The Art of Leading Following Christy Crutsinger January

The Art of Leading & Following Christy Crutsinger January 10, 2019

My career path Faculty member Department Chair Associate Dean/ Intern Vice Provost for Faculty Success Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

WHAT is the difference between a leader and a follower?

Leaders Followers • Have strategic vision • Work well with others • Possess savvy organizational talent and interpersonal skills to achieve consensus • See the big picture (the forest and the trees) • Have the ability and desire to participate in the team effort for the greater good • Enjoy leading others

Leaders & Followers • Have strategic vision • • Savvy organizational talent and interpersonal skills • Works well with others Enjoy leading others • Sees the big Work well with others picture • See the big picture • • • Ability and desire to participate in effort the team for effort for the greater good

Blurred Lines Leaders Followers

Setting the Context In your current position, when do you lead? When do you follow?

Top 10 Department Chair Responsibilities • • • Represent department to administration Maintain conducive work climate Develop long range goals Recruit and select faculty Enhance quality teaching Manage department resources Solicit ideas to improve department Evaluate faculty performance Inform faculty of institutional concerns Teach and advise students Inside Higher Education, December 1, 2016

Turn & Talk List 2 -3 of your greatest challenges when leading from the middle.

Buckets and Buckets of Challenges Vision Tension Multi-Hat Vision

“Hey, I have a good idea!

Which follower are you?

Types of Followers A sheep Yes People Dynamic Follower Alienated The Pragmatics Kelley, In Praise of Followers

A sheep. Address this behavior head on in a positive way. Time to give them some performance feedback! The ‘Yes’ person. Have a crucial conversation about needing a diverse viewpoint to produce a better outcome. The alienated. Ask for their input. The pragmatic. Give them responsibility for a low stakes project. This builds trust through small wins. The star followers. Hire more of these folks and promote them to leadership positions! Kelley, In Praise of Followers

Turn & Talk How does being a good follower make you a better leader?

Awareness Diplomacy Collaboration Critical Thinking Courage Kellerman, B. (2008). How Followers are Creating Change and Changing Leaders

A Case Study • You are chair of the search committee for a faculty line in your department (Computer Science & Engineering). The line was recently vacated as a result of the retirement of one of your senior colleagues with expertise in basic programming. • The president and provost have requested (basically demanded) that your department create a new degree in Cybersecurity Engineering. This comes with the strong suggestion that the current search fill this niche. Your dean supports their view. Companies are lining up to support such a program and hire graduates. • The search committee strongly opposes this new direction. They don’t believe that the department has the capacity to meet current demand, much less take on a new area of specialization.

A Case Study • As chair of the History department, you just received a memo from the Provost indicating that all units must revise their workload requirements by the end of the semester. The goal is to achieve equity in teaching assignments. Associate professors have a 2/2 teaching load and the Provost is wanting to increase teaching loads of faculty who are no longer research active. • You discussed this at the most recent faculty meeting and they were less than enthusiastic, particularly the senior faculty. Several indicated that they WOULD NOT adopt this change. They have always taught a 2/2 load and would continue to do so until retirement.

Am I a good follower? leader? • • • Do I propose innovative solutions to problems? Am I courageous? Am I a good communicator? Can I implement change? Am I effective managing an employee’s reaction to change? Do I communicate regularly up and down the chain of command? Do I produce excellent results? Am I meeting key performance measures? Is my team meeting key performance measures?

Don’t get SO focused on following that you forget to LEAD.

• Say yes to open opportunities. • Remain positive. • Listen. • Never think you have all of the answers. • Relationships are key. • Be yourself. Leadership Footnotes • Do the very best in the job you are in.

Thank You. Christy Crutsinger christyc@unt. edu