Higher Education
HR/L&D
Institutional Partner
Emerging Leaders Academy Becomes Institution-Wide Standard
Representative example of a university partnership scaling leadership development across academic and administrative units
The situation
- A regional university sought to develop emerging leaders across academic departments and administrative units
- Previous leadership workshops were well-attended but produced no visible behavior change
- Promotion decisions relied on tenure and technical expertise rather than leadership readiness
What broke
Why training alone wasn't enough:
- Workshop satisfaction scores were high, but managers returned to old habits within weeks
- No common language for leadership expectations across disparate units
- Emerging talent left for institutions with clearer advancement pathways
- Department chairs and directors had no structured way to develop successors
- HR fielded repeated requests for 'more training' without evidence of impact
What we installed
The infrastructure that created lasting change:
- Emerging Leaders Academy with cohort-based learning over 6 months
- Leadership readiness criteria integrated into promotion conversations
- Peer accountability partnerships across departments and colleges
- Mentor matching system with structured touchpoint cadence
- Capstone projects addressing real institutional challenges
Reinforcement cadence
How we made behaviors stick:
- Bi-weekly cohort sessions with application assignments between meetings
- Monthly mentor check-ins with guided conversation frameworks
- Quarterly cross-cohort gatherings for shared learning
- Annual academy graduation with leadership commitment ceremonies
Early wins
Typical progress indicators at each milestone
30 Days
- Early indicators: common leadership language adopted across first cohort
- Mentor relationships established with structured first conversations completed
60 Days
- Typical outcomes: capstone projects underway addressing real institutional needs
- Peer partnerships showing regular accountability conversations
90 Days
- Representative results: first cohort graduates demonstrating observable behavior shifts
- Early indicators of reduced time-to-ready for internal promotions
What we learned
- Institutional partnerships require visible executive sponsorship to overcome departmental silos.
- The cohort structure created peer accountability that individual development never could.
- Capstone projects transformed learning from theoretical to immediately applicable.
The guiding shift
- Less fixing, more guiding
- Less control, more clarity
- More ownership from teams
Recommended Solutions
This example represents typical outcomes from similar engagements. Your results will depend on your organization's context, commitment, and willingness to install and maintain leadership infrastructure.
Could this work for you?
Let's discuss what realistic outcomes might look like for your specific situation.