselves as thirteen newly independent sovereign states, no longer under British rule, and instead in a […]

Video Library from the 2016 MOR Leaders Conference: 1. Conference Opening Video 2. The Essence of Leadership – General Colin Powell 3. Digital Transformation — We Havent Seen Anything Yet – Andrew McAfee 4. Bruce Maas, University of Wisconsin-Madison 5. Len Peters, Yale University 6. Sue Workman, Case Western Reserve University 7. John Gohsman, Washington University in St. Louis […]

Bruce Maas, Vice Provost for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, at the University of Wisconsin, keynote video at the 2016 MOR Leaders Conference. Forces and Trends Part I and II. Video of Bruce Maas, University of Wisconsin-Madison, MOR Leaders Conference – Part 1 Video of Bruce Maas, University of Wisconsin-Madison, MOR Leaders Conference – […]

Steve Fleagle, University of Iowa, CIO and Director of Information Technology Services at the University of Iowa, keynote video for the 2016 MOR Leaders Conference. Video of Steve Fleagle, University of Iowa, MOR Leaders Conference  

Sue Workman, Vice President Information Technology Services and Chief Information Officer, Case Western Reserve University, keynote video for the 2016 MOR Leaders Conference.  Video of Sue Workman, Case Western Reserve University, MOR Leaders Conference