The Leader Fast Lane - Episode 22 - with Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec

In this episode of Leader Fast Lane, I sit down with Texas Tech University President Lawrence Schovanec for a candid conversation about leadership in one of higher education's most complex environments. Drawing on more than four decades at Texas Tech—as professor, dean, provost, and president—Dr. Schovanec shares practical insights on making difficult decisions, leading through uncertainty, balancing competing stakeholder interests, and keeping an institution focused on its mission. The conversation explores the importance of humility, empathy, strategic thinking, and maintaining hope during times of significant change, offering leadership lessons that apply well beyond higher education.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Hello, and welcome to the Leader Facility, the podcast where accomplish leaders from higher education, public service, and beyond share real stories, practical principles, and hard-earned lessons listeners can apply immediately. No buzzwords, no shortcuts, just real leaders sharing real lessons you can apply right away. I'm Lane Mears, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Leader and Culture Development at the Texas Tech University System. Today I am joined by Texas Tech University President Lawrence Skuvenek. After receiving his doctorate in mathematics from Indiana University, President Skuvenic joined Texas Tech's faculty as an assistant mathematics professor. Today, as the university's 17th president, his tenure at Texas Tech has spanned more than four decades. He's served as a department chair, dean, provost, and since 2016, university president. Since his appointment, Texas Tech has received more than $2 billion in philanthropic gifts, and the university's infrastructure has seen considerable improvements. Moreover, enrollment at Texas Tech has increased by nearly 6,000 students under Scubenec's leadership. And in 2025, the university exceeded 42,000 students for the first time. In 2019, Texas Tech reached a significant milestone. The Texas legislature approved the establishment of the Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine, the state's first in over a century. While the increase in enrollment is notable, Scubenek is particularly proud of the significant progress made in student success, highlighted by a more than 40% improvement in Texas Tech's four-year graduation rate. Reaffirmed a very high research activity institution by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, the university's research expenditures have grown by more than 40% since Scubenek became president, exceeding $290 million in total research expenditures in 2025. Scubenik and his wife Patty, a member of the mathematics faculty, are inspired every day by the students, each of whom brings unique experiences and perspectives that add to the fabric of the Texas Tech experience. Together they share the values of grit, determination, and hard work, traits that are on display every day by Red Raiders across the globe. It's great to have you on the podcast, President Scubanek.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

Thank you. Thank you, Lane. Thanks for having me on.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Great. Well, if you wouldn't mind, I know I read a little bit of your bio, but if you wouldn't mind giving uh just a background on you and just set up our conversation.

SPEAKER_03 2:37

Well, um, I've been at tech a long time. I came here in 1982. Hard to believe. But um I was a professor of mathematics. Um, I enjoyed that, and uh I eventually became a chair. And um when I was asked to serve as an interim dean, by the the outgoing dean, at first I declined that position, and but then uh when she asked me again, I agreed to do it. I told the associate chair, leave my books in my office. I'll be back in six months. I think I've been in that building twice or three times since then. And um I served as a um dean, then interim president, and then um provost and now president. Um it wasn't like a plan that I had ever sketched out. I was I was fortunate. I had great people around me and I was in the right place at the right time.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Yeah. That's great. Well, I mean, you you you've said that you yeah, you didn't begin to you didn't set out beginning aiming to to being a university president. Um, but what what experience do you think prepared you for the that increasing level of leadership throughout your career?

