Administrative staff as educators

It's common to consider professors or teachers to be the only people at a school who educate the students, but staff can be educators too, whether they are the president of the college or the janitor. As administrators, our leadership style can be a model which students follow when they go out into the world as professionals and as citizens.

What I hope to model in my dealings with students:

• Good leaders listen to the concerns of their people.
• Good leaders communicate honestly with their people rather than giving them PR BS.
• Good leaders take responsibility for their mistakes.
• Students can get good results if they approach people in a spirit of positive dialogue.

What I don't want my students to learn:

• Leaders should try to push their vision on other people without listening to the concerns of people affected.
• Leaders should put a positive spin on everything they have done.
• People who express dissent with leaders are troublemakers whose opinion is wrong.
• When dissent is expressed, the proper response is to take tighter control and shut out dissenters.