Chapter 8: Being Prepared: How to Navigate the Course When Embarking on the Academic Leadership Journey

Leadership is a discipline widely accepted as a crucial factor in an organization’s success, mediocrity, or failure (Collins, 2001; March & Weil, 2005; Nort-house, 2015; Ruben, 2012). It is no different in higher education, where the impact of leaders and leadership is vital to administrative effectiveness and academic success. However, when considering leadership in higher education (HE), some contexts are, in some sense, unique to the college and university settings. For example, distributed leadership and shared governance traditions designate formal and informal leadership roles and delegate powers to faculty and staff members within committees, senates, task forces, departments, and other governing and decision-making bodies. This democratic leadership paradigm allows diverse academic voices, perspectives, and opinions. It taps many’s knowledge, wisdom, and experience within the collegiate arena to identify challenges, communicate varied thoughts, promote collective decisions, share resources, and prescribe remedies institution-wide. It also creates meaningful opportunities across the academic landscape.