SPEAKER_03 3:55

I would go back to my youth. I was raised on a farm, one of 12 children, wonderful parents, uh, great role models. My mom graduated from college in 1950. She was a farm girl. It's unusual for people to graduate from college, especially a woman, I think back then as she did. My father was a farmer, but he's he started going to college in his 30s and got a degree, a graduate degree, and security position at a small university. Many of my brothers and sisters went. Um, my father used to always tell us there won't be much to divide, but we'll provide for a college education. So I think from the very beginning, not that my parents harped on it, but I saw the importance and the expectation that education matters. And so for me, it's always been very natural to advocate for the value of education, especially uh you know college education. Um, and so that that's been an important, I think, uh part of my upbringing. And also it instilled in me certain qualities that I think matter, uh hard work, and then also um I uh would say that um my parents were very friendly people. And for me, um I think that shows that I like people and that if you want to be an administrator, you better like people and you better like making people as successful as they can be. So I think just my family experience and I had great uh mentors in college and at graduate school and undergraduate, and so there's there's many, many reasons I think that um prepared many that prepared me for this situation.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

Sure. If and I thank you for sharing that, that uh your formative experiences in the home um preparing you. I I'm fairly new to higher ed. Uh, been here in this role for a year. Um, but in some of my conversations and engagements across the system, Angelo State, Midwestern State, Tech, the medical schools, it seems like there's a belief that universities are increasingly called upon to do things or teach things or train things with students that were in the past more often taught in the home. And I wondered if you would agree with that and maybe some talk on the challenges that that universities face in stepping into that role.

SPEAKER_03 6:41

Well, I I'm not sure I would agree with that.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Okay, good.

SPEAKER_03 6:44

Um, the um oh you might be referring to fundamental academic skills. Students, many students show up who don't have, say, the the solid founding and say mathematics or some areas or writing and English and as they did. And and that's hard, and there's many reasons for that. But I think in terms of values, I don't think it's ever the role of education to be the primary entity in one's life to teach them values. I mean, you you you bring a lot of that from your family. Now, we always have to provide an environment that develops character, yeah, instills principles of honesty and integrity, respect. We contribute to that. But I do believe that a lot of those characteristics are very deeply rooted in the family experience. And if society depends on an institution to do that, I think we have a problem.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

And I concur. And I my thought my question was aiming more at the values, the character. Um, and and I I I tend to agree with you that it it cannot be the university is not equipped to play a lead role in that, in my experience. You have much more experience than I do just from my short experience. But it seems like I'm in going to conferences where there's talk about character formation in university. Um, but I it has to be this partnership, I think, from um the university's role with the ingrained values that students are coming in with.

SPEAKER_03 8:21

I I'm not saying that as an excuse that we don't have the serious obligation to address matters of that relate to character and morality in that such. We we have a role. And I think especially today, students are in this dynamic society. Um, if you think back 20 years ago, 30, 40, college was uh often the place that prepared students for a career, more than that, but a job, a well-defined job. And today we have to prepare students to be nimble enough to create the careers and jobs are going to go into. And we're often preparing students for jobs that don't exist. And so we have to cultivate a different sort of ingenuity and uh motivation in students to address the dynamic state of our society and how technology has changed that so much. And I think that does depend on instilling in students a great deal of motivation, yeah. Uh motivation to keep on learning because they're gonna have to learn and relearn and learn as as they adapt to all the changes going on in the world. Part of it's due to society technology, and part of it is societal changes.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Sure. Excellent. Good. Um, another issue that we we encounter across the system as we talk with faculty and staff is this move from being a faculty member, becoming excellent as a teacher, and then moving into perhaps like a department chair, a more of a leadership role and the the change in responsibilities there and some of the challenges with that. And I wonder you've you've made that transition. Um, how would you say the differences for for you in in leading an institution that you deeply love and how that's was different from just working at the institution?

SPEAKER_03 10:20

Uh well, you have to be more outwardly focused. Um, when you're a faculty member, of course, you're you want to be an excellent teacher. You spend a lot of time securing your doctorate or terminal degree, and you have a certain dedication to your career, your profession, your your academic area. But once you become an administrator, you have to start thinking about what other people are doing and how you facilitate their success. And um it's not so much about building your resume anymore, it's helping them build their resumes. And that's, I think, is the big difference of being an administrator. Um, being outwardly focused, thinking of what you can do to grow the success of all of the other people at the university.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

Yeah. That's good. It definitely sounds like a mindset shift that may be natural for some and more challenging for others, but that's the nature of the job.

