What’s the difference between visionary and hallucinatory leadership during a strategic planning process? How can a leader best incorporate their own goals and ambitions for their institution with the vision other community members have—and with reality?

In a webinar on April 12, RHB Vice President for Marketing Leadership Dr. Rob Zinkan and I discussed eight themes that emerged in conversations with university presidents and chancellors who oversaw the production of some of the plans we determined to be most strategic during a year-long study of higher education strategic planning.

It was fascinating to learn how leaders of institutions from large state universities to small religious colleges behaved in ways that were quintessentially them. Yet, we discerned related themes underlying all the differences we saw, including:

• Leading with authenticity
• Being honest in assessing the institution
• Thinking from an abundance mindset
• Setting appropriate constraints on feasible goals

What these leaders shared about how to be a productive member of a planning team applies to you, too, as your institution considers its future, regardless of your role on campus.

Rob and I also discussed some initial findings from conversations with those leaders and a few new ones as we catch up with how things are going at those institutions as part of a second phase of this research. Budget structures, shared governance and moving forward in a divisive post-pandemic climate are some of the topics we’ll cover in future pieces. We can’t wait to share them with you.

We hope that as you dive into this recording and the slides and transcript, what you learn here will inspire and motivate you, and by extension your colleagues, to find the right balance of thinking big and acting with purpose and clarity. Your work is too important not to.

Watch our full webinar below, complete the form below to download the slides and read the transcript.