Category Archives: Leadership

7 Interview Recommendations to Land a Top Leadership Position 

Posted on October 19, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Guest blog by Laurence N. Smith

What does it take to land that coveted leadership position in a high-stakes job interview?

Over the years, I have been in the position to advise many ambitious professionals on how they should perform in interviews for top-level executive positions. 

My immediate response when asked for advice was to tell them to go online to see what others recommended. In some ways this was a mistake because they often came back to me questioning the validity of what they read.

So, serving on several boards and being connected to many successful corporate, university, and community service top executives, I took these recommendations to a great panel of experts for their review. Interestingly, their real-world advice differed from many of the online recommendations.

Their top recommendations follow:

  1. Know the difference between being a leader and a manager. This has been an almost universal reply. Being promoted from a successful management position to a top leadership role is not necessarily a good decision because the roles and skills required for each are not the same. Check the current professional literature on leadership to be well informed for questions about your leadership style.
  2. Have a clear understanding of how internal and external dynamics affect the position for which you are interviewing. Apparently, some executives were unaware when they signed on about shifting reporting decisions; and conflicts arose among and between investors, board members, and the organization’s executives.
  3. Know and appreciate the entire organizational ecosystem. Successful leaders recognize that the brains of an organization do not reside only in board members and executives, but also in employees throughout organization, as well as in clients, customers, students, and even vendors. Successful executives will need to know how to navigate and integrate this process into practice.
  4. Be aware that interviewers know all about interviewees. Many executives have been surprised by this. Professional consulting firms have thorough researchers on their team. Make sure you research the internet to see what they might have learned about you. Know that others in the organization may have friends who worked for or with you. Their opinions also influence interview questions.
  5. Create a conversational interview environment. Many search committees have not been coached on how to create a productive interview process. This also applies to others participating in the interview process.  Avoid becoming a consultant in the interview process or being trapped in an interview that takes the format of an interrogation.  An interview should be a two-way street: “Do you want me?” and “Do I want you?”  Prepare questions that require interviewers to share their insights about the organization’s current situation and future alignments. 
  6. Have a consistent message in your interviews with all groups and individuals. Avoid the trap of making statements to win over a particular group or individual that conflict with statements made to others.
  7. When asked what your leadership style is, make sure to include the following to the extent they are true for you. Based on post-interview comments, this recommendation has always been central to what helped make a major difference in the interview outcomes.
    • “People support what they help to create.”
    • “The ultimate test of our effectiveness will be the positive difference we make in the lives of the people our organization includes and touches.”

Laurence N. Smith is a founder and Senior Partner of New Campus Dynamics with 40 years of experience as a senior university administrator and as a national leader in higher education. He can be reached at smith@dixboroventures.com. 

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Posted in guest post, initiative, Leadership

What the “Fantastic” Thing Is All About

Posted on October 5, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Guest blog by Laurence N. Smith

Since Gwen Dungy’s fantastic blog about me, I have heard from several former colleagues who just wanted to say hello and catch up, and some who wanted to know what the fantastic thing was all about. Among the callers were some who asked what I thought would be the best advice to a new or aspiring student affairs vice president. And since my daughter, a prominent business consultant, unknowingly to me shared Gwen’s blog with some individuals in her network, it opened the door for a few who asked for advice for their own future success.

My first vice presidency was at Chicago State University in 1969. At 29 years of age, I was the youngest administrator by many years. Times were difficult, and especially difficult for students of color who comprised 80 percent of the student body!

Among students, faculty, and administrators there existed a downbeat atmosphere concerning just about everything. The president was focused on bringing in new young talent to change that condition. The litany of what was wrong with the University was a long series of frustrations. I learned very fast never to ask my colleagues, “How are you?”  

It was then that I decided that when anyone asked \how I was that my reply would be “fantastic.” I realized that in the culture of the University it was an unusual reply. I decided to make it even more energized to have greater impact. The simple “fantastic” was replaced by a vigorous “FAANTASTIC!”     

In the early years the reply shocked people and opened the door to exploring change when they asked me why I felt fantastic. It didn’t affect everyone, but even those who thought it was an over-the-top reply were curious why I felt that way or wanted to test if I was in touch with reality.  It enlarged the view and discussion about the University.

