In our second episode of the year, John talks about the many difficult challenges facing higher ed leadership in 2021.  The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, social justice and political issues, and the pressure of social media watching it all.  John comments on the critical necessity of leadership optimism tempered with realism, resilience, and risk taking focused on re-orienting toward the common goal of educating to promote positive growth in society.  To illustrate the point, John discusses the Stockdale Paradox and describes the way a kind man, Kenneth, works to lead people toward a more positive and kinder influence through his optimism, resilience, and ‘pay it forward mentality.’

 Media Mentions:

• N. Onishi, Will American Ideas Tear France Apart? Some of Its Leaders Think So, New York Times (Feb. 9, 2021, updated Feb. 10, 2021) https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/09/world/europe/france-threat-american-universities.html
• Live Coronavirus Updates: Here’s the Latest, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 10, 2021 https://www.chronicle.com/article/live-coronavirus-updates-heres-the-latest
• D. Collier, et al, We Want You Back: Uncovering the Influences on In-Person Instructional operations in Fall 2020, Feb. 2021 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3778772
• B. Groysberg and R. Abrahams, What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership, Harvard Business School, Aug. 17, 2020 https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/what-the-stockdale-paradox-tells-us-about-crisis-leadership