I’ve been talking with a lot of higher ed leaders lately who feel stuck. Not burned out, exactly. Stagnant. Some feel disappointed; a few feel betrayed by their institutions. They’ve lost their mojo, and quietly, they’re wondering: Do I just settle for this? Do I move on? Do I move out of higher education altogether?
When I work with leaders in this spot, we begin with their inner work. We start by developing their cornerstones. We go looking for their inner purpose, their values, their own sense of what matters, the things that got buried in the busyness.
From this, they get clarity. They reconnect with themselves. They get grounded, centered, and rooted again in who they are and what they’re actually here to do. And from that place, they make excellent decisions. They release what “should” be true, what everyone else seems to be doing, and what they once expected of themselves.
- Some rediscover real purpose right where they are, in their current role, at their current institution.
- Some get genuinely excited about moving up or moving on to a different role.
- Others get real clarity that higher education was once the right place for them, and it isn’t anymore. They’re ready to take what they’ve learned and earned into a new sector and make an impact there.
A leader who reacts to being stuck by leaping and then spends the next year quietly wondering if the leap was right is in a different place than a leader who makes a conscious, grounded choice rooted in their own purpose and values.
This isn’t just a you problem; this is a pattern across higher education leadership. We are in a leadership crisis right now, and it’s showing up differently depending on where you sit. Senior leaders are overwhelmed. Mid-level leaders are being pulled in too many directions at once. And emerging leaders, especially at the director level, often feel underutilized, mired in the day-to-day, on a treadmill that never ends, like they’re stuck making widgets at a widget factory when they have so much more to offer. That talent, that capacity, is sitting right there. It just needs to be harnessed, developed, and unleashed.
If you’re feeling stuck, or like you’ve lost your mojo, I’d love to help you get re-grounded, re-centered, and make a conscious choice about what’s genuinely best for you.
