The presenter of the Breakfast with Leaders program at the Union Club of Cleveland last week was Dr. Posler, the President of a 100-year-old liberal arts college in Ohio called Lake Erie College. With a warm smile and gentle demeanor, Dr. Posler’s words triggered waves of thoughts in my brain about what leaders could learn about leadership and strategy from this small college with less than 1000 total students between undergraduate and graduate programs.
Learning 1: How to make tough decisions in times of crisis while maintaining a democratic leadership culture?
One of the zoom attendees, a provost of another college, asked a great question. Adding programs is easy, but how do you make unpopular decisions such as having to make cuts, especially in an environment where faculty and staff can be very protective of their programs? I find Dr. Posler’s 3 points highly relevant to leaders in other industries, in crisis environments, or in driving change in general.
Frame the conversation. Dr. Posler subscribes to Servant Leadership promoted by Robert Greenleaf and he believes in a democratic leadership process. While rigorous intellectual debate is a strength of an academic environment, he stressed the need to balance a democratic process with a sense of urgency, particularly in a crisis that higher education is facing. He framed the conversation of potential resource cuts with his team in the beginning, so there is a clear expectation of active participation AND timely decision-making to serve the college’s objectives. Human brains hate surprises. Frame it early, set expectations, get participation.
Be proactive. Lake Erie College has a Budget Advisory Committee that has been tasked with what and where to potentially make cuts in case of a need. Dr. Posler said this is far better than waiting for the board or the President to give a decision on resource contraction, which would be disingenuous in a democratic leadership culture.
Review and measure. We face a dynamic, ever-changing environment. Once we decide based on the best information we have, we can have our team review and measure our performance and adjust accordingly. This gives our people a sense of control, in a crisis environment or in any environment or change where things may feel out of control
Learning 2: How to stay strategic and competitive with social-economic and technological trends?
A live attendee brought up well-known challenges faced by higher education, such as unfavorable demographics in decreasing high school graduates in various regions such as Ohio, nation-wide perception of decreasing value of higher education in proportion to its costs, reduced government funding, and significant lower-cost competition as many colleges and universities move towards online education - with or without the pandemic. He asked how Lake Erie College plans to face this situation.
Dr. Posler responded that Lake Erie college has more than 100 years of history and the college take pride in being an intimate on-campus liberal arts education experience. They have decided early on to stay true to that.
While remote education is not a core competency at this point and the decision is to remain in-person as a college, the college is offering resources to faculty members who are interested in exploring virtual teaching in a HyFlex (hybrid-flexible) setting. “Gone are the ‘snow days!’” Says, Dr. Posler.
I could not help but admire the clarity of his strategy while remaining adaptable. To me, staying true to a leader or an organization’s deeply held beliefs, values, and unique strengths is authentic leadership that stands the test of time.
