Get your evenings back. In 8 weeks.
The Designed Leader is an 8-week cohort that helps academic leaders get the low-level work off their plate — and their evenings back.
But unlike other leadership programs, you won't learn passively — you'll build real systems for your context that you use that week, develop friendships with higher ed peers, and leave with more time for the things that matter most.
The February cohort is closed
The next session starts June 2026
APPLICATIONS ARE REVIEWED — COHORTS ARE BUILT INTENTIONALLY.
Stop reacting to your job. Start designing it.
8 weeks back to the reason you took this role.
Build the systems that give you clarity, capacity, and control
even in the chaos of campus administration.
You didn't step into this role to spend your days buried in email, managing crises, and wondering where the week went
But somewhere in that gap, thoughts like these start showing up:
"I have a great team. So why does everything still come back to me?"
"It's faster to do it myself. I know that's exactly the problem."
"I keep telling myself I'll get to the strategic work, but I've been saying that for six months."
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"I do my real work before 7am, after 9pm, or on weekends. The rest of the day belongs to everyone else."
"I took this job to build something. Most days I feel like I'm just keeping the lights on."
"I canceled something that mattered to me last week to handle something that didn't. Again."
"I keep waiting for things to slow down. They never do."
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"There's nobody above me to ask and nobody below me I can be honest with."
I get it.
Because I've been there too.
75+
35+
1116+
Academic leaders who trust The Academic Leader's Playbook to make their week better
Leaders from a variety of backgrounds that I've worked with 1:1 to help them get their time and purpose back
Institutions served. From community colleges, liberal arts colleges, and regional universities to R1s
This is the hidden curriculum of higher ed leadership — the part nobody covers in your training, your onboarding, or your faculty development program.​​
Nobody taught you how to architect your time when managing others, build decision-making frameworks, or develop a team that runs without you in the room.
It's a DESIGN problem.
And design problems have design solutions.​
That's exactly what we build in The Designed Leader.
Many leaders wonder...
...whether the problem they’re experiencing is actually fixable, or whether this is just how the job works.
The exhaustion you feel isn’t a leadership failure. It’s a design failure. The role was handed to you without a blueprint, and most of what’s wearing you down is structural, not personal. Structural problems have structural solutions. That’s exactly what we build in this program.
...whether they have the bandwidth to add anything else to their plate right now.
The 60 minutes per week you invest in this cohort is paid back within two weeks by the time you reclaim through better systems. You’re not adding to your plate — you’re redesigning the plate itself.
...whether a coaching program can address the specific complexity of their institution.
I've worked with academic leaders across every kind of institution — community colleges, regional universities, liberal arts colleges, and R1s. The systems translate because the underlying dynamics — faculty governance, budget constraints, political complexity, impossible tradeoffs — are remarkably consistent across institutions.
...whether they could just figure this out on their own.
Possibly. It took me five years of trial and error to build what we work through in eight weeks. The point of a program like this isn't that you can't figure it out — it's that you don't have to.
"I was working 60+ hour weeks and still felt like I was failing. Kevin helped me put systems in place that freed me up for the work only I can do. Simple changes, massive difference in how I use my time."
Summer 2025 Cohort
Department Chair
University of Texas-Tyler
"I didn't realize how many decisions I was making that my staff could handle. After we built clear decision criteria and roles, I was able to get out of the way. Now my team owns their work, and I'm doing the strategic work that I love."
Spring 2026 Cohort
Student Services
University of Northern Illinois
"Before working with Dr. Sanders, I didn't realize how many meetings I was attending out of protocol rather than where I could actually add value. Learning to protect my time was a stretch for me, but for the first time since becoming a dean, my work feels manageable."
Summer 2025 Cohort
Associate Dean
University of Arkansas
About Kevin Sanders
I came to academic leadership the same way most of you did — through a career I loved, into a role nobody trained me for.
I’m a classically trained musician who performed on stages around the world before stepping into faculty, then into leadership roles including chair and dean — managing a team of over 100 people and an annual budget of nearly $20 million. Along the way: a $44 million building campaign, record enrollment at two institutions, curriculum modernization, new academic programs, and a student success center built from scratch.
The work I’m most proud of, though, is the teams I developed. Faculty and staff who led the school forward without needing me in every room.
This program reflects 20+ years inside higher ed and a career spent investing in my own development — ICF certification, leadership training at Harvard and Cornell, and the ASU & Georgetown Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership — and the best thinking I've gathered from coaches, practitioners, and leaders across the field.
