This week I read an interesting article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, "Seeking a Different Sort of Leader" by Dennis M. Barden. This article focuses on the different leadership styles between presidents and provosts. It contrasts the more traditional consultative type of academic leadership with "an expressed willingness—backed up by evidence of performance—to make the tough decisions and to live with the consequences." As with many articles published in the Chronicle, it is at least as interesting to read the comments as it is to read the article.
This may not seem to have much to do with leadership of technology units, but it does describe a dilemma faced by leaders at most any level: how much effort do I put into bringing a group of strongly differing views into consensus? At what point do I call a halt to the discussion, make a decision, and live with the consequences? And what do staff make of this when I do? I'd like to hope that at least some of them are grateful to be done with the discussion and able to move onto making something happen. But sometimes the discussion can take on a life of its own, and it seems as though it could go on forever. And certainly if a decision goes against the express wishes of an individual or faction in the group, it can lead to some level of disgruntlement. Nevertheless, if you, as leader, are never willing to move forward without everyone on board, then you can find yourself and your group stuck in limbo. In technology, perhaps more than in any other enterprise, moving forward is critical. Technology moves too quickly for us to get stuck dickering over six different ways to solve a problem.
Leaders need to help groups make decisions. It is good when they can reach a good decisions through consensus. But sometimes they just need to make the tough decisions and move on.
I'm looking forward to being on vacation next week, so watch for my next blog post in two weeks.
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