SPEAKER_03 11:20

Yeah. I but I do think that being having a strong foundation in the academic, the academy is important. Now, more and more administrators come from outside the academy. And there's some advantages to that, and you see more and more of it, especially at the presidential level. But I do believe it's helpful to be an effective president if you were a faculty member. You knew what it meant to be in the classroom, sure. And you knew what it meant to be frustrated by lack of progress in your scholarship, submitting proposals that were not funded, understanding all of those dynamics helps. So you have to kind of change your mindset, but you always draw upon your past experiences as you make decisions. Sometimes it enables you to act a more um in a more informed manner, but also with more empathy to the situations you know that they're dealing with in the rank and file.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

Right. Good. Thank you for that. Um, so I've got a I've got a series of questions based on a few themes that I'm gonna dive into um as we uh continue with our time. The the first theme is on character and decision making, a little bit of a follow-up on on the character discussion we just had. But every leader eventually faces decisions where seemingly every option disappoints someone. How do you make difficult decisions when there isn't a clear, quote, right answer?

SPEAKER_03 12:51

Well, you need to be aware of the facts. People can tell if you're uninformed. So you need to gather information and you need to depend on the collective wisdom of the people around you. I'm a great believer in the collective intellectual uh capital of these people we have on this campus. You listen to them, you gather information, you listen to them, and then you ultimately you're not there just to listen, you're there eventually to make to take action on what you've learned. And um, if you're going to be constrained by the fear of disapproval, you'll be paralyzed. Um so when you have over 6,000 employees, 2,500 faculty, believe me, you'll never satisfy everybody. And um I think one thing I have learned is um not to be obsessed with disapproval because you're just hearing another point of view, right? And I I've told this to my wife, I've told this to my chief of staff. I I'll say, how many times will I be wrong until I always remember there's another side to the story? It's so true. You you have to try to see another person's perceptive perspective. They may not think you do. And I'm sure I've made decisions that um people think, what was he thinking? But but believe me, we we usually don't make those decisions off the cuff. But you have to make a decision. I mean when you go into something like COVID, you just know that nothing you do is going to please everybody.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 14:42

You're being too aggressive, you're not being aggressive enough. You have the mentality of the university community to take into account, but also the political issues that come into play, trying to balance that. And so um you have to balance all those concerns, but don't be paralyzed by by all the different views that come before you.

SPEAKER_00 15:09

One of my favorite quotes from General Colin Powell um sometimes being a leader means pissing people off.

SPEAKER_03 15:16

It happens a lot, and it's part of it. But um and I have. I think what's made the role of the president more difficult is all the different uh manners in which feedback can be provided. We lived through this in a very intense way just in the last month or so as we dealt with a very controversial issue that came up in athletics. Um you have social media, and many people out there do not have your best interest at heart. And one time my wife told me, You're not strong enough to look at social media. I think she's right. But don't be swayed too much by those things. I make it though, is you can't you you ignore the input of your university community, the faculty, staff, the students, the alumni at your own peril. Those are the people you need to listen to.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

Right. Because the the social media crowd often has a very different agenda than do they have an agenda? Well, the uh that probably a very selfish one.

SPEAKER_03 16:22

Um I think they're just in interested in entertaining themselves.

SPEAKER_00 16:28

All right, a follow-up uh question on the character and decision making. You mentioned empathy and the importance of leaders having empathy, certainly going from the faculty to the administrator role. What role does humility play in leadership at the highest levels? And then can a university president admit uncertainty without weakening confidence?

