Inside Leadership: Kathleen Schatzberg
What makes a good leader?
I think I can spot talent and support that talent so that an idea becomes a “star program” for the college. I also think I can communicate well and infect others with enthusiasm for the task at hand. I’ve always thought the main job of the leader is to get everyone “rowing in the same direction.” With 500 full- and part-time employees, my leadership doesn’t look very good at all unless our employees are energized and committed to success. I also think a key to leadership is just plain hard work – you have to set an example for others. But, also, who was it that said, “90 percent of success is showing up”!
Is being an effective leader different on Cape Cod than in Boston or New York?
I think it is different. In a smaller community, everyone knows everyone else. You have to bring people together, build coalitions, and understand community assets to a greater extent than in large urban areas where you can carve out a niche and it doesn’t matter much what’s happening in all the other sectors. Here, all the sectors affect each other, so you’d better know what’s going on in every arena across the Cape.
What do you believe motivates your top managers?
In higher education, it’s certainly not money! The top managers I’ve worked with have all been motivated by a sense of pride and accomplishment. In my experience, recognition for a job well done is more important than almost any other reward.
How are they taught to be leaders?
In higher education, we have all sorts of leadership programs, and many senior leaders have participated in at least one of these. Most of the leaders I’ve known, including myself, have had mentors – people further along the career path who cared enough about the future and about nurturing talent that they spend time teaching, coaching, guiding the next generation of leaders. Most of all, you learn leadership on the job, I think.
Are motivations of leaders different from those of lower-ranking staff?
Honestly, I don’t think so. Sure, there are people at all levels who have a “time-clock mentality” and who are working mainly for the paycheck. But the people who are most successful, whether it’s support staff, faculty or administrators, are motivated by a sense of pride in a job well done, and the recognition that goes with that.
How do you measure your own success?
Gosh, the state and federal officials measure my success with scores of data measures, I almost don’t have to! Seriously, I measure my success when I see that the job has gotten done, and done well – the program implemented, the money to support it raised, the challenge successfully met. Of course, I also measure it by how other people seem to evaluate the quality of what gets done here at the college.
When you are the leader, to whom do you turn for counsel?
Mostly I turn to other presidents and to old friends, most of who live far from here. I knew one college president who used to say that the degree of frankness with which she could discuss her job and her institution was in inverse proportion to how far away she was from Massachusetts. These are isolating jobs, in certain ways. I’m surrounded by people, and constantly attending public events, but almost everyone I run into on the Cape is employed or enrolled at the college, related to someone who is, or a potential supporter or partner for the college. The framework of the profession is almost always there, and it’s hard to turn for counsel and advice to people who are that close to the college.
How do you deal with stress and adversity?
What causes me the most stress is overt conflict. I like to find common ground, not fight. Another major stress-producer is when I feel that something essentially unjust or unfair is being pressed on me. I try to deal with stress with humor and by distancing myself – physically or psychologically – from the problem. That often means leaving the Cape, and I have a few places I go to get away, create some space, and really, try not to think about the stresses for awhile, even if only for a few hours or a few days.
What is the difference between leadership and management?
Management is bureaucratic. It gets things done. But leadership envisions what else might be that doesn’t exist at the moment, and goes about creating it, and in the process, getting other people invested and working toward the same vision.
What about those who work for you? Are their priorities different because of the special quality of life on the Cape?
I think rank and file folks who work on the Cape have a harder life than I do. Many people have to work multiple jobs to make it here financially. There are great rewards in such a physically beautiful place, but the price is very high, and the lower on the income scale, the more difficult it is.
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