Leading from the Middle

At one university, the unit in which I worked had an Advisory Board of alums.
The board gave us good ideas and were influential in advancing our budgetary needs to the higher-ups.
Some advisors donated cash gifts; all were supportive and encouraging of our efforts aimed at students and faculty.
Advisor motivation varied.
Often, service on a unit's advisory board could be a stepping stone to a more prestigious position including an appointment to the university's Board of Trustees.
While a few board members self-promoted, most loved the institution and generously gave advice and dollars.
On a personal note, a few board members thought I did good work and was worth defending and retaining.
That was tested when a new boss decided I was no longer a good match.
While he ultimately succeeded in my removal, a few friends on the Advisory Board probably extended my run by a couple years and gained for me a decent termination agreement.
Without their backing I?m sure there would have been nothing like a golden parachute.
But, time to party.
Twice a year, our board traveled to campus for two or three days of meetings and wining & dining.
At my table, during one of the formal dinners, was a proud alumna whose daughter was soon to attend the university.
Over copious amounts of wine, a half dozen of us were conversing about the excesses (however ironically) of student drinking and that reform was long past due.
The proud parent would have none of it .
For her, the incoming freshman class was composed of "people I want my daughter to get drunk with".
Pretty shocking? Well, not really.
A quintessential pragmatic, the mother recognized - perhaps from her own undergraduate partying - what many students want when they get to campus: It's party hearty time! (And parenthetically, "study hardly").
Of course, partying with your peers ("future leaders of America", no less) is a good way to make life-long connections.
For mom, it was better the daughter have her benders on campus then in some urban dive.
If the daughter was going to "lie down with dogs" then it was best they be high class dogs.
Needless to say, any reforms of bingeing and underage drinking on campus were still a few years off.

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ONLY a click away, Aesopic wisdom for any aspiring Bacchante daughter:

And, my book on democratic workplaces has much to say about ?working hearty? Leading from the Middle, is available at Amazon.

Copyright text by John Lubans 2023

 

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