Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/58060
If the associate dean for undergraduates says, "Our students are learning a great deal," I don't say, "Thanks!" and then go for a cup of coffee. I say, "Show me the numbers." people to deliver on my word. As the point of contact for many in the community, I am in this position fairly often. Once deans realize how much they rely on others, they generally make two new discoveries. First, they learn how important it is to hire good people. It's critical to fill fac- ulty and staff positions with individuals who will lead to a "virtuous cycle" of hiring. Strong faculty members serve as powerful recruiting tools, because they are deeply interested in working with high-quality peers—and because top candi- dates look for schools where their potential colleagues share a keen appreciation for excellence. Second, new deans often discover that they feel a strong temptation to micromanage. Deans typically ask their faculty to undertake the kind of work they used to do—and do well—such as designing new courses or managing student concerns. At some point a dean might think, "I'd rather do it myself!" In academic jargon, this is a form of the "agency" problem brought about when one person is hired to do someone else's work. But most deans have important tasks associated with the external life of the school. As tempting as it is to be at the school all day to keep the trains running, they must resist the urge. Once I became dean, I tried to monitor how I was spend- ing my time. I decided that if I was spending more than 50 percent of my day in my academic building addressing operational issues, I wasn't doing my job. But deans can be seduced into spending too much time on business school processes—such as budgeting, recruiting, and course staff- ing—if they don't have good people in place or if their processes are broken. This leaves them too little time to carry out their more important duties, such as meeting with donors, partnering with companies, or strengthening rela- tionships with parents or alumni. Working Through Others Because I work with and through others, I am sometimes discouraged by how long it takes to make something hap- pen. I never realized how ponderous a process it is to revise the curriculum or get a course on the books or design a new degree program. I never realized how long it takes to recruit an academic colleague or a state employee. A dean who wants to bring about change might get edgy and impatient at the time constraints. Deans must learn both to balance the needs of diverse stakeholders and to instill a sense of urgency about any project. Because deans work through others, they face a ques- tion that troubles all executives. How do they gather valid information? I'm sympathetic to CEOs who are concerned 40 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2007 with new Sarbanes- Oxley provisions that require them to sign off on accounting reports. Is it really possible for deans to know all the financial details at their schools? A dean must find ways of defining what data are needed and create a system that produces accurate and timely financial information. In fact, one of my challenges has been to develop an information and reporting system for the whole business school, which helps us manage the school and feeds our accreditation maintenance needs. Now, if the associate dean for undergraduates says, "Our students are learning a great deal," I don't say, "Thanks!" and then go for a cup of cof- fee. I say, "Show me the numbers." If one of my professors asserts, "I'm famous. Give me a raise," we go over the record that is part of our performance management system. It becomes obvious that a dean must manage indirectly, not just through the efforts of good people, but through the availability and use of good data. Dealing with People Another thing a new dean learns is that the business model of the job is people-intensive. As a faculty member, I knew that my department's budget was mostly tied to personnel, but I wasn't prepared for the fact that, as a dean, 99 percent of my challenges would be people-related. Yes, at the professor level, relationships matter. But the typical faculty member doesn't have to manage so many relationships at the same time. As a professor, I was always interested in my colleagues and my students. As a dean, not only must I be interested in their lives, but I must care about the needs and aspirations of the provost and the president. I must be interested in the needs of the other deans. The number and nature of the people-oriented problems coming my way have expanded exponentially. Deans quickly learn how personal matters can become personnel matters. On the positive side, we can take plea- sure in the achievements of our faculty and staff. As a new