Where it had the most significant impact was on students.  For student leaders—the student newspaper reporters and editors, the captains of athletic teams, and others—my feeling fantastic helped them feel fantastic. It fostered a new level of enthusiasm and discussion about the opportunities that were ahead if they embraced the efforts necessary for getting a college degree.   What they experienced, they shared.  It caught on.

And when I became vice president for university marketing and student affairs at Eastern Michigan University, it had the same impact. 

It still sparks curiosity and engagement. Try it out for yourself. When you are asked, “How are you?” respond “fantastic” or “FAANTASTIC.” No matter who you are and what you do, it still works.

Laurence N. Smith is a founder and Senior Partner of New Campus Dynamics with 40 years of experience as a senior university administrator and as a national leader in higher education. He is emeritus Vice President for University Marketing and Student Affairs at Eastern Michigan University. Among his extensive activities, he was founder and chair of the NASPA National Academy for Leadership and Executive Effectiveness and executive editor of NASPA’s online management magazine. In 1999, he was named a NASPA Pillar of the Profession, and in 2002, he was the recipient of the Fred Turner Award for Outstanding Service to NASPA, the equivalent of a Lifetime Achievement Award in the student affairs profession.

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Posted in energy, guest post, Higher Education, initiative, Leadership, reflection, Students

Mr. Fantastic

Posted on September 14, 2023 by | 1 comment
Laurence N Smith

Once in a lifetime, if you’re lucky, you will know a Mr. or Ms. FANTASTIC!

Laurence N. Smith is my Mr. Fantastic! He was the vice president for University Marketing and Student Affairs at Eastern Michigan University from 1975–2000.

I give him this title because he stands out from the rest in every way. He’s always the tallest in the room and the smartest in the room. And when asked how he’s doing, invariably, he responds, “FAANTASTIC!”

Leadership in a volunteer organization based in higher education can be a different experience than what a leader might be able to do in a top-down organization where the people responsible for making the trains run on time are paid and can be released at-will.

When I was in such a leadership position, willing volunteers were the key to success. Many stepped forward to let me know that I could count on them to help me achieve the goals of the organization. They used words like “help you,” “support you,” “here when you need me.”

In my imaginative recall, Larry Smith, towering over the heads of his colleagues, fixed his eyes on me, made a beeline to me, and asked, “What is your vision for this organization?” With confidence, I summarized my mandate from the volunteer board of directors and added my own vision, which could be described as fantastical given the structure and history of the organization. Mr. Fantastic’s eyes communicated, “Are you sure?” The gaze I returned indicated that I was.

Lyrics from songs best describe his response: “Come along with me,” “I’ll take you there,” “I believe I can fly!” My leadership vision was the perfect vehicle for Mr. Fantastic to test drive his ideas about what student affairs administration in higher education could “truly be.”

On the journey with Mr. Fantastic, it was obvious that when we were talking about using listservs to bring our members together in conversation from various locations, he was already thinking about what we now call Zoom meetings. When we were talking about Palm Pilots, he was envisioning what is now Chat GPT. Always looking toward the possibilities for the future, never fearing failure, and always optimistic is my Mr. Fantastic.

And I’m not the only one that found Larry to be fantastic. In 1999, he was named a NASPA Pillar of the Profession, and in 2002, he was the recipient of the Fred Turner Award for Outstanding Service to NASPA. The equivalent of a Lifetime Achievement Award, the Turner Award recognizes NASPA members who have brought honor and dignity to the student affairs profession and to NASPA as an association for a sustained period. Among Larry’s extensive activities, he was founder and chair of the NASPA National Academy for Leadership and Executive Effectiveness and executive editor of NASPA’s online management magazine.

I spoke with Larry recently and told him that to have him as a colleague and friend during my time at NASPA was a blessing of pain and glory. The pain was tempering the projections of where the organization could go and modulating the speed of change in order to be in sync with the volunteer leadership. The glory was the innovations NASPA achieved through its volunteers when we were flying with Mr. FAANTASTIC!

Thank you, Larry. I am truly grateful for your colleagueship and friendship.

