Presidential transitions: Presidents' perspectives on building the senior leadership team
Abstract
Presidential transitions in higher education happen frequently. Estimates have put the turnover in college presidencies at approximately 25% in any given year (Keller, 2004). Further, while the average presidential tenure is 8.5 years, almost 50% of current presidents are age 61 or older, so it is likely that there will be an increasing number of presidential transitions in the coming years (American Council on Education, 2007). While relationships are critical to the individuals and to the organization, approximately 75% to 80% of university presidents come from outside the institution (Association of Governing Boards, 2006); therefore, the large majority of presidents begin their tenure without the benefit of strong existing working relationships with those reporting to them. While the presidential transition time has become a topic of research in recent years, the focus is typically on the search process and navigation of institutional issues facing a new president. This study focuses on the experience of twelve first-time presidents and the challenges they faced in the formation of their initial senior leadership teams. The findings include the presidents' perspectives beginning with analyzing the inherited team members through the strategies used to make changes in the team, including changes in structure, changes in team members, "adopting" inherited members, and the deliberate use of interim appointments, to the functioning of the group of senior leaders as a team. The perspectives of the twelve presidents in this study reveal that there are three key criteria for successfully selecting senior team members and developing an effective team. First is chemistry or personal fit; second, an investment in the culture and values of the institution; and third, a shared understanding of the issues and the ability for individual team members to take an institution-wide perspective. This study concludes that these indicators are important for both continuing and new members of a senior team, and that the overall process of forming the team is lengthy; presidents took two to three years to evolve the initial senior team. Presidents portrayed the process as a complex balance of seeking new talent and ideas, maintaining stability, respect for institutional history, and diversity.
Recommended Citation
Kathleen Donahue Gaval,
"Presidential transitions: Presidents' perspectives on building the senior leadership team"
(January 1, 2009).
Dissertations available from ProQuest.
Paper AAI3357490.
http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI3357490
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