You’ve been asked to lead your department because you’ve shown strengths and skills that will enable you to guide your faculty and programs. As you step into the role, you’ll become more aware of your own strengths and those of the faculty and staff you work with. The success of the department will rely on all members contributing their best work and being open to learning and growing. Toward that end, your role as DEO is not unlike that of the coach of a sports team or the director of a music ensemble. You assess the roles and talents of each member of your department and how each individual contributes to the unit through their activities in the relevant areas of research, teaching, clinic work, and service. Your task is to see the big picture, keeping in mind the mission and vision of the department, as you support your colleagues in their work, contributions, and development. No one individual – including you – can be the whole team.

As DEO, you will have an opportunity to notice the contributions and strengths of faculty and staff colleagues in ways that you may not have been attentive to as a faculty member. Each member of the department contributes to the outcomes and success of the collective in distinct ways, while at the same time not everyone’s talents are suited to every role. As you identify colleagues for service assignments, both major (e.g. Director of Graduate Studies or Director of Undergraduate Studies) and minor (e.g. committee member) service assignments, consider where you see evidence of past success, promise for future success, and perhaps most importantly investment in learning and growth. Building the team and building the department culture will be well served by a growth mindset. Even for faculty who might be less inclined in that direction, it remains important to keep them engaged in the collective project and to include them in the work of the department.