SPEAKER_03 16:52

Humility is very important. Um I think one way to lose the the confidence of those you serve is to act as if you um as if you have no self-doubts. Because these are not simple matters, and uh humility is an acknowledging that you're there isn't always a perfect solution that you will make mistakes. And I think in recent this recent issue I just referred to, we could have done some things better, no doubt about. And so when people come up to me and say, gee, that was really tough, I say, Well, thank you for your support. We learned something. Humility is one way of acknowledging your continuously learning, hearing their feedback, and trying to do better.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

And the other thing you mentioned, you said besides humility, can can a university president or someone in a senior level role admit uncertainty without weakening confidence of those around them?

SPEAKER_03 17:54

That's the natural process of decision making. You say these are the issues, these are the alternatives, this is the path we're going. These are the pros, these are the cons. And in laying out the good and the possible problems, you're admitting uncertainty. But that's part of what we do, it's part of life. We're faced with challenges and changes all the time. And those challenges always carry a certain amount of uncertainty.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:22

And if you have if you portray an attitude that you have no doubts, it really means you're not constantly listening and trying to learn.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

Right. Another um uh issue that has come up from senior levels, uh leaders down to more entry-level leaders that I've engaged with across the system is this concept of imposter syndrome. That if I don't portray myself as being competent immediately and knowing all the answers, people are going to find out that I'm over my head.

SPEAKER_03 19:01

Well, I don't worry about that. Uh one thing, I think um every university has their own culture. And the region in which the university sits has a culture too. And in West Texas, authenticity matters. They they say you can stand on a tunic can and see the back of your head out here. See I tell you what else they can see, they can see a fake a mile away. Yeah, and when I engage with alumni, they know if you're real or not.

unknown 19:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:36

Uh so you you you have to be what you are in warts and all.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:42

Now, people in the office of media and communication sometimes wish I would be less colloquial. Um, but I I do certain radio programs that are very popular locally, and they don't want me to do them. But then when I go into a store, people come up to me all the time. Hey, thanks for doing that. You seem like one of us.

SPEAKER_00 20:06

That's great.

SPEAKER_03 20:07

You know what? I think I am. Because that's where I came from. You know, I I came from an area, a culture very much like you have here in West Texas. And you cannot you cannot deny that once you go into administrative rule. It's part of what you are.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Yeah. All right, I'm I'm gonna move on to our next topic, um, leading through change. You mentioned this a little bit before with your talk about AI, but higher education has experienced tremendous disruption with demographic, demographic shifts, AI, public scrutiny, financial pressures. How do you help people stay hopeful while being honest about the challenges facing higher ed?

SPEAKER_03 20:49

Well, no generation has monopoly on change. That's you know you think back to what many people think was a golden era of higher ed after World War II, GI Bill brought this opportunity to so many people. I think what we have to recognize today is that the human capital is such an important asset. And um you have the the the the emerging importance of technology but you never fully realize its benefits if you don't develop certain human characteristics creativity, collaboration, uh critical thinking. Uh those are the kind of the foundations of a liberal arts that was the core of higher education before a century ago, and it's still relevant today. So in dealing with change, you have to realize what are some of the basic principles of higher ed that are relevant to this new application in the world today. There's a constant sort of um revision of what we do. And we we just created New strategic plan. Um, we went to a strategic enrollment plan. And um, in doing that, we went to the departments, looked at where the opportunities were, where are the high applications, where are the careers there, and you balance that um with what we do and what society needs. So uh I think you can't operate in a vacuum. You set a vision and a plan for the university that's cognizant of the changing world those students are going to be in, but in some ways you never surrender certain core aspects of higher education that I alluded to. Fundamental um skills like critical thinking, um, communication, collaboration, working together, and then you complement that with kind of the brand of Texas Tech, an endearing humility, great work ethic, and you bring that all together. That's how you deal with the change. The changes are going to come, and you you do adapt to these changes. Uh, and it's a mix of of blending the old with the new and being aware of what the market is uh is presenting with us.

