Many higher education institutions are considering and implementing radical transformative strategies to address current challenges. For example, the rate of consolidation and mergers in higher education has tripled in the last four years, as state funding shrinks and enrollments plateau. A barrier to successfully navigating these complex changes is finding the right leaders – those who can operate in extreme ambiguity, who can understand and accept multiple perspectives, who can effectively manage extreme multitasking and project management, and who are fearless, yet compassionate and approachable (more on this in this blog in the weeks to come). Identifying these ‘right leaders’, however, takes time and patience as they are generally rare commodities.

In the 1980s, we communicated via landlines and snail mail, we enjoyed our music on Walkmans and boomboxes, and we read books using... well, books. Much has changed in the past 30 years. Yet if you put a university president from 1986 next to a university president of today, you could hardly tell them apart. Both would likely be white middle-aged men with doctorates in education. Both probably rose from within the ranks of higher education with about a one-in-three chance of having come directly from the Chief Academic Officer position. Both probably served their entire careers in academia and have likely been full-time faculty. Between 1986 and 2012, the American Council on Education published seven reports on “The American College President,“ and perhaps the most striking finding is how little has changed.

Building the right team is one of the key requirements for any administration to be successful; while great and visionary leaders can point the way, only great leadership teams can achieve success. Trust occurs at a truly biological level. Trust, or the lack of it, has allowed humans to survive. Trust is what fosters the building of families, communities and nations; what allows us to engage in commerce, in friendship and in relationships, big or small. Will they be there when I need them? Will my family, my community, my country care for me when I am old, sick or weak? Will my agreement be honored? These and many other questions are answered through trust.