Insights
Plain-language writing on the situations academic leaders actually deal with. Faculty grievances, chair transitions, climate concerns, and the parts of leadership that don't fit a corporate playbook.
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April 15, 2026 · investigations · early intervention · academic governance
Some matters that escalate to formal investigation could have been resolved in a 30-minute conversation. The boundary between the two matters more than most institutions acknowledge.
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March 15, 2026 · coaching · academic leadership · senior faculty
Coaching a senior tenured colleague who outranks you institutionally is one of the hardest moves in academic leadership. It is possible. It requires specific moves.
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February 15, 2026 · consulting practice · academic leadership · decision-making
Most engagements do not need someone who knows more than the institution does. They need someone who is not already inside the politics of the room.
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January 15, 2026 · human resources · academic leadership · consulting practice
HR has structural constraints on what it can offer academic leaders. Understanding those limits explains why outside consulting often complements HR rather than replacing it.
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December 15, 2025 · department leadership · academic governance · difficult situations
Sometimes the issue in a department is not the faculty or the culture. It is the chair. And the institution's options for addressing this are uniquely constrained.
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November 15, 2025 · written communication · academic leadership · consulting practice
Faculty and deans are not short on reading material. A two-page memo that says exactly what it means will outperform a 40-page report in every measurable way.
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October 15, 2025 · engagement design · consulting · academic leadership
An engagement without a defined end produces a consultant the institution gets used to, not a result it can name. The case for setting the end date before you start.
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September 15, 2025 · academic governance · decision-making · academic leadership
An academic decision reached by a process people respect will hold. The same decision reached by ambush will be relitigated for years.
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August 15, 2025 · coaching · confidentiality · academic leadership
Faculty know which conversations leak. The fastest way to lose a coaching engagement is to demonstrate, even once, that you cannot keep a confidence.
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July 15, 2025 · climate audit · department dynamics · academic leadership
A climate audit is the right tool when leadership senses something is off but no formal complaint has been filed. The case for and against.
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June 15, 2025 · academic governance · policy interpretation · faculty grievances
Most academic disputes have already been resolved in writing somewhere in the institution's own documents. The work is finding it and reading it carefully.
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May 15, 2025 · leadership development · succession planning · academic leadership
Most universities have no real plan for the next department chair. Tenure-plus-availability is the default, and each appointment becomes its own emergency.
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April 15, 2025 · conflict resolution · early intervention · department dynamics
Unresolved tension in academic departments rarely stays small. The cost of waiting compounds in legal fees, leadership bandwidth, and lost productivity.
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March 15, 2025 · academic leadership · chair role · leadership development
Universities promote scholars into chair and dean roles, then hand them no preparation for the people problems that fill the calendar.
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