SPEAKER_02 23:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:21

Now you got it, you mentioned funding and things like this. Yeah. There's no doubt. 20 years ago at Texas Tech, about 60% of our revenue may have been somewhat related to state support. 30% was more tuition that we charge students and didn't need auxiliaries. Today that's flipped. About 30, 35% comes from state. And we're very lucky because in many states it's less than 10, 5%. So we have to operate differently to deal with all of those financial issues. And that's why I think it's very important that you have a team around you that can help you make those decisions. My relationship with the CFO, the other VPs, with the the deans, the chairs are so important. But you got to communicate, let people know what's going on. And I think we do a fairly good job about that. The bad news is the good. People want to know you're investing in them and why you're putting certain money in some places and not others. And you have to change.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

Sure. Yep. On a on a similar topic, um what you've just said, and then with your background on faculty and staff and working with students, leading alumni, donors, legislatures, legislators, groups with all very different priorities. How do you go about leading people who often want different things?

SPEAKER_03 24:57

Well, I think um part of that is trying to convey we all want the same thing. We've got opportunities for these students, and we have and I think you have to make the different groups aware of how their contributions contribute to that ultimate goal.

unknown 25:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:15

Educate students that this state needs this society, needs this world needs. So um that means one thing when you talk to donors, like we're in a campaign right now, and we have four pillars. One is transforming lives, that's scholarship, the other is academic excellence. They get that. And then when we go to the legislators, first of all, they want to know you're good stewards of your money because they want to see it turn into benefit for students. So you have to constantly make sure you are good stewards of your money, but explaining what you're doing and why what you're asking for would enable you to create opportunities for more students and hence more benefit for the state. And then to the faculty, sometimes um, you know, some disciplines will grow, others have a retraction, and those are sometimes difficult conversations. The provost gets the joy of doing that at more practical levels. But I think we have to explain to the faculty for us to enjoy a healthy financial situation, these are certain things we have to do. We have to pay attention to enrollment, but growth shouldn't be our obsession. Are these students graduating? And I'm very, very proud of the fact that in the last 10 years we've seen some dramatic improvement in the graduating students. Uh you you alluded to that in the bio. When I started, our four-year rate was like in the 36, 37 percent. Today it's over 51. That's incredible in 10 years. People are astounded when they hear those numbers, but they don't realize they're kind of the national norms for public institutions. Our six-year rate, which is what people use in reporting a lot of rankings like US News, has gone from 61 to over 70, 71 percent. That's good. And so we always have to uh work with our faculty and our staff to always make sure we're all focused on making sure these students are experiencing success. And the ultimate measure of student success is did you get a degree? And did you get out of here with a minimal amount of debt? And did you get out of here with an education that prepares you for a satisfying and fulfilled life and career? Universities are not vocational schools. This is not just about getting a job, but don't say that to the parents. They they want to know, but it's it's more than that, and and and I think our faculty do an exceptional job of dealing with the personal development of students, and that's so much, that's so important, in additional to the professional. So when you're having these conversations with all of our constituents, the alumni, legislators, parents, and students, in some ways we're all talking about the same thing. What can we do here that's going to help you have a wonderful career and life and all the benefits that a university brings to you?

SPEAKER_00 28:26

Appreciate that answer. Um, one one follow-up question. Um and you talked about just having developed a strategic plan in your response about how do you lead people wanting different things. You've got that unifying strategic plan. I've been in organizations where there is a very clear mission, vision, and values, but it's often not adequately communicated down so that people at the lower levels understand their role in contributing to those higher-level outcomes. How do you see that happening at Texas Tech?

