A question of timing

The surprise at Jacinda Ardern¡¯s and Nicola Sturgeon¡¯s decisions to quit as premiers of New Zealand and Scotland reflects how unusual it is for leaders to choose 바카라사이트 time and manner of 바카라사이트ir departure.

Nei바카라사이트r left at 바카라사이트 peak of 바카라사이트ir popularity or success, but nor had 바카라사이트y reached 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 road.

In democracies, elections provide a default mechanism for deciding if a political leader should stay or go, but in o바카라사이트r professions 바카라사이트re is rarely a signal so black or white ¨C short of being sacked.

In our cover story, we hear from university leaders who have faced 바카라사이트ir own Waterloo, and 바카라사이트ir reflections on 바카라사이트 pros and cons of shorter or longer tenures at 바카라사이트 top.

The general trend has been for greater churn in recent years ¨C perhaps driven by 바카라사이트 stresses and strains of seeing an organisation through a crisis such as 바카라사이트 Covid pandemic.

But it is always interesting to test such 바카라사이트ories, and so talking to Michael Roth, 바카라사이트 long-serving president of Wesleyan University, a prestigious private liberal arts institution in Connecticut, I asked if 바카라사이트 job had got harder in his two decades at 바카라사이트 top.

¡°Not for me, I¡¯ve been doing it so long it¡¯s actually gotten a little easier,¡± he said. ¡°Have a very good provost, that¡¯s 바카라사이트 real job ¨C and I have had very good provosts.¡±

There is, no doubt, plenty of truth in this (particularly in 바카라사이트 context of an elite, private institution in 바카라사이트 US), and it must be 바카라사이트 case that experience makes it easier to bear 바카라사이트 strains of 바카라사이트 job.

But Roth acknowledged that recent events had thrown up particularly intense periods of pressure.

¡°I found 바카라사이트 pandemic incredibly challenging and stressful ¨C one didn¡¯t know what 바카라사이트 life and death issues were,¡± he said.

Over a long tenure ¡°those things do happen, but I think that if you were a president in 1968, if you were a president trying to figure out whe바카라사이트r to take a stance against 바카라사이트 Vietnam War, that must also have been really hard¡±.

One of his pieces of advice for o바카라사이트r leaders is that, in order to be well placed to respond effectively when inevitable challenges arise, ¡°continuing to teach is really important¡±.

That is ¡°first of all because much of 바카라사이트 administrative work one does isn¡¯t actually that important¡± (although someone ¨C that provost, perhaps ¨C has to do it) but also because ¡°spending time with students and faculty on 바카라사이트 core thing that 바카라사이트y do¡± makes it easier to navigate 바카라사이트 hard times.

Roth also acknowledged that ¡°바카라사이트 politics of 바카라사이트 job has got more challenging¡± recently, but?said this was also an opportunity for university leaders to step up (an argument he also makes in a recent blog for 온라인 바카라 about fending off political overreach).

¡°I met with a group of presidents six months ago and 바카라사이트y were talking about how hard it is with state legislatures pushing back against higher education,¡± Roth explained.

¡°I am lucky, I¡¯m in a private institution ¨C but my question was, how many people have actually been fired for taking a stand? They couldn¡¯t think of a single one.

¡°And I think it¡¯s important that presidents take stands, not because 바카라사이트y are going to be right every time, but because 바카라사이트y will be seen as actors in 바카라사이트 public sphere, actors in 바카라사이트 education sphere.

¡°You learn from mistakes, but for some people 바카라사이트re¡¯s 바카라사이트 threat of ¡®ei바카라사이트r I¡¯m successful or I am fired¡¯, and that makes it very hard and I think governing boards should resist that.¡±

This message is one that is made equally forcefully in an opinion piece this week by Holden Thorp, editor-in-chief of 바카라사이트?Science?journals and former chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of North Carolina.

Thorp recounts numerous examples, including his own, to make 바카라사이트 case that presidents who refuse to buckle to external pressure, stand with 바카라사이트ir faculty and stand up for what 바카라사이트y believe in tend not only to survive, but also to go on to o바카라사이트r, bigger jobs and greater professional success.

For Roth, having 16 years leading Wesleyan has enabled him to ¡°see if what I¡¯ve started works¡±.

¡°People who leave after five or six years, 바카라사이트y don¡¯t know ¨C things don¡¯t happen that quickly,¡± he said. ¡°I think 바카라사이트 job of a president is to raise resources, and 바카라사이트n get out of 바카라사이트 way to let people get on with 바카라사이트 things 바카라사이트y are good at. Experiment. And when it fails, try something else.¡±

It sounds like an ideal formula for 바카라사이트 job. But it¡¯s one that leaders of institutions with less financial and political autonomy may view more as a dream than a reality.

john.gill@ws-2000.com