The new year begins and I go back to work on Monday (actually that is later today). The two weeks off for Christmas Holidays has been good but it always seems too short. I enter the vacation with a long list of things to do and exit it with a longer list of things to to do. I had planned to write and read and did not do nearly enough of either. I did however rest a little.

We now officially have a new Dean. He started before the holidays unofficially which gave everyone a chance to get their bearings before taking leave. There are many challenges ahead for us and now that this uncertainity has been settled, we can move forward. We were fortunate to have two outstanding interim deans but there is only so much anyone can do when they are given charge for an indefinite amount of time. The decision process took far too long butthat seems commmon in higher education. Change comes at glacial speeds.

One of the new tasks I have been asked to look into is how to best develop leadership skills of our students. I have had some valuable thinking time about that over the holidays and will try to get some ideas on paper this week. Higher education is certainly in need of leadership and I can thik no place better to begin that with our own students.

This afternoon I had even more time to think as I went in to the office. Actually I went on campus when things were quiet to get pictures of “flat Joshua” at campus landmarks for my nephwe but ended up in the office. I noticed that once again the floors were dirty and we have substandard custodial services. I decided that the only way the floors would get clean, to my satisfaction, wouldbe to do them myself. So, I puled out the vacuum cleaner and went to town.

I’ve met with the person who runs custodial services several times but I always get the same excuses; the budgets have been cut, they are understaffed, there are too many buildings, etc. While the excuses are true, they should not be excuses. Everyone has suffered budget cuts but we are educating more, not fewer, students. Our alumni were able to donate millions of dollars for the renovation of our building but the University can not keep it clean.

One thing I have learned over the years is that money is not always the motivator it is made out to be. Sure, there is a certain level you have to pay so people can survive, and you have to somewhat match the going rate in the market, but beyond that, money does very little to improve productivity. I’ve seen many people get raises and their productivity remained the same or even declined. What people value is being valued; they want to be a part of the team; they want to feel important. And that, my friends, takes leadership–leadership we seemingly lack in certain places.

Custodians are often underappreciated. They typically work at night or behind the scenes and do not receive much notice. The few exceptions I run across were while at USSOUTHCOM when they were always noticed. As they entered the doors it was announced that an uncleared person was in the room. Folders were closed, computer screens were locked down, desk drawers were closed, and some conversations were halted abruptly. We said hello as the custodian was escorted through the room to empty the trash and then left. Once the “Area Secure” announcement was made, we got back to work.

Our custodians no longer have ownership of a building anymore and I think it shows in the work. Years back a building “belonged” to a custodian and they took pride in their work. If something was wrong you knew was at fault. Now, there is too much room to spread the blame or credit and I think some pride of ownership has been lost.

Now that pride comes from the top. You have to have good people working for you but then the pride and sense of belonging to a team comes from the top. I have that feeling, why was I out vacuuming floors on a Sunday afternoon? And I’m not the only one either. In our office we all take pride in what we do and how our spaces look. It drives people in other departments on campus crazy sometimes byt we are very visible and people do form impressions of you based on appearances. If they see dirty, cluttered offices, their opinions are that we are dirty disorganized people and they question our ability to educate their children or meet their needs. It is really elementary but that seems to be missed by so many on campus these days. Our visitors don’t care about budget cuts or staff shortages; they care about appearances.

One day, when I’m king, there will be some changes made. Leaders will be developed and those who lead best will be promoted and given even greater responsibility. The end result will be a more effective, efficient organization focused on meeting the needs of our external customers rather than worrying about budget cuts and staff shortages which, by the way, have been the norm for the 20 something years I’ve been involved in higher education. I doubt it will change anytime soon.

But no, for the bigger problem. How to make our students into leaders for tomorrow so we can break the leadership problem our country faces in many areas? Ideas? Email me.