Navigating Change: The Podcast From Teibel Education

This week on Navigating Change, we invite writer, speaker, and teacher, Bryan Alexander, to join us and talk about the ever changing world of higher education. As a futurist, Bryan navigates trends in the field of how technology transforms education.   In Teibel’s work with leaders, we focus on shorter timeframes, helping to free those overwhelmed by the act of change to move into action.   In our conversation today, we attempt to bridge the two: how do we help one another to narrow relevant trends of today, to make the best choices for learners of tomorrow? How do we move our expertise beyond identifying current problems across our institutions, to envisioning our future free of those constraints, with a team rallied behind a journey to take us there?

Arguably the most challenging part of any change process is rallying the support of the people around you to join you on your way. This week on the show, we present Howard Teibel’s model for approaching any population you’re trying to influence in a specific direction. No, this isn’t about re-programming or hypnosis, though that would certainly be easier, even if ethically challenged. This model is for you — the change agent — a method of reframing your audience, of refocusing your efforts, and of driving the support of your most valuable supporters while not being distracted by those who don’t.

Howard Teibel once again joins the ranks of presenters at the NBOA Annual Meeting 2016 in Las Angeles. This week on the show, we talk about the levers and pulleys of financial sustainability — tools of financial officers to make change toward financial sustainability, enrollment, and growth — that provide the seed for Howard’s deep dive session to come at the conference. Striking the balance between enrollment management, financial aid, diversity and fiscal sustainability drives the forward thinking business officer, and we’re taking on these topics today.

When you’re on the outside, observing teams in action, you have the benefit of the unique perspective to offer insights that lead to real change. This is the benefit of the consultative model, and of teams engaging in external support to help lead change efforts. But what happens when you move from the outside in? How do you inspire the same to motivation to change in your teams once you, too, are part of the culture of the institution? This week on Navigating Change we’re talking to Christian Recknagel about his work at Benchmark Construction. Christian moved from his role as lead consultant at E4 Consulting to internal change management lead at Benchmark, and faces the challenge of innovating from the inside out every day. 

This week on Navigating Change, we’re talking about the space between power and control on campus. It is somewhere between these two concepts that there exists a détente between well-meaning though protective faculty and campus leaders. As an ideal, each recognizes their own power and influence, and uses it to build a better community of learners. More often, power is wielded to protect turf and demonstrate authority at the expense of true progress. Today, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright discuss the tools and controls in place to help institutional leaders come to agreement and craft a model of shared governance each can be proud to own.

We’re back and settled into our post-EACUBO rhythm, so this week we thought we’d take a few minutes to reflect on lessons learned, lessons (hopefully!) taught, and leave you with some insights on the value of volunteer leadership. The big question: How do we engage the people we’re calling on as volunteers to marshal their energy, enthusiasm, and trust to get them to help us move our institutions forward? From boards to academic teams, this challenge cuts across leadership and calls on us to be at our most clear and creative. We continue to learn much from our experience with these business officers and EACUBO 2015 was no different. The truth is, we are not alone. And as difficult as it may be to face our financial challenges, we can take some solace that we’re all learning these new lessons and skills together.

This week on Navigating Change we're once again recording live from the Cheers Lounge at the EACUBO Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. Howard Teibel hosts a conversation this week with two esteemed guests: Gregg Goldman, SVP and CFO at The University of Arizona and Chair of NACUBO, and Dave Button, CBO at University of Regina in Saskatchewan and past president of CAUBO. Each brings a unique perspective on the state of CBO readiness for complexity in the coming year, and they uncover a series of fascinating parallels in the state of higher eduction between the US and Canada.

This week on Navigating Change we’re recording live from the Cheers Lounge at the EACUBO Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. Howard Teibel has gathered the regional presidents for a conversation on the state of higher ed after a day of learning in sessions. For our time, we take on how the regions are equipping their members to take back the dialog on the value of higher education in a media landscape that has not been so kind. Special thanks to WACUBO President Lynn Valenter, SACUBO President Ben Crutcher, and EACUBO Chair Mike Gower for their insights this week, and for taking their time to join us live in Philly!

Disruptive Innovation, the concept that new — typically inferior — products have the tendency to crowd out better products that are more costly, has been doing it’s own crowding in higher ed leadership. This week in the Chronicle, Evan Goldstein does his part to unravel the mystique of Clay Christensen and the DI landslide, a fascinating article in and of itself. There is clearly disruption in higher ed. Does it fit the model of Christensen’s Disruptive Innovation to the letter? Perhaps not. But today on the show, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright talk about the role of disruption, and the power of leading from a position that embraces it as part of the engine of change.

Next month, eastern business officers and university representatives decend on Philadelphia for EACUBO’s 2015 Annual Meeting. Howard Teibel will be there, this year joining incoming EACUBO chair Lynne Schaefer hosting a conversation on Facilitating Strategic Conversations. How do you engage your team to take on complex projects? How do you rally around objectives that are handed down to you? How do you adjust your course when you realize your group is mired in old thinking? This week on the show, Lynne joins us for a conversation on all this and more as we gear up for another terrific conference. The EACUBO 2015 Annual Meeting takes place October 11-14, 2015 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown. For more information, visit EACUBO.org.