Every week I write The Academic Leader's Playbook for 1,100+ campus leaders who are trying to do this job better. I started Cornerstone Leadership for the same reason: I kept watching talented people burn out from a problem that's completely solvable. That's what this program is built to do.
What's Different About This Program
01
Practitioner knowledge, not theoretical expertise. I've held nearly every leadership role in higher education — research coordinator, department chair, associate dean, dean. Twenty years of managing teams, navigating faculty governance, and making decisions inside the same institutional constraints you're facing. This isn't informed by research about academic leadership. It's built from doing it.
02
Operational systems, not conceptual frameworks. Higher ed leaders don't need more frameworks to think about. You need tools you can use on Monday. Every session produces something concrete — a decision matrix, a meeting structure, a communication rhythm — that you implement before the next call.
03
Structural solutions for structural problems. Most of what makes academic leadership unsustainable is a design problem, not a performance problem. We don't work harder on the job — we redesign how the work is structured around you so the role becomes manageable at the level you're being asked to lead.
Imagine this...
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It's 8 weeks from now. You walk into Monday morning and your calendar has white space. Actual thinking time. Because you redesigned how your week works.
A crisis lands in your inbox. Instead of dropping everything, your assistant chair or staff handles it using the decision criteria you built together. You don't hear about it until the debrief.
Your boss asks about your unit's strategic progress. You have an answer because you've been doing the work, not just managing the noise.
You leave campus on Friday and you don't open your laptop over the weekend. Not because you're ignoring things. Because the systems are holding.
You feel like the leader you imagined you'd be when you took the role.
In just 8 weeks:
A fully designed weekly time architecture you'll use every Monday morning for the rest of your career.
A delegation decision matrix that tells your team exactly what they can decide, what they should escalate, and what only you should own.
A communication rhythm that keeps your unit informed and aligned without your inbox becoming a second job.
A meeting audit that eliminates the meetings you're attending out of habit rather than impact.
A set of boundary scripts — real language for real situations — so saying no doesn't feel like failing the people you lead.
A team development plan that builds capacity in your unit over the next 12 months.
Deep relationships with other academic leaders who understand your world and will keep showing up for you after the cohort ends.
The next session starts June 2026.
Group coaching calls held weekly, LIVE on Zoom
There is big power in small group coaching - therefore I cap my cohorts at 10 people.​
Because of the high-touch, and personalized nature of this program,
I only offer 2 sessions per year.
Applications reviewed — cohorts are built intentionally.
"If you're a leader who's tired of the job running you instead of the other way around, reach out to Kevin. I wish I'd done it sooner.
He's been in the role, he understands the complexity of leadership from the inside, and he coaches from that experience. He's helped me change how I actually show up every week.
I can't say enough about the combination of credibility and genuine care he brings. One of the best investments I've made in my own leadership."
Dr. Richard White
Professor, University of New Mexico | Author, I'm Possible |
President, RAWTuba Foundation
Here's what we will
accomplish together to make leadership sustainable
This isn't a lecture series. It's a working cohort where you build real systems you'll use the week you learn them.
Weekly Time Design
You didn't take this role to manage a calendar. We build a weekly structure that protects your deep work and keeps the urgent from swallowing the important.
Communication Rhythms
Email is not a communication strategy — it's a symptom of not having one. We design the meeting cadences and update structures that keep your unit aligned without your inbox running the show.
Smart Delegation
Your team is more capable than they're being asked to be. We build the capacity and clarity that let them own their work — so you can own yours.
Developing Your People
A strong unit doesn't happen by accident. We map who's ready to grow, what they need from you to get there, and how to create the conditions for them to lead.
Decision Clarity
When decision rights are unclear, everything escalates back to you. We establish exactly what your team can decide, what needs your input, and what only you should own.
Sustainable Boundaries
Knowing you need boundaries and knowing how to hold them are two different things. I give you the real language for the real moments when saying no feels impossible.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
INSIDE THE 8-WEEK DESIGNED LEADER COHORT
Group Coaching Sessions
Live group working sessions held weekly where we solve real problems in real time, ask questions, and receive feedback in real time. You'll leave each call with something you can implement that week
Value: $2500
Templates & Resources
Purpose-built tools for higher ed administrators — Time Architecture template, Delegation Decision Matrix, Communication Rhythm Planner, and more. Ready to use the week you learn them.
Value: $600
Private Coaching Sessions
One 60-minute session that's entirely yours. Bring the challenge that's too specific for a group setting — your situation, your team, your version of the problem. We build the solution around you.