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Posted in collaboration, energy, Higher Education, initiative, innovation, integrity, Leadership, NASPA, reflection, respect, Retirement, Student Affairs

A Philosophy of Sorts

Posted on August 31, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Guest blog by David Keymer

Over time I arrived at something like a philosophy to govern my work in student affairs and higher education. Ultimately, all of our expertise points back to a vision of what college and university life should be like, what it should do. Universities and colleges are a special kind of community—a community of learners. The emphasis should be on both words: “community” and “learners.”

The ideas, then, are simple…nothing complicated:

First and foremost, I was there for the students, and the students were there to get an education. In this exchange, then, it was the students who were paramount. If it was about empowering students, it was simply a matter of service for me. That meant that…

  • students should always be able to reach me;
  • it was important that I give good value in whatever I did; and
  • ego was less important than results.

Using power gratuitously is not only wrong, it’s counterproductive. The power I held was the position’s and there for a purpose. It was not mine and, just because I had it by way of the position did not mean I had to use it.

This was especially true as I realized that everyone on campus needed to be in the same business of helping students succeed, academically as well as socially. Parents or prospective students didn’t come on campus and ask where the Vice President for Student Affairs’ office was. They talked to whomever they met. It might be a worker planting flowers in the flower beds outside a classroom building, or a campus police officer passing by, or a stray faculty member or student on the way to class. As a result, I did a lot of walking around talking to colleagues and students to ensure we got our message out that we had the same ends and were serious and proud of our commitment to student success.

Everything I managed to do required other people. It was important, then, that I listen to EVERYone, not take others for granted, and recognize others’ contributions and let them know I appreciated them. That being said, an important piece of effectively working with people is to cooperate, but “never give up your teeth.” The work is too important, and every so often, you may have to take a bite out of someone to convince the other person you’re not kidding.

Relatedly, developing people is as important as spurring them on to work well. It takes time, money, and effort to find and hire someone new for a position. If there were difficulties initially, it wasn’t a matter of giving up, but needing to find out what people did well and what inspired them, then leveraging those strengths and interests.

After all, work should be fun as well as work.

David Keymer served as a chief student affairs officer at SUNY Utica Rome; California State University, Stanislaus; and Zayed University (Dubai and Abu Dhabi) from 1983-2004. For more wisdom gleaned from Keymer’s experience in student affairs across these varied institutions, check out the seven-part series published in 2021 from a set of interviews.

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Posted in guest post, Higher Education, initiative, innovation, integrity, Leadership, reflection, Retirement, Student Affairs, Students

Removing Roadblocks

Posted on June 22, 2023 by | 1 comment

Many community college students are true immigrants to higher education. To them, going to college is as foreign as finding themselves put ashore in a strange land.

Once they embark upon a college education at the community college, often their main concerns include how to pay for their course work and how to juggle their myriad responsibilities in order to find time to study.

Often, their plans include getting as many courses done as possible at the community college at lower costs before continuing toward their four-year degree.  

They are proud of these hard-earned credits. However, too often they find their safe harbor disrupted when they discover that many of the credits earned at the community college will not transfer or be accepted by their choice of a four-year college.

More than 40 years ago when I worked at a community college, the most time-consuming and frustrating parts of my job as a counselor and academic adviser were to work with students who were being stymied in their progress because the community colleges and four-year colleges could not come to agreement on which courses taken at the community college were “equivalent” to courses at the four-year college. I think now as I did then: If community colleges are “colleges” and faculty who teach the courses are qualified and students meet the requirements, why are there questions about equivalences?

A recent story on Marketplace Morning Report noted that when transferring from a community college to a four-year college, about “43% of college credits don’t end up counting toward a new degree.” The reasons for this lack of cooperation and consistency between community and four-year colleges seem to be about money and hierarchy.

With less funding from states and counties and increasing infrastructure costs for colleges and universities, four-year colleges continue to raise tuition as a source of revenue. Done intentionally or not, having students repeat courses already taken at community colleges is another source of revenue.

Then there is the hierarchy. Community colleges that were created to give opportunities to a broader spectrum of students in their own communities are often described in unflattering terms. Rather than being seen as a way to level the playing field, the hierarchy is preserved when the gatekeepers at four-year colleges stand in judgment as to the worth of the credits earned at community colleges.

Students have little say or control about the transfer of credits and suffer the consequences of being stuck in the middle. If faculty from the two types of institutions cannot agree on what is acceptable in courses of the same or similar names and descriptions, then it may be time for outsiders to interfere further in the business of the professionals in higher education.