On September 28th the NACUBO 2015 Planning and Budgeting Forum kicks off in Austin, Texas and Howard Teibel will be there, joining Sue Menditto — NACUBO’s director of accounting policy — in a presentation on leadership and change and getting the organization you want. We’re thrilled to have Sue join us for our conversation today. Sue kicks us off with some background on the conference and makes a fantastic case for attending. This is the fourth year for the Planning and Budgeting forum and 2015 is already at capacity. From there, Howard and Sue walk us through a concept not entirely new to listeners of this show, but one with a unique new spin. Central to it is this idea that technical skills are a given, but soft skills have become the new differentiator in the best leaders. The twist is all about permission that leads to a new way of thinking about the work. For that, we hope you’ll dive in and listen to this week’s show!

This week on Navigating Change we welcome Manu Narayan to the show. Manu is a truly renaissance man. He’s an actor of stage and screen. He’s an accomplished musician. He’s a writer and producer. And for all his professional creative talents, he joins us to discuss his role of Young Alumni trustee on the board of Carnegie Mellon University. Our conversation is broad in scope, but the lessons are important. Manu’s experience and youth at the table of senior leadership reflects more accurately the body of students the university educates, and the role of young alumni trustee serves to celebrate the critical importance of diversity of thought and experience leading our institutions.

Hard skills and soft skills. We’ve certainly discussed them before. Your organization is likely full of competent leaders, managers, and team members well qualified to perform their functions, expert finance leaders, marketing and enrollment specialists, academic leaders, and beyond. This week, Gail Gregory and Howard Teibel share their insights into the challenges they’re seeing across institutions. Our sensationalist headline aside, the not-so-surprising key learning: institutions replete with technical talent may be facing a shortage in the soft skills that can keep people working together and delivering results!

Last week’s conversation on turning leaders into guides inspired us to revisit the Teibel Decision-Making Model in the light of helping guides facilitate decision-making without authority. How do you help those empowered and accountable for change move through difficult decisions without skin the game yourself? This week we walk through the model through this lens and post the key question plaguing so many teams focused on change: Do you really understand the conversations you’re in? The projects you’re accountable to deliver? Why your institution needs you where you are, doing what you’re doing today? This week on the show, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright revisit the Decision-Making Model with an eye on those charged facilitate change, without authority or accountability to make change themselves.

Making the transition from leader to guide, from administrator of your own institution to agent of change for others, is a complex effort both personally and professionally. At this year's AGB Conclave, new and seasoned administrators alike came together to learn and share as they work to turn their experience into support for others. This week on the show, Howard Teibel shares his experience leading a small portion of the Conclave, and offers insight into the challenges and opportunities ahead of us as we work together toward a strengthening higher education environment.

NACUBO is currently developing a body of research and series of tools to help business officers and their institutions assess their place in the economic landscape of higher education. Changing demographics and a decline in students, decline in state funding, decline in philanthropy, and an increase in tuition and fees above CPI are just a few of the factors impacting higher ed operations and the public impression of American institutions. Thanks to research led by Senior Fellow of Finance and Campus Management Bob Shea, NACUBO is taking the lead in creating a definitive set of factors and a common language around the way institutions exist in the economic landscape. This week on the show, Shea joins Rutgers CBO Mike Gower and Howard Teibel to share how this project and it’s targeted outcomes will impact institutions in their drive toward sustainability and growth.

Today we’re talking about bottlenecks in project implementation, it’s a sort of spiritual follow-up to a conversation we had just a few weeks back, (The Danger of Thinking in Projects — Ep 101), and we have an expert with us to share the load with keen experience in rolling out large institutional software installations. Joining us on the show this week, we have our special guest Brian Sweeney. Brian is the head of US Operations for Unimarket, providing procurement solutions to higher ed institutions around the world. Brian offers unique experience in software project implementation in higher education and shares his insights into the cultural change that comes with technological innovation across campuses.

Being in the middle of a major school merger, Mike Gower knows the importance of clear and concise strategic plan. As SVP for finance and treasurer at Rutgers, Mike has an active role in leading change as these institutions come together, aligning resources and data in service of delivering top tier education for their students. This week, Mike joins Howard Teibel in Nashville, TN, as they take a few minutes out of their busy NACUBO Annual Meeting schedule to share thoughts on leadership and change in the spirit of the gathered community of finance leaders.

Nuno Cuoto lives and works from his RV. In his work as a consultant and project manager in higher education, his ultra-mobile command center has become a central component to leading change through his firm, Optimal Partners. This week on Navigating Change, Nuno joins Gail Gregory and Pete Wright for a conversation around improved business models in higher education. It’s a discussion around the power of education, and how we as providers can thoroughly engage all stakeholders in the equation. We discuss the “Mentorship Mentality,” the challenges that face business offices in leveraging all their most creative assets in solving their most difficult challenges. Nuno’s work as a social entrepreneur and community leader make him a terrific resource to spearhead an important conversation around creativity and inspiration, and how we are all working to build stronger, more vital higher education institutions today, to meet the needs of the community — and economy — of tomorrow.