work. In particular, I have developed several important facets of the book’s argu-
ment in response to the groundbreaking ideas of James MacGregor Burns in Lead-
ership (1978) and Transforming Leadership (2003). By situating the phenomenon
of leadership squarely within the deepest dimensions of human moral agency and
identity, he has opened a new approach to the contemporary study of leadership.
My own reflection on human moral experience has been shaped through studies,
research, and other writings on values (Morrill 1980). H. Richard Niebuhr has
been the primary inspiration for much of this reflection. The analyses of Burton
Clark have been of capital importance in my understanding of the culture of
organizations of higher learning. His work on institutional sagas has stimulated
and reinforced my own reflections on narratives of identity, which have been
influenced by the work of Howard Gardner.
The other primary sources that I have used are institutional strategy reports
and related documents. Many of these can now be found on institutional Web
sites, and I have studied and printed parts or all of more than fifty such sources
and have read many others that have come to me in other ways. Not surprisingly,
I rely especially on those strategic plans in which I have been involved directly as
a participant, leader, or consultant.
AUDIENCE
This work is addressed to a wide audience, in effect, to the faculty, administra-
tors, and board members who study, lead, or participate in the strategic decision-
making processes of colleges and universities. One of the premises of this book,
as explained in several contexts, is that leadership as a process occurs throughout
organizations of higher education and is frequently a collaborative activity. As a
consequence, strategic leadership is relevant to virtually any faculty member or
administrator who makes recommendations or significant decisions about the
future—nearly everyone who chairs or serves on a committee, leads a depart-
ment, or exercises more formal authority as a dean, director, vice president, or
president.
Also included in the process of strategic leadership, as the text emphasizes on
several occasions, are governing boards. The board’s role in leadership extends
well beyond its formal responsibility as the institution’s ultimate legal authority.
As governing boards come to understand more fully the organizational dynam-
ics and commitments of the institutions they serve, they become more effective
participants in strategic governance and strategic leadership.
Scholars and students interested in leadership and strategy in higher education
in particular and in professional and nonprofit organizations in general will also
find much of the argument relevant to their concerns.
Preface xvii