At many institutions, development of leaders begins once people are selected for formal leadership positions. This approach is partly the result of a resistance to leader development borne of higher education’s egalitarian ethos—faculty often feel uncomfortable with the idea of the institution investing in them as leaders, says Ross Peterson-Veatch, associate academic dean at Goshen College. In addition, “people in the academy are universally pretty good at learning quickly. We say to ourselves, ‘I’ll deal with that when I get there. I don’t want to spend my time learning to be a leader if I’m not going to be named.’”
How Leaders Shape, Signal, and Build Cultures: A Discussion Guide for Academic Leaders and Their Teams
Among the many desired traits most prized in academic leadership, the ability to shape (or reshape) institutional culture is sometimes overlooked in favor of fiscal acumen, the ability to drive
Lisa Jasinski
May 4, 2026