According to Suzanne de Janaszx and Maury Peiperl (From the Harvard Business Review, April 2015):

“…CEOs must keep raising their game—and having their thinking usefully challenged—for the good of their organizations. They must routinely make decisions concerning matters they’ve never before tackled. When have they ever had to spearhead a takeover—or defend against one? Resolve a crisis as the public face of the company? Deal with a board of powerful directors with divergent opinions? These demands require new talents. In the words of one well-known executive coach, “What got you here won’t get you there.”

“…In such high-stakes situations, CEOs need wise mentoring. That’s not the same as coaching. Although executive coaches are often superb at providing feedback and closing gaps in specific managerial skills, precious few have actually worked in equivalent roles themselves. Mentors, by contrast, are role models who have “been there and done that.” They can offer timely, context-specific counsel drawn from experience; wisdom; and networks that are highly relevant to the problems to be solved. And unlike company-managed mentoring programs, CEO mentoring is driven by the mentee, reflecting a level of customization rarely provided to people in the ranks.

When CEOs get this kind of support, good outcomes follow…”

Welcome! Let us mentor you and help you be the best you can be, in your new C-level position. Let us be your “Community College Solutions mentor” You may have an appropriate degree for higher education leadership. You may have gone to one or more of the many short “prep” programs for future and new presidents, or executive leaders. You may have been selected because of your extensive experiences in the positions leading up to your new vice president or president role.

However, let’s face it: no new community college C-level exec has experiences in all the areas that they will now be responsible for. That’s where we come in. Community College Solutions!

You have questions you may not want to ask subordinates to answer. Maybe your Board of Trustees has asked a question. Maybe you are not sure of what questions need to be asked because of an issue you only found out about AFTER assuming your new role (this happens much more often than you may think!). Let us be your confidant, your mentor. Your Community College Solution!

Board Chair: Have you hired a new CEO? Maybe between you and the new executive, you have identified weaknesses or areas of less experience than needed. Sure, time may fill in those thin areas. Or dependence on other C-level members may be required. However, we can assess the new CEO’s experiences and areas of competence, mapping areas where we can help fill in the experiences not found. We will mentor your CEO and shorten the time to fuller competency and be available by phone, video, or in-person for them as they navigate the difficult and constantly changing waters of community college leadership.

Call or email to schedule a confidential introduction and discussion of your needs.