SPEAKER_03 29:07

That's something that probably isn't done as well at any institution as it should be.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:13

You construct a strategic plan, it sits on a shelf for 10 years. This was only a five, our next plan was only five years because we realize in this dynamic nature of the world in which we live, it's kind of silly to say we're going to do this for 10 years, because change has such an immediate impact on what we do. But um that starts with good communication from my office and the VPs, the V, and then like say the provosts to the deans, the deans to the chairs. When we come back and try to justify an investment or um a priority, we want to make sure it's related to some of our strategic properties, that is, student success, scholarship and research that matters, um, creative activity that enriches the community, but also far beyond our community. So making that they want to know, and like when you get into research, they want to know well, what are our priorities? Well, we have to pay attention to funding sources, but that doesn't mean you don't continue to support the humanity. So there's a constant that uh sort of task of communicating, making sure all the faculty feel that their scholarship, their creative activity matters. But it and um and and always making sure that when we do make decisions, it's not orthogonal to what we claim is our mission. Students, meaningful research, community engagement service.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

It's a challenge. It's a challenge with any organization. Um, but I think like you've talked about, having the people that take it on the responsibility to carve out what the what ownership they have of their piece to contribute to the higher level objective is communicated effectively down. I think ideally any organization, anybody in an organization would understand their role in contributing to higher level outcomes, but that is a that is a complicated process in a large bureaucracy, any bureaucracy. Um, but but I I concur that the communication and and clear leadership is is invaluable too.

SPEAKER_03 31:30

The point you mentioned about people knowing their roles. Uh probably one way that I have changed over the years is um taking advantage of the roles that people play more than I used to. So if you're raised on the farm, there's kind of a an attitude uh you'll take care of yourself. If you want it done right, do it yourself. That doesn't work at a university, you can't do everything. And so I've learned to you you might ex you the people know what matters, what we are focused on, but then let them do their job. Uh be more collaborative, uh, more flexible.

SPEAKER_01 32:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:20

Um, I've told my chief of staff sometimes who says, I waffle, I change my mind too much. I always remind her of a quote of Winston Churchill. Those who don't change their mind don't change anything. And I think you have to realize that there's a constant influx of information. Yeah, you learn things, it comes from those people that who are involved in the trenches doing the job, and they'll come back. And you so you you take advantage of people and um let them do their job because you have so much talent out there. And they're like I said before, I believe in the collective wisdom of the university community that goes from students all the way up to the deans, the chairs, the VPs, and so on. Take advantage of it, but let them do their job. And sometimes you you might think I wouldn't have done it that way, but that's the way we're gonna do it because they have their own expertise.

SPEAKER_00 33:16

Sure. I'm gonna shift to our next topic, which is on resilience or grit. Every leader carries burdens, responsibilities that that people in the public never never see, never understand. What practices help you remain steady under pressure?

SPEAKER_03 33:35

I think depending on the people around me, um, you know, it is kind of a reality of this position that you do feel isolated at times, and you you carry certain burdens and some things don't need to be shared. Yeah, but ultimately uh you need to to depend on the people around you and and um I have great people around me. Um and so that contributes to your resilience and also perspective. Um don't become obsessed with the urgency of the moment of this despair, which you think is a disaster, because there's another one coming. And you gotta keep a perspective that we will work through these things. Um, and you know, some things have a short shelf life and some things linger for a long time. So you can't walk around um as if you have the whole world upon your shoulders. And and I get reminded by that by uh some people who I'm very close to who say don't whine. They don't they don't want to know.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:58

Well you you made the point earlier. Well, do you lessen your credibility if you if you acknowledge some self-doubt or some uncertainty? Yes, you need to do that, you need to be honest, but you don't need to walk around acting like you're questioning everything you do. You make a decision, you move forward. Yeah, and um and also if you keep a perspective, you realize that um these issues were pass. I I was at a um we go to a lot of the wave football games, it's a chance to go go there with donors and support interact with alumni. And I was at a a restaurant at a university in another state, and one of the former chairmen of the board of the regents sent me a photograph, and it was a picture of me with two other regents, the athletic director, and we were in a closet at a restaurant with cleaning supplies stacked in the back wall. And the former chairman of the board said, Do you remember why we were in that closet? Now, what I do know is there was an emergency, and I do believe it involved a call to Austin, it may have been the governor's office, but nobody could remember what the emergency was two years later. That's keep that in perspective, you which you think is a dire situation, is not always as dire as it feels at the moment, sure, and don't let it overtake you.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

