Creating Us - A podcast for Texas Tech University System & beyond
A learning and development podcast focused on bringing the Texas Tech University System Values Based Culture to life.
Creating Us - A podcast for Texas Tech University System & beyond
The Leader Fast Lane, Episode 30 - with Ambassador (ret.) Art Brown
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Retired U.S. Ambassador Art Brown joins The Leader Fast Lane to share lessons from a 34-year public-service career that took him from Peace Corps volunteer in Benin to USAID Mission Director and U.S. Ambassador. We discuss leading across cultures, listening before acting, emotional intelligence, making consequential decisions with incomplete information, developing future leaders, and why Art believes effective leadership “takes elbow grease.”
Hello and welcome to the Leader Fast Lane, the podcast where accomplished leaders from higher education, public service, and beyond share real stories, practical principles, and hard-earned lessons listeners can incorporate in their everyday work. 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 Cultural Development at the Texas Tech University System. Today I am joined by retired United States Ambassador Art Brown. Art is a senior executive with expertise in leadership, national security, and foreign policy. He has devoted much of his 34-year public service career to working in Africa, Southwest Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. He is currently president and CEO of Leadership Initiatives Group LLC, which is a global advisory practice. Art served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Ecuador from 24 to 2025. There he directed policy and security initiatives focused on migration, biodiversity, human rights, and counter narcotics, and negotiated with senior government and private sector leaders to strengthen trade, governance, and the rule of law. Previously, Art did long-term details to the Department of State as Deputy Chief of Mission in both the Dominican Republic and Zimbabwe. Art served multiple tours as mission director for USAID in Nicaragua, Zimbabwe, and the Dominican Republic. Ambassador Brown has an MBA from Johns Hopkins University and a BA from the University of Virginia and an MS in National Security Strategy from the National War College. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin, West Africa from 1991 to 1995. Art, it's great to have you on the podcast.
SPEAKER_00It's a pleasure to be here, Lane. Thank you so much. I'm honored.
SPEAKER_01Well, I look forward to our conversation. Uh to start, could you share a little bit about your background and leadership journey?
SPEAKER_00Well, Lane, my leadership journey has been one in which I took the time