Success as an Administrator = The Right Kind of Nothing?

An interesting read and perspective by Michael C. Munger in The Chronicle of Higher Education, with an embedded teaching story:

Two qualities characterize an academic administrator. The first is a capacity to take responsibility. The second is a need for control. Your position on those two dimensions determines how effective you can be as a manager, and for how long.

The most successful administrators—the ones who accomplish the most and don't burn out—have an enormous sense of responsibility but a very small need for control. And they know just when to do the right kind of nothing. Let me tell a story to illustrate, and then explain what I mean.

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Regional SCUP Events! Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers at one of three SCUP regional conferences this spring:

• March 14–16: Baltimore, MD
• March 24–26: Cambridge, MA
• April 5–7, San Diego, CA