I closed my laptop after a day filled with meetings. Most were important and planned while others had been added because someone needed an immediate decision or a problem popped up.
I had solved problems, answered many questions, helped a lot of people and kept them moving, but what I had not done was take the time to strategize on where the team, work, or institution was going.
As higher ed marketing and enrollment leaders, you know this day. You begin with a plan, then other priorities get pushed ahead. An enrollment concern surfaces, a college dean wants to talk immediately, student life has a favor to ask, or senior leadership has an urgent request.
By the end of the day, a lot has been accomplished, except the strategic work that needed your attention and your creativity. Your long-term strategic planning has been pushed yet another day, hopefully before commencement, but definitely before move-in.
This is not a story of poor time management — it’s a story about committed and smart people working inside colleges and universities that are experiencing constant change.
Higher education requires us to be responsive and that’s not going away, but always reacting is not the same as leading. Marketing strategy is institutional strategy that deserves time and attention.
The Strength that Starts Working Against You
For much of my career in higher ed, I was happy to be the person everyone could count on. I was proud to say yes to my team, to enrollment, to the colleges and schools, to athletics, to student life, to advancement, to alumni relations, and everyone else who needed help.
In higher education, we are all connected. We often say it takes a village to recruit a student. I wanted to solve the problems, meet the deadlines, exceed the goals and make things easier for my colleagues. I was a born people pleaser and rarely wanted to be the person who said no.
For many years, that approach worked. It built relationships and earned trust, making me someone others could depend on. It probably worked for you too.
The issue is that strengths used without boundaries stop being strengths. If you are spending your time solving everyone else’s problems, there will not be time left for looking toward the future. The short term has a way of pushing the long term to the back burner.
Higher education is facing many pressures, including enrollment demands, budget constraints, the demographic cliff, trust in the value of higher education, and bigger goals with leaner teams. Each of these feels urgent, which means more of our attention goes to this week’s numbers and this month’s deadlines.
Of course, these challenges matter and can’t be ignored, but someone has to be asking:
- What are we building?
- What will our students need from us in three years?
- How can we develop our teams?
- Which recurring issues need a new process, not just another fix?
You can’t answer those from reactive mode. Responsiveness is a service; it’s not a strategy.
The Strategy Most Leaders Don’t Develop
In higher education, we spend a lot of energy on institutional strategy. Strategic plans, advertising campaigns, communication strategies, financial models. We define where the institution is going and how we intend to get there.
But how many leaders develop a personal leadership strategy?
Behind every title is a person making hundreds of choices about where to focus, when to step in, when to step out and how to show up. That person has values, strengths, limits, goals, and a life outside of their job. All of it shapes the work, and most of it goes unexamined. A personal leadership strategy starts with how leaders use their values, strengths, boundaries, and systems to lead each day.
Four Shifts to Leading with Intention
1. Shift from Urgency-Driven to Values-Driven
Not everything that feels urgent is. When we know our values, we are clear on what matters most. They remind us how we want to show up and what we want our leadership to look like.
If you value trust, you have the honest conversation. If you value growth, you have a team member lead the important initiative. If you value presence, you put your phone away and give your full attention.
Ask yourself: If someone looked at your calendar from the past two weeks, what would they say you value? That answer will show you where you need to better align with what matters most.
2. Shift from Doing It All to Leading from Your Strengths
We’ve seen many in higher ed get promoted because they are excellent problem solvers. That skill won’t disappear when you become a leader.
Leadership is not proving that you can solve everyone’s problems. It’s knowing where your contributions make the greatest impact and creating opportunities for your team members to contribute using their strengths.
This is a perfect time to start delegating projects that help your team grow.
The goal isn’t to become less valuable; it’s to stop making your involvement necessary for everyone else’s success.
3. Shift from Always Available to Healthy Boundaries
Boundaries can feel uncomfortable, especially for those aiming to please. While saying no might be hard, we need to remember every yes carries a cost.
When we say yes to one more meeting, request, or project, we might be saying no to something more valuable. We may be saying no to strategic thinking, creativity or the time to make a better decision.
This isn’t about becoming unavailable; it’s about becoming more intentional with what deserves your time.
4. Shift from Reactive to Intentional
Intentional leaders create personal systems to keep them focused on what matters. They block time to think prior to their schedules getting filled. They review what’s working and adjust. They stay reconnected with why they do this work.
One practice I’ve kept is my Friday review. Ten minutes at the end of the week with four questions:
- Where did I intentionally lead this week?
- Where did I default back into reactive mode?
- What’s one choice I can make differently?
- What are my top three priorities for next week?
Ten minutes of intentional planning. It won’t stop the emergencies, but it can set you up for a week of clarity.
Becoming the Leader Your Next Chapter Requires
Moving from reactive to intentional leadership takes more than blocking time on your calendar. It can also require releasing an identity that no longer serves your role as a leader.
You built a solid reputation as the person who responds fast and fixes things. It got you here, but it probably isn’t what will move you forward.
You don’t have to stop being committed and helpful. You do need to decide how those qualities show up.
Instead of being the person who solves every problem, you can become the leader who helps others grow into problem solvers.
This is not giving anything up – it’s growth.
People will notice. When you stop treating everything as an emergency, your team stops too. When you delegate meaningful projects, people grow. And when you demonstrate healthy boundaries, you create a version of leadership that those coming up may actually want for themselves.
Creating Space for What Matters Most
Higher education needs leaders who can bring their best thinking and creativity to the challenges and opportunities. That requires space to think beyond the immediate issue and to remember what brought you to this work.
You don’t have to wait for your college or university to become less complicated or the demands on your time to slow down.
Choose one value that’s important to you and start putting it into practice. Delegate one responsibility that will help someone else grow. Block out one hour this week and dedicate time to think about what can move your institution and yourself forward.
You don’t become more intentional by accident. You make it a priority.
