Navigating leadership transitions - Brian Steeves

10/16/23 • 27 min

In this episode, Brian Steeves, executive director of the board of regents and corporate secretary of the University of Minnesota, talks about leadership transitions, "We need to remember that every single person is a master of change. It's a constant in our lives all the time."
Brian Steeves, B.A., MPA
Brian Steeves serves as executive director of the board of regents and corporate secretary of the University of Minnesota. In this role, he leads annual board planning, guides agenda development, oversees policy work, serves as a key liaison between regents and the administration, and has mapped and coordinated highly successful presidential searches. Mr. Steeves previously served as deputy director in the office of the board of regents, and before that spent time leading a team of budget and policy analysts for the State of Minnesota and coordinating real estate redevelopment projects for the City of Minneapolis. Mr. Steeves also completed a rural policy fellowship at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., before earning a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs. He was awarded the prestigious Truman Scholarship and graduated summa cum laude from Minnesota State University Moorhead with a bachelor’s degree in political science.
Resources:
Managing Transitions (25th anniversary edition) Making the Most of Change (2017) by William Bridges and Susan Bridges
Appreciative inquiry and leadership transitions. Journal of Professional Nursing, 20(2), 103-109 (2004) by Keefe, M. R., & Pesut, D.
Leading with Intention (2018) by Jeanne Spiller and Karen Power.

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Embracing a strategic mindset - Binti Harvey

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In this episode, Binti Harvey talks about developing and using a strategic mindset, "I've seen people grow in this way of thinking when they have clarity about what the objective is and what the desired outcome is."
Binti Harvey, B.A., M.S.
Binti Harvey is a seasoned relationship builder, strategist, and change manager with a
significant record of accomplishment in empowering leaders, teams, and institutions to
successfully advance reputational and financial goals. Ms. Harvey is the Vice President for External Relations and Institutional Advancement for Scripps College, a prestigious women’s and liberal arts institution, and a member of the Claremont Colleges. As chief fundraising and marketing and communications officer, she is responsible for developing and executing programs to amplify Scripps’ brand, increase philanthropic support, and deepen constituent engagement to advance the College’s mission.
Ms. Harvey’s career encompasses more than a decade of marketing and communications, legislative affairs, public relations, and community engagement experience in educational, governmental, and non-profit organizations. Prior to Scripps, she led the design and implementation of institutional branding and fundraising marketing strategies for the California Institute of Technology. As a political aide, Ms. Harvey led advocacy and strategic communications initiatives for the Mayor of Los Angeles and the Superintendents of the Los Angeles and Pasadena Unified School Districts. She began her career in journalism as a business reporter for CBS MarketWatch.
Ms. Harvey earned her B.A. in sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an M.S. in public policy from the University of Southern California, and she has served as a volunteer and speaker for numerous higher education and marketing organizations including the American Marketing Association, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, and Academic Impressions.
Resources:
The Daily Drucker: 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting the Right Things Done (2004) by Peter Drucker
Thinking, Fast and Slow (2013) by Daniel Kahneman
Organizational Culture and Leadership, 4th Edition (2010) by Edgar H. Schein
Learning to Think Strategically, 4th Edition (2020) by Julia Sloan

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From faculty to administration: making the shift - Gretchen Edwalds-Gilbert

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In the episode, Gretchen Edwalds-Gilbert, provost at the University of the Pacific, talks about making the transition from faculty member to chief academic officer, " People are coachable and can develop their skills if they are interested in doing it."
Gretchen Edwalds-Gilbert, Ph.D, B.A.

Gretchen Edwalds-Gilbert serves as Provost at the University of the Pacific, a position she began in July 2023. Before joining Pacific as Provost, Gretchen served for six years as associate dean of the faculty at Scripps College, one of the five Claremont Colleges in southern California. Most recently she served for 15 months as acting vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty at Scripps College. She also has extensive experience working across all five of the Claremont schools, including serving as faculty
director of the Claremont Faculty Leadership Program. A molecular biologist who earned a Ph.D. from Weill Medical College of Cornell University/Sloan-Kettering Institute and a B.A. in biology from Swarthmore College, she was a biology professor on the faculties of Scripps, Pitzer, and Claremont McKenna and is a tenured faculty member in biology at the University of the Pacific. Gretchen was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Warsaw Institute for Genetics and Biotechnology in Poland in 2018-2019, where she has an ongoing research collaboration.
Resources:
Faculty to Administration, Making the Transition (July 2014) by Dr. Joann Bangs, Higher Ed Jobs
Reframing Academic Leadership (2009) Lee G. Bolman and Joan V. Gallos
The Balancing Acts of Academic Leadership: A Guide for Department Chairs and Deans (2021) by Jeanne A. K. Hey
From Colleague to Chair, Department to Dean: Faculty Members in Leadership Positions (June 2022) by Robert A. Scott, Higher Ed Jobs