Your Career: How do you start acquiring leadership skills?

Management can feel mundane while leadership is exciting, but a department chair must provide both. ADVERTISEMENT [Your Career Logo]( You can also [read this newsletter on the web](. Or, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, [unsubscribe](. Management can feel mundane while leadership is exciting, but a department chair must provide both If you’re early in a faculty career, and thinking you might want to be department chair someday, what can you do to start preparing now? Good faculty leaders come in many different shapes and sizes. Some chairs are effective because they’re process-oriented and analytical, some because they lead with their heart first, not their head. Some chairs leave their legacy in updating and strengthening the curriculum; some, instead, make their primary investment in their faculty colleagues. There are a number of axes like these along which leaders might place themselves, and the picture that emerges would tell you a lot about where you’d most fruitfully invest your leadership energies. Of course nothing is more important to position you for a chair’s job than success as a teacher and scholar/creator. So always keep in mind that the portfolio you’re building to win tenure and promotion isn’t different in kind from the CV that will get you that chair’s job. For now, set about discovering which elements of faculty leadership are most rewarding for you, and lean into those. Look for occasional opportunities to step up, such as serving on a search committee or preparing the self-study report for a program review. Depending on your relationship with your current department head, you may also be able to mention your curiosity about the chair’s role, and signal your willingness to get a taste of faculty leadership when the chance arises (filling in during a leave or sabbatical, for instance). Continue reading: “[Ask the Chair: How Do I Start Training for the Role Now?]( by Kevin Dettmar Share your suggestions for the newsletter with Denise Magner, an editor at The Chronicle, at denise.magner@chronicle.com. If you’d like to opt out, you can log in to our website and [manage your newsletter preferences here](. ADVERTISEMENT SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to essential news, analysis, and advice. UPCOMING PROGRAM [The Chronicle's Library and Institutional Success Program | July 2024] The Chronicle is partnering with Ithaka S+R to host a brand new [professional development program for librarians]( in July. This innovative two-week program will help library leaders understand the many roles they might take on, boost the success of the campus library, and better align with their institution’s goals. Learn more about our seminars and workshops, and [register today]( LATEST CAREER ADVICE, OPINION, AND NEWS ADVICE [Career Change Is Uncomfortable. Embrace it.]( By Maria LaMonaca Wisdom [STORY IMAGE]( Too many academics in the humanities are trapped in a cycle of professional discontent. SPONSOR CONTENT | Johnson & Wales University [How Boxing is Revolutionizing Parkinson Therapy]( ADVERTISEMENT [Career Change Is Uncomfortable. Embrace it.]( UPS AND DOWNS FOR LABOR [The Grad Students Resoundingly Rejected a Union. The Postdocs Voted the Other Way.]( By Adrienne Lu [STORY IMAGE]( Contrasting outcomes at Princeton University point to the challenge of organizing student workers. ACADEMIC FREEDOM [A Holocaust Scholar Called Israel’s Actions in Gaza ‘Genocide.’ It Cost Him a Job Offer.]( By Maggie Hicks [STORY IMAGE]( In less than a week, the hiring of a new director for the University of Minnesota’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies fell apart. THE REVIEW | ESSAY [Middle East Scholars Are Under Pressure]( By Marc Lynch and Shibley Telhami [STORY IMAGE]( Tensions on campus are real and intense. ADVICE [2 Ways to Support Students’ Mental Health]( By Katie Rose Guest Pryal [STORY IMAGE]( How to take steps that will both help your struggling students and lessen the burden on you. FROM THE CHRONICLE STORE [Fostering Students' Free Expression - Buy Now]( [Higher Education in 2035]( Higher education is facing an array of challenges: economic headwinds, political pressures, and shifting demographics. [Order your copy]( to help your institution prepare for what’s ahead, and discover how the sector will evolve in the coming decade. SPONSOR CONTENT | University of Bath [Predicting Tomorrow's Health with Today's Wastewater]( Discover how studying wastewater today can empower us to anticipate and prevent tomorrow's health crises, thanks to research at the University of Bath. What we’re reading Here’s more on career issues and trends from around the web. See something we should include? [Let me know](mailto:denise.magner@chronicle.com?subject=Your Career feedback). - In The Wall Street Journal, a conversation about the growing interest in a [four-day work week]( and how it’s working at two companies. - [Advice]( in the Harvard Business Review on how to “compassionately hold your team accountable.” - Still looking for summer reading recs? The New York Times has a list of [19 nonfiction books to read]( in your downtime. MORE CAREER RESOURCES HEADS UP [How to Run a Meeting]( By Gary A. Olson [STORY IMAGE]( Conducting committee work as efficiently as possible is a form of collegiality. DATA [How Much Do Noninstructional Employees Earn?]( [STORY IMAGE]( Here’s how wages have changed over the past five years for those who work in sectors such as business and financial operations, management, and education services. PAY UPDATE [How Much Has Faculty Pay Changed Over Time?]( By Brian O’Leary [STORY IMAGE]( See the latest federal data on compensation for all ranks of the profession at thousands of American colleges. [The Library and Institutional Success]( [STORY IMAGE]( The Chronicle and Ithaka S+R are partnering to provide library leaders a professional development program tailored to their unique challenges and goals. This two-week virtual program is designed to empower participants to develop their leadership skills and drive institutional success through virtual seminars on topics of broad national importance to librarians and their institutions, as well as workshops on the topics most pressing for the campus library that will provide a collaborative space to assess progress on library initiatives and create plans for future success. JOB OPPORTUNITIES [THE JESS AND MILDRED FISHER COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS]( Towson University [OPEN RANK FACULTY MARKETING]( Northwestern University [Library Collections Services & Analysis]( Arizona State University Libraries [Assistant Professor of Marketing]( University of Chicago [Search other jobs.]( Stay ahead of the game and upload your resume to our job board. You'll be visible to hiring managers who are actively seeking top talent like you. [Upload your resume today.]( CAREER RESOURCES [Read the June collection]( for advice on finding a job as a new PhD grad. Learn how you can manage job market expectations, dually apply for industry and academic roles, and more! NEWSLETTER FEEDBACK [Please let us know what you thought of today's newsletter in this three-question survey](. This newsletter was sent to {EMAIL}. [Read this newsletter on the web](. [Manage]( your newsletter preferences, [stop receiving]( this email, or [view]( our privacy policy. © 2024 [The Chronicle of Higher Education]( 1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037