The experience you’ve had and the skills you’ve developed have equipped you to tackle more complex projects. You may be ready to build on your success through a new position. A leadership role not only provides personal opportunities, but allows you to better serve students and communities through expanded influence.
Collaboration
There is a dangerous mythology that truly great leaders are lone rangers, mavericks who forge their own path. Nothing could be further from the truth. A more accurate picture of an effective leader is the conductor of an orchestra. The musicians take their cues from the conductor, who guides them on timing, tone, and technique.
Leaders may be independent thinkers, but they are collaborative actors, working in coordination with others to carry out a mission. Communication and people skills are foundational for effective leaders. If you evidence an ability to work well with others to achieve an outcome, it shows you have the skills needed to operate on a wider level.
Mission
The most important indicator that you are ready for advancement is your ability to identify, articulate, and energize the mission of an organization. Managers carry out specific projects. Leaders steer institutions. Both are essential, but there is a categorical difference of scope and scale. If your bent is to approach issues from a macro level, you are a candidate for leadership.
A commitment to make a positive impact, coupled with the ability to motivate and mobilize others is what higher education needs in this moment. Individuals who are driven by a desire to serve the greater good always put the long-term good of the institution ahead of accolades for themselves. When benevolence, passion, and skill meet, there’s no end to what can be accomplished.
As you consider your career trajectory, an outside perspective can be invaluable. Discussing your past experience and future ambitions with a trusted colleague and mentor, can give you the insight you need to move forward. In my role advising leaders in higher education, I often act as a sounding board, enabling ideas to coalesce and solutions to emerge. Dialogue is just as profitable when you realize it’s not quite time to seek advancement, showing you where you need more robust experience. Having trusted colleagues and advisors will serve you at every point in your career. As you evaluate the four factors we’ve outlined, pairing personal reflection with collaborative conversation can allow you to recognize where your current career path is leading you.
Cheryl Hyatt is a founding partner and CEO of Hyatt – Fennell, Executive Search Plus and President and owner of The Charitable Resources Group, Inc.
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