2

CHAPTERCHAPTER

The Ambiguities and

Possibilities of Leadership

in Higher Education

I

f strategic leadership is to be an effective method, it has to pass several critical
tests. One is its ability to function effectively in the culture and systems of
academic decision making. In this chapter I will explore the norms, practices,
and expectations of academic governance and leadership. I will also analyze
some of the most influential interpretations of leadership of the past couple of
decades, principally concerning the college presidency. One of my primary goals
will be to relate these ideas to the contemporary models of leadership analyzed
in the last chapter. In doing so, I will ask several basic questions. How does a
particular form of leadership choose to address the complexities of academic
decision making, in particular, the protocols and norms of shared governance?
What methods and practices does a particular approach to leadership propose or
entail? What does it expect to achieve? What are its assumptions? As I pursue
the analysis, I shall also uncover the roots of strategic leadership in the decision-
making systems of the academy, as well as the challenges it must surmount to be
robust and effective.

FORMS OF LEADERSHIP IN

HIGHER EDUCATION

Leadership as Knowledge and Skills

Higher education’s leadership library is growing rapidly and will soon need
more shelf space. After a long period when the dominant focus was on presiden-
tial leadership, authors and publishers are now creating a long list of books with
“leadership” in their titles, often centered on the concerns of practitioners. Many