Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/61367
BeingDean dean is to follow some crucial advice: Stay focused, set new challenges, and be prepared to exit gracefully. veteran deans alike must understand, assess and anticipate the typical career life cycle of a business school dean. Their central challenge is to maintain the thrill and sense of accomplishment the job brings while effectively managing and avoiding its pitfalls. Understanding the Cycle From my experiences and observations before, during, and aftermy years as a dean, I've concluded the "career life cycle" of a business school dean progresses in five dis- tinct stages. These stages begin with a visionary phase and progress to implementa- tion and maintenance phases. They all too often, but not necessarily, end with neurotic and suicidal phases. When the five phases run full cycle, they follow a distinctive curve, shown in the figure above. I've seen this cycle play out not only with deans, but also The Beginning Career Life Cycle for Deans (and other top administrators) Maintenance Visionary Implemetation with many business executives and top university administra- tors. The duration of each phase, and of any individual cycle, can vary a great deal. But unless deans recognize the fruition. Accomplishments such as achieving accreditation or receiving mega-dollar endowments are celebrated in this peri- od, which is often punctuated by moments of euphoria as progress toward the vision is made. The fun has really begun. The Maintenance Phase—This stage can be the longest or the warning signs of a "deanship in trouble" and plan according- ly, they may find themselves thrust from the early to late stages of the cycle sooner than they expect. The Visionary Phase—Soon after his or her successful quest for the position, the new dean offers a new vision. Ambitious plans and strategies are initiated to trigger dramatic improvements. Support flows to the dean from virtually all stakeholders. The central administration, faculty, alumni, business community, and the media are eager to assist in the school's surge toward greatness. The good times are starting to roll. The Implementation Phase—Resources are made available to the dean to bring plans to Suicidal Neurotic The End shortest of the cycle, and it can present the biggest challenges to a dean. Some key milestones are BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2004 37