Yeah, my last episode, I interviewed a former colleague with a nonprofit that I was with for five years in East Africa. Um, he was leading the organization's work in Uganda, I was leading it in Rwanda. And we both struggled with this concept of like it all depends on me, whether this person's getting justice, whether the system improves. And it's it, I think it's it's not uncommon when you're doing something that you care deeply about and you're the leader, that's a temptation. Maybe not like a temptation is the wrong word, but it's a maybe a tendency to take it like it's all on me. Um but like you've said, having those people around you that can, or things that are habits that you have that bring to mind a perspective that there is something beyond this, that this feeling will pass is invaluable. Um and it's good that you have people around you because you know I've not been a university president, but I've led organizations and we need those people that we can that they can point us in the right direction and pull us out of that cycle.

SPEAKER_03 37:49

I believe that at least 98% of the people out there are good. I do. I think yeah, I have my detractors, and they will always be my detractors, but I still respect them. I try to avoid things that are a vexation to my spirit, so I don't necessarily seek out their company, but I know that their voice matters. That there was at a recent event this spring where we were honoring uh faculty and staff for longevity, somebody was coming to the line, and I could see the trepidation on his face because he's been very vocal in raising concerns about a serious matter that affects the university. I shook his hand and I said to him, Your voice matters. That's why I said, Your voice matters. I thought he was going to faint. And I heard from a friend, he didn't really he had reservation about even going up there. So I think you have to let people know that just because they disagree with you, um they're all part of the process, and um, and those that support you are a great source of strength and stability and sustainability.

SPEAKER_00 39:07

Yeah. Yeah, and and leader, like you said, leadership can be a very lonely endeavor. So finding people that that I mean, nobody's really truly alone. You may feel that way from time to time, but having people that you can lean on in those times is is more.

SPEAKER_03 39:23

But but as you said, when you were in those roles, did you feel like you had to do it all? Well, I think you need to be prepared to do it all. And that means I'm I'm really an in the weeds type of guy. Um, and I think the CFO would say that when she gives me stuff, or or the vice president for enrollment management, I know exactly what the enrollment is, what the projection is, what it was five years ago, how many applications. You need to know the facts. Yeah, but those facts don't mean just because you have the facts, doesn't mean you're in the position to always act upon what needs to be done in that particular role. So you make you let the VP of enrollment management do her thing, you let the CFO do her thing, and so on and so forth. But you need to know the reasons why they are doing so you could disagree with them, go around back and forth, but uh I I don't think um allocating responsibilities to people means you don't have to have a good knowledge of what they're doing.

SPEAKER_00 40:26

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 40:27

And so I am a bean counter.

SPEAKER_00 40:29

I'm gonna move to uh shift to our last uh uh theme, which is students and legacy. So when when today's students graduate, and looking down 20 years from now, what do you hope they remember about the culture of Texas Tech, not just what they learned?

SPEAKER_03 40:49

Well, I I think I tell students when I talk to prospective groups there are a couple things you're gonna take from this university, friendships that will be a part of your life forever, and memories that will become more dear the longer you're away from tech, and that's so true. And so you want them to have an experience here that enriches their life in a way that goes way beyond their professional career. They have people that are important to them besides their immediate family that are friends, and and also they learned to recognize the value of alternative viewpoints of the world, and and our students I think are great at in that way. They they have um they have their beliefs, but they have a great knack for engaging in civil discourse, being respectful, if not always agreeing. We had a very controversial presentation on campus a few years ago. We had the police there anticipating a problem, nothing happened. That speaker went to a university on the West Coast right after they were at tech, cars were overturned, yeah, people destroyed assets. There was a disruptive demonstration. Our students don't do that. And um, so I I think that translates well into their career, their profession. They are leaders in their community, so I want them to take away certain qualities that um I think Texas Tech is known for. And you know, we will have our periods of difficulty, we're going to do some changes now. I extended an invitation for people to come and help celebrate the July 4th on campus. And some people said, I won't be coming. You're doing some things I don't like. It's a sad day in Mudville, one person wrote. And I will not be giving you any more money because I don't like certain things going on on campus. I get it. But I think that in the long term, people will look at the relationships and the experience and always see the benefit of it beyond the knowledge they took away from campus that was pertinent to their professional career. That's red raiders are a very, very close family with reason.

