Building Leadership Skills in Higher Education: Jumping from the Frying Pan into the Fire

As the overall landscape of higher education continues to evolve, colleges and universities must hire new leadership to tackle multiple initiatives and address constant change. Navigating new leadership roles and responsibilities in higher education can be complex due to each academic institution's unique student needs and organizational dynamics. New leaders in higher education quickly realize they need to balance institutional values, daily administrative responsibilities, stakeholder expectations, and various external demands. Limited research examines how new leaders in post-secondary education cultivate the necessary skills to develop themselves to take on new leadership roles successfully. This presentation will illustrate how several newly appointed leaders think about and navigate their leadership roles and develop their leadership skills and abilities. The researchers use collaborative autoethnography to interrogate their perspectives on leadership and personal development. The researchers continue to actively collect data using two methods: 1) asynchronous discussion board posts in a shared Google Doc file and 2) recurring Zoom meetings that capture live dialogue about individual leadership encounters/experiences. The findings from this qualitative study may be used as a starting point to assist colleges and universities in strategizing ways of supporting individuals new to post-secondary leadership roles.