Читать книгу Reframing Academic Leadership - Lee G. Bolman - Страница 13

The three chapters in Part I develop a central theme in the book: thinking and learning are at the heart of effective academic leadership. Colleges and universities are complex institutions that put a premium on sensemaking: the ability to decode messy and cryptic events and circumstances. One source of that complexity is the reality that academic institutions are inhabited by people and are designed to foster human creativity and development, which means that all the mysteries of the psyche, human groups, learning, personal and professional growth, and human relationships are central to the everyday work of academic administrators. Effectiveness in such a world requires both self‐knowledge and intellectual tools that enable leaders to understand and decipher the ambiguous situations they regularly face in order to make sensible choices about what to do.

Chapter 1, “A Tale of Two Presidents: Opportunities and Challenges in Academic Leadership,” opens with stories of two prominent university presidents whose careers ended very differently, before digging into the institutional characteristics that make academic leadership unique, rewarding, and tough. It previews many of the central ideas and issues that will be developed in later chapters. Chapter 2, “Sensemaking and the Power of Reframing,” examines everyday epistemology: how leaders come to know and understand their world and work; and how their humanity can limit or enhance their choices, tactics, and strategies. Chapter 3, “Knowing What You're Doing: Learning, Authenticity, and Theories for Action,” extends the discussion of sensemaking to the issue of learning from experience and from relationships with others. Leaders can never prepare for all that they may face. Strong capacities for ongoing learning and self‐reflection are indispensable.