SPEAKER_00 43:23

I have seen that. Again, I'm new to the the Red Raider family, but as I've traveled and walked through airports, whether it be in Nashville or Phoenix or other places in Texas, and seeing people wearing the Red Raider gear and just throwing out a wreck'em, and man, people just light up. It's it's there's such a family and community.

SPEAKER_03 43:45

There's many reasons for it. Some of those people you can say, well, it maybe athletics brought them together. Well, for some it does, and for many it does, but for some others, it's it's the cultural experiences, it's it's the College of Visual and Performing Arts. In fact, that's a very passionate group I was in San Antonio for the annual convention of the Texas Music Educators Association and the Texas Tech choir was uh selected as the collegiate choir. There were thousands of people at that event. And I was moved very deeply. And then we had a reception afterwards and um the pride of of the alumni it was just palatable. So they show their pride in different ways and we're a we're not a monolithic culture. That's one of the great things of being part of a large university family like Texas Tech. We'll have our disagreements but in the end I think they value the university for what it brought to their lives and they support it what it can bring to other lives.

SPEAKER_00 44:52

That's great. Well I'm I'm really thankful to be a part of it. Any last words for listeners across the system that you'd like to share?

SPEAKER_03 45:02

No. You know these are uh these are good maybe it's this is a healthy exercise for one to go through to really think about what it is what is your principles of leadership and all. And I probably don't do that enough. It's very easy you know Ted Mitchell used to always say we're caught up in the urgency of the moment. That's true. Yeah but it this is a good healthy exercise. Good it may not be beneficial to others out there but it was it was good for me.

SPEAKER_00 45:34

No I I I'm sure it will be um again my my focus primarily the past year has been on Angelo State Midwestern State with some some um engagements at at tech in in Lubbock uh but but people you know generally are are really interested in in learning and growing as leaders and recognizing that they don't know everything that they do have gaps they want to have better success they want to have more cohesive and healthy teams and so hearing your perspective getting some principles from your background is is valuable and I think people are going to uh appreciate that so I think I think anybody interested in leadership needs to constantly be learning yeah um reading things talking to people um I'm not big on going to these gatherings where you get together have a kumbayah moment but I do think I'm always I'm always reading something that relates to how we go about our business. Yeah because leaders are readers as President uh Hawkins from ASU says yeah it's it's not all just about a gut feeling yeah sometimes there's some methodology to it sure Dr. Skubnik thank you for joining me it's been great to hear your leadership journey and get practical takeaways that we can all incorporate in leading our teams.

SPEAKER_03 47:00

Well thank and uh good luck in your role and I'm glad you're part of the Texas Tech community I hope you enjoy it.

SPEAKER_00 47:06

Oh very much I'm I'm I'm very thankful.

SPEAKER_03 47:08

Thank you sir thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 47:10

To those listening thank you for joining me on the Leader Fast Lane. If today's conversation sparked a moment of reflection or a lane change in how you think about leadership take a minute to share this episode with someone you lead or learn from. Join me next time when I'll be joined by General David Hill, Executive Director of the Society of American Military Engineers and the former commandant of the United States Army War College. You can find more episodes wherever you get your podcasts. Until next time keep leading with purpose, integrity and clarity, especially when it's hard