This morning my mailbox included a very long list of weather-related school closings. In addition, there was a note from one institution saying classes are canceled, but the campus is open for business. It said that faculty members should contact students about making up missed class sessions and individual event organizers should decide whether or not to hold their planned activities.
If I were a leader on that campus, there goes my day. Most things I had planned would be changed, and I’d need to provide advice and support for a whole different set of problems.
I’ve seen several competency lists recently that talk about the need for leaders to be flexible and able to tolerate ambiguity. It may not be weather (although that seems to be happening a lot lately), but many things can happen that require changes and course corrections. Like the faculty members who are busy identifying key points from today’s courses and figuring out how to deliver them, leaders need to be able to do the same with their core priorities.
What unexpected changes have you faced as a leader, and how did you deal with them?
Dee Anne Bonebright
Higher EDge 