- Kevin Sanders
- Jun 28
- 4 min read
June 28, 2025
Read Time - 4 minutes
I talk to department chairs every week—new leaders stepping into jobs they’ve worked years to earn.
And here’s what many of them walk into:
No files. No onboarding. No idea who made the last big decision—or why.
Just an inbox full of questions and a department waiting for clarity.
It’s not about who’s in the role. It’s about what’s missing around them.
In higher ed, we don’t hand off leadership—we drop it, and hope someone picks it up.
Leadership isn’t a solo act. It’s a relay. Too many of us are sprinting alone.
We Think We’re Building for Now—But We’re Always Building for Later
The irony?
The more urgent your leadership feels, the more essential it is to think long-term.
Most chairs, deans, and directors are so busy managing the moment—
putting out fires, answering emails, attending 14 standing meetings—they forget to ask:
“What am I leaving behind?”
“Could someone else step in to my role tomorrow?”
And that’s not hypothetical.
In higher ed today, the average tenure of leaders is shrinking—3 to 5 years for many presidents, provosts, and deans.
That revolving door leaves behind:
Unclear systems
Staff burned out by change
Projects with no long-term spine
We’re not just losing people. We’re losing momentum, memory, and clarity.
Meanwhile, Major Corporations Are Planning Years Ahead
In the corporate world, CEO succession is a process.
In higher ed, it’s a panic.
Fortune 500 companies invest years preparing for leadership transitions—building pipelines, documenting systems, and coaching potential successors before there’s even an opening.
Because leadership continuity isn’t about replacing a person—it’s about protecting the mission.
In higher ed?
Someone retires. We scramble. We form a committee.
And we hope the next person figures it out.
That’s not planning.
That’s roulette.
The Work Is Bigger Than You
Your leadership isn’t just about what you do while you’re here.
It’s about what the institution can still do after you’re gone.
And that means your job isn’t just doing the work—it’s making the work transferable.
Every leadership role is temporary—We are all interim.
So, What Does That Look Like?
Here are three ways to start building the kind of leadership your campus will still benefit from—even when you’re no longer in the chair.
Make Yourself Easy to Follow
You don’t need an exit plan. You do need a continuity mindset.
Document the structure behind the scenes.
Create onboarding docs for your core administrative roles (e.g., area heads, staff leads, directors). Include who does what, key responsibilities, workflows, and how decisions get made. This turns unspoken norms into shared systems.
Share your current priorities.
Make sure someone else knows your top 3–5 goals and the reasoning behind them. A successor shouldn’t have to guess what mattered or why certain calls were made.
Continuity isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about making sure no one starts from zero.
Build Work that Outlasts You
If your leadership relies on your memory, your inbox, or your personality—it’s not leadership.
It’s reactive maintenance dressed up as leadership. Real leadership builds clarity that survives transition.
Build repeatable workflows (hiring, planning, evaluation).
Share templates and timelines others can use.
Add the “why” behind big decisions.
Process + context = leadership that lasts.
Grow the Next Leader
Ask yourself: If I had to step away tomorrow, who could step in with context and confidence?
If the answer is “no one”—start small...but start now.
Assign a second-in-command. Pick someone to co-lead a project, represent you in a meeting, or move an initiative forward.
Narrate your thinking. Explain the why behind hard calls and competing priorities.
Create low-stakes reps. Let others run part of a meeting, draft a policy, or lead a presentation.
If your department can’t move forward without you, you haven’t built a team—you’ve built a bottleneck.
Bottom Line
You’re not the final chapter.
You’re the baton pass.
And this isn’t just about setting up your successor—it’s about creating continuity and shared understanding.
So that your department, your team, your program doesn’t lose momentum every time leadership rotates.
Lead like you’re temporary—Because you are.
The best leaders don’t just leave things better than they found them.
They leave things ready to keep going.
Try This Before Friday:
Take 10 minutes.
Write down the one project, system, or responsibility that would stall if you were gone for a month.
Now ask:
— What context is missing?
— Who else should know how this works?
— What would handoff actually require?
That’s the fire drill.
That’s your leadership vulnerability.
That’s where your continuity system needs to start.
Ready to Help Others?
This newsletter grows entirely by word of mouth.
There's no team behind it—no paid ads.
Just one person trying to make leadership in higher ed a little more human.
If something here helped you, I’d be truly grateful if you’d forward it to a colleague or share it online.
That’s how this grows. That’s how we help more leaders lead well.
Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:
1.) Get the free guide: Lead by Design. Put an end to reactive leadership. Learn how to clarify decisions, streamline workflows, and surface expectations—so you can fix what’s broken and focus on what matters most. 2.) Coaching for Academic Leaders: A focused 1:1 coaching experience for higher ed professionals who want to lead with clarity, build smarter systems, and stay centered on what matters most. I work with a limited number of clients each quarter to provide highly personalized, strategic support. Send me a message. 3.) Professional Development Workshops: Interactive sessions for faculty, staff, and leadership teams that help reduce conflict, streamline decision-making, and shift culture with smart systems. Virtual and in-person options available. Sessions tailored to your campus needs. |