Revisiting the St. John Rivers Problem

Suffer me this silly literary tangent...

I was re-reading an old essay about the failures of leadership in higher education and was reminded of a previous post in which I tried to reconcile the positional authority of individuals within universities with the complete lack of accountability and scrutiny that their authority would require in any other sector. When we consider the issue through the lens of "performance" (where individuals pretend to lead with cliche tropes and appearances, not action), it's easy to conclude that higher education manufactures this dangerous type of leader and then affords them an environment that tolerates incompetence and failure.

Leadership within a university (particularly mid-level leadership) is one of the few professional tracks where appearing to know what you’re doing is the primary currency. You don't get promoted by hitting the enrollment numbers or improving student persistence rates, you move into a position of authority because you're seen as the person who cares. Yes, the person who sincerely cares about the students and the team and the mission and all the things that senior administration likes to hear their unimaginative robotic mid-level leaders say. Ethics of care, commitments to staff well-being, removing barriers to access, blah, blah, blah. Spew all that with pronounced emphasis and the vocabulary of service and you're going to get that office with a window.  

This phenomenon isn't corrupt, but it does impose a selection process that filters for people who are good at sounding selfless while saying and doing nothing really. Perform just publicly enough and the diffuse, doughy and consensus-driven nature of university power permits these people to fool themselves that they're good and selfless leaders. Never overtly hostile, just calmly withdrawing warmth and connection from anyone who doesn't buy into the act. You know the feeling I'm talking about here? It's kind of creepy and genuinely sad when you see it happen to colleagues and friends.

What might help at this time of existential crises battering universities (particularly tuition dependent mid-tier privates) is real structural change. Implement real accountability based on real results, not yearly performance reviews that reaffirm mediocrity and reward playing "leader dress up" each day. Tie salary increases to those results. Consider IEP-like plans for mid-level managers that fail to do what they've convinced you they can do with their opaque and slow head-nodding confirmations. 

This isn't hard and it's desperately needed at universities that are starting to fray at the edges. Real accountability doesn't care how sincerely someone believes their own bullsh*t. It cares about results.