top of page

Coaching for Academic Leaders

Over 20 years in higher education — from the classroom to senior leadership — I now work with a small number of campus leaders each quarter as a thinking partner and sounding board.

"My to-do list is full of other people's priorities. I don't know how to change that."

"I've handed things off before. They came back to me unfinished. So I have to do it myself."

"I have a vision for where we need to go, but getting buy-in has been harder than I expected."

"There's a person on my team who is making everyone's life harder. I don't know how to handle it without making things worse."

"There's no one I can fully debrief with at the end of a hard week. I'm not sure people outside this role would understand anyway."

"I open my laptop after the kids go to bed. Every night."

"I'm good at this job. I want to be great at it. I'm not sure how to get there from here."

I hear some version of this from almost every leader I work with.

Most of what's wearing you down can be changed. What's harder to see from inside it: the role you're in now requires a different operating system than the one that made you a high performer. Those instincts don't scale automatically. Most leaders figure that out over years — through hard experience and guesswork. Coaching compresses that. We build the right systems around how you actually lead, so you stop paying for the learning curve with your nights and weekends.

What Comes Up Most

Most of the leaders I work with have never had a coach before. At its core, coaching is a structured thinking partnership — someone in your corner who understands the role, asks the right questions, and helps you build the systems and decisions that move things forward.

This is 1:1 work, structured around your specific situation — not a fixed curriculum. Most engagements run 12 weeks, with sessions every 2–3 weeks.

TIME MANAGEMENT AND WORKLOAD

Most academic leaders don't have a time problem — they have a systems problem. We look at how you're actually spending your time, where the leaks are, and what structures would help you protect the work that matters most. It's less about working less and more about getting intentional about what gets your best hours.

LEADERSHIP IDENTITY

Most academic leaders step into chairs, dean, or director roles with deep expertise in their field but without a clear sense of what it means to lead at this level. We work on how you show up, how you exercise authority without abandoning who you are, and how you lead in a way that's sustainable — not just effective on paper.

STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION AND BUY-IN

Being right isn't enough. Getting faculty, staff, and administrators to move with you requires a different kind of work. We focus on how you frame your vision, build the case for change, and communicate in ways that land with different audiences — so your ideas don't die in the room they were introduced in.

DELEGATION AND SYSTEMS

Most leaders know they should delegate more. The harder question is what to hand off, to whom, and how to make it stick. We work through that specifically — not as a general principle but in the context of your actual team and your actual workload.

PERSONNEL  AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

Faculty and staff situations that go unaddressed tend to compound. We work through the specific dynamics you're navigating — what's driving them, what you've tried, and what a realistic path forward looks like. A big part of this is equipping you with frameworks and approaches for the conversations you know need to happen but haven't had yet.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

We work together to build an intentional path forward — getting clear on what you want, what moves are worth making now, and how to execute on them, including navigating the application and interview process for leadership positions at every level.

Bewie FGCU_edited.jpg

"Kevin is an extraordinary listener, thought partner, and coach, full of wisdom, with a ready laugh! He helped me reframe my work environment, posing questions I hadn’t thought of, sparking new ideas and perspectives, which helped me release old ways of thinking, and guided me to own my voice again. As a new leader in academia, trying to find my place, Kevin made me feel heard and his energetic coaching unlocked a new courage within me. ”

Elizabeth Bewie, Coordinator of Music Ed  Florida Gulf Coast University

342994034_769797688083549_2187220327860901492_n.jpg

"As a longtime faculty member who had recently stepped into a leadership role, he helped me fill in my knowledge gaps — managing staff, effectively communicating technical needs to non-technical stakeholders, and establishing healthy work/life boundaries. He helped me bridge the gap between my existing strengths and the new skills required for my new role. The most profound impact came from his ability to guide me toward some of my blind spots."

Department Chair
Florida State University

1533256736335.jpeg

"Dr. Sanders brings a rare combination of thoughtfulness, supportiveness, and effectiveness to his leadership coaching. Many leaders excel in one or two of these areas, but he consistently demonstrates all three—and he does so with a focus on empowering others. His coaching is a testament to his commitment to helping higher education leaders grow, succeed, and make a meaningful impact.”

Michael Grose, Associate Dean
University of Oregon

Common Questions

Group Coaching

Not everyone needs 1:1 coaching — and for some leaders, the group program is something better. You work through core leadership challenges alongside a small cohort of 8-10 peers who understand campus leadership from the inside. The coaching is structured, but so is the community. Many participants say the cohort itself — the relationships, the shared experience, the room full of people who get what the role is like — is as valuable as the coaching. If isolation has been part of your experience in this role, the group program deserves serious consideration.

If anything on this page resonated, the next step is a conversation.

Thirty minutes, free, no obligation — just a chance to talk through where you are, where you want to go, and whether this is the right fit right now.

Working at the Institutional Level?

bottom of page