The Art Of Leadership, Or Knowing When To Leave People The Hell Alone

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bandarq onlineMaybe it’s the difference between men and women, but we were all pleasantly surprised when UConn’s new president Susan Herbst announced that she planned to visit each department in the university to hold a meet and greet, question and answer session. I met President Hogan a couple of times, and he seemed nice enough, but he wasn’t that accessible. He appeared to be a fan of a type of photo-op accessibility rather than a sincere type of accessibility, such as President Herbst’s Open Door policy. President Hogan would show up at a student social function, camera crew in tow, have a beer, shake a few hands, and then leave. The one time I actually got to sit down and talk with him as part of a larger committee, he was stand-offish, and it seemed he had not read any of the documents under discussion. His secretary had, and she ran the meeting. By contrast, President Herbst showed up yesterday at our department meeting without any hangers-on, and had clearly done her research on our department and its programs. Besides that, she was candid and even funny at times. It was refreshing. I know we’re still in the honeymoon phase, but good starts are nice.

President Herbst’s visit made me think about leadership in general and educational leadership in particular. One of the things she talked about was the importance of hiring good people in the provost’s office and among the deans, getting them all on the same page (or reasonably close), and then leaving them alone to run the university so she can do the fundraising work that is so central to the job of university presidents these days. This made me think of what Teddy Roosevelt said about being president. I’m paraphrasing, but he said that the best executives are the ones who have the sense to pick the right men for the job and the wisdom to leave them the hell alone. It struck me that these are essential goals for leadership, teaching, and parenting: A sort of humane accessibility, a strong knowledge base, the ability to delegate authority or responsibility, and the restraint to let people do their own thing (including making the occasional mistake).

I think of the administrators I have worked for, and of their leadership styles. In my years as a high school teacher I had several superintendents, principals and assistant principals. The district I was in was for years characterized by a real administration carousel. Most of the administrators were neither awful nor great, but there were some of each. The worst superintendent I ever experienced was patently unethical. He lied. He pitted teachers against one another. When he retired, the whole building exhaled. The best super I ever had is still working in another district. I didn’t always agree with him, of course, but he was the kind of guy you could disagree with, even strongly disagree with, and the next day there was no recrimination. He did not take personal offense and he did not punish people. You could argue with him Monday and have a cup of coffee with him Tuesday. The best principal I ever worked for was similar.

My wife was once asked what her administrative style was, and she said, “Reluctant.” The student interviewing her was shocked, but I think that answer is brilliant. Beware people who are eager to be administrators. I always am concerned that such people want power, and that’s more than a little disturbing. Reluctance in an direktur runs the risk of indecisiveness, I suppose, but my experience is that competent people who have been pressed by others or circumstance into administrative positions oftentimes exercise their authority very judiciously and sparingly. I’d like to think I am that way as an administrator, teacher, and parent. In fact, I’d say that the biggest challenge I often experience in all those roles is that I sometimes confer too much authority and independence to others. Some students, interns, graduate assistants, and teachers thrive under such a situation (as does my son, by and large), showing great initiative and creativity, but others need much more guidance than is my wont to give (like my daughter, who is a little too eager to be independent!), and they flounder if I don’t perceive or they don’t ask about their need for greater guidance.

So hopefully President Herbst is the real deal, and we can enjoy both an open door and a reasonable amount of autonomy (properly funded, of course!).