Value: $400
Recorded Sessions Access
Every sessions is recorded, allowing participants to revise the materials at their own convenience. This ensures continuous learning on your schedule or revisit a breakthrough you couldn't write down fast enough.
Value: $650
Private WhatsApp Chat
A real-time channel connecting every participant between sessions for real-time guidance and support — for the Tuesday crisis, the quick sanity check, and the win you want to share with people who actually understand what it took.
Value: $500
A Community of Higher Ed Leaders
A group of leaders navigating the same political complexity, budget constraints, and impossible tradeoffs. You'll learn as much from them as from me. These relationships don't end when the cohort does.
Value: Priceless
What Participants Say After The Designed Leader:
“My team is making decisions I used to make. I didn’t know how much I was in the way.”
“The delegation matrix alone was worth the entire cohort.”
“I finally have white space on my calendar. That felt impossible 8 weeks ago.”
“I know what I’m doing this Monday morning. That clarity is new for me.”
"I came for the frameworks. I stayed for the people in the room."
“I came in skeptical. I’m leaving with systems I’ll use for the rest of my career.”
“I left campus on Friday and didn’t open my laptop all weekend. First time in two semesters.”
“For the first time since becoming a chair, I feel like I’m leading instead of surviving.”
“The cohort community was unexpected. Peers who actually get it and we're still texting 6 months later.”
Leaders who see the best results with me are typically...
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Campus leaders who are great at their jobs — but exhausted by how much of it lands on their plate.
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Those who've tried managing their time better and know the problem runs deeper than that.
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Leaders who want systems that hold up under real institutional pressure — not quick fixes that fade after a week.
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Leaders who value learning alongside peers who actually understand the political complexity and relational weight of this work.
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People who are ready to build, not just consume. Every session produces something you'll use that week.
MY COMMITMENT TO YOU
These systems work. I've used them myself and coached 75+ leaders through them. If you show up and do the work, this will change how you lead. If after the first two sessions it isn't the right fit, send me an email and I'll refund your full investment, no questions asked.
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Many participants use institutional professional development funds. I'm happy to provide a funding rationale for a proposal, or a formal program outline if that helps with your PD funding request.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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How much does this cost?
Most multi-week leadership development programs run $5,000 or more. The Designed Leader delivers $4,650+ in live coaching, tools, and recorded access — plus a peer cohort of academic leaders who understand the complexity of your world.
The full price for the cohort is $975 — because the leaders who need this most shouldn't have the price be the reason they don't.​
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Can I use professional development funds?
Yes. Most participants do. I'm happy to provide documentation, a formal syllabus, or speak directly with your supervisor or provost's office to support your request. I also have a funding rationale you can use available upon request. Just email me.
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How much time does this require each week?
About 60 minutes per week for the live session on Zoom, plus implementation time that replaces (not adds to) your current work. The systems we build are designed to save you time, not consume more of it.
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What if I miss a session?
Life happens, especially in academic leadership. All sessions are recorded and shared within 24 hours. You'll also have the WhatsApp community for ongoing support between sessions.
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I'm new to my role. Is it too early?
It's actually the best time. Building these systems early prevents the burnout and reactive patterns that become harder to break later. Several of my most successful coaching clients came to me within their first year.
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Is this just for chairs and deans?
Not at all. The cohort typically includes most mid-to-senior campus leaders. The titles differ — the underlying challenges don't. Every session is designed so you can apply the frameworks directly to your role and your institution, and the group dynamic is actually one of the strongest parts: you're working through real problems alongside peers who understand the complexity of academic culture from the inside.
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One last thing...
If you've read this far, you're probably asking yourself: is this actually worth it?
And you could keep doing what you've been doing — carving out time where you can, telling yourself things will slow down next semester, managing your way through another year the same way you managed through the last one.
But if you're on this page and you've read this far, chances are you've already tried that.
So here we are — and a new academic year is right in front of you.
Imagine looking back at December and pointing to this exact moment as the thing that changed how you lead. A year where you finally moved the initiatives that matter. Where your team owned their work and you owned yours. Where you made progress on the goals that move programs forward — and still had your evenings.
That's not a distant vision. It's eight weeks of work away.
The cohort starts June 2026. It fills at 10.
The next step is yours.
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Every Saturday, I send The Academic Leader's Playbook to 1,100+ campus leaders to help them lead people, fix broken systems, and stay human. ​​
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