If outsiders are allowed to make decisions about what is appropriate to be in the curriculum, how teachers teach, and what books are in the library, why not take this interference further and mandate articulation on course transfer between community and four-year colleges? The time is long overdue for leadership to require that the roadblocks to complete articulation between community and four-year colleges be removed.

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Posted in Academic Affairs, adult learners, collaboration, empathy, first-generation college students, Higher Education, initiative, innovation, integrity, Leadership, respect, Students

What Will Charles III’s Reign Bring?

Posted on May 18, 2023 by | 1 comment
King Charles III on Coronation Chair. (Licensed under the United Kingdom Open Government Licence v3.0.)
King Charles III on Coronation Chair. (Licensed under the United Kingdom Open Government Licence v3.0.)

While Charles III became king of the United Kingdom upon the death of his mother on September 8, 2022, the world just watched his coronation last week. Though he is a new king, Charles III is a veteran of the monarchy, with there being no doubt that he will have less time actually in his current role than the time it took to get there. The question is how he will he use the precious time that he has.

What will be the legacy of Charles III? Will he simply be remembered as the oldest person to become King of England, having been heir apparent for the longest time of any previous monarch, or will he shape the English monarchy according to his philosophy about humanity and the natural world we’re privileged to inhabit?

King Charles III is a 21st-century monarch. His interests in climate change, architecture, and sustainable farming that seemed ahead of their time when he first expressed interest in them are now priorities for other leaders. He created the Prince’s Trust to provide opportunity for those who seek it, including financial support for education, training programs, and professional advancement for youth and young adults who because they lacked financial means were at risk of becoming casualties of society. 

While living in the shadow of Queen Elizabeth II, times changed—and with them, Britain’s role in the world and in Europe. As many of us learned from the televised versions of the royal family and British monarchy, King Charles will have little-to-no coercive power to shape the country according to his philosophy and vision. He is in the unenviable position of finally attaining his place in the sun as king, while having less freedom to speak out about the causes that he championed as Prince of Wales. As a monarch that possesses no executive or political power, he in many ways must continue to live in the shadows.

Some say that his smoothest path might be as a transitional or think tank monarch where he can convene bodies of people to put forward 21st-century ideas while being careful not to be too provocative.

The world will be watching.

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Posted in fate, International, Leadership

Jews of the Wild West

Posted on April 6, 2023 by | Leave a comment

On Palm Sunday, April 2, 2023, I went to the Scottsdale Museum of the West to see a screening of the documentary film, Jews of the Wild West.

As I watched the film, I kept thinking about how the stories of Jewish people who immigrated to the United States and later to the Western United States appear to be missing from American history. The absence continues to be perpetuated in books and films today. A special thanks is owed to the nonprofit production company and to the filmmaker, Amanda Kinsey, for uncovering and sharing such a significant part of American history.

Notable Jewish migrants to the West are Levi Strauss, who we can thank for the jeans we wear; Isaac Shwayder, whose son, Jesse, founded the premier luggage line Samsonite; and Meyer Guggenheim, patriarch of the philanthropic Guggenheim family whose wealth came from the mining and smelting business. Women such as Golda Meir were also prominent in establishing a Jewish presence in the West. To say that these families had humble beginnings is an understatement.

They used their ingenuity, persistence, grit, and desire to make a life without persecution—one in which they not only survived the hardships of the frontier but thrived. They found that the Wild West had less antisemitism than New York City. In general, people who moved West had one thing on their minds: taking advantage of the riches the frontier would eventually offer.

The Jews who migrated West, for the most part, were not panning streams and mining for gold. They understood that people needed practical products and clothes as they pursued their dreams of a better life and their road to riches. The Jewish migrants may have started out as peddlers who made enough money to open a dry goods store as in the case of Shwayder. Eventually, they found markets within their communities and beyond that became their road to success. Because they were usually the only people in the community with a business, they often became the mayors of these frontier towns.

Jews of the Wild West is rich with the personal stories of the Jews who struck out for the Wild West and made good. Check out streaming platforms and American Public Television to see this film.

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Posted in faith, Identity, initiative, innovation, integrity, Leadership, Race & Ethnicity, respect