Leadership: Higher Education Administration

Higher education administration, at all levels, has become an extremely intricate task, which includes human relations compounded by limited financial resources and the continuous quality improvement needs. The administrator is responsible for enrollment, securing external funds, and improving the economic condition of his or her institutions, among endless other tasks, while resolving potential conflicting issue such as increased enrollment and the possible impact on the quality of instructional and student services. Thus, the path to this accomplishment must be of leadership, and not management, and should include shared values and decision making. Higher education has historically been slow to adopt many successful processes. However, while the organizational cultures may be different, there are common elements that characterize effective leadership. For example, Covey 1 has identified seven habits of highly effective people. These include: 1. Be Proactive: Principles of Personal Vision; 2. Begin with the End in Mind: Principles of Personal Leadership; 3. Put First Things First: Principles of Personal Management; 4. Think Win/Win: Principles of Interpersonal Leadership; 5. Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood; 6. Synergize Principles of Creative Communication; and 7. Sharpen the Saw: Principles of Balanced Self-Renewal. Within the context of this paper, the authors will define and explore the application of Covey’s principles to academic leadership at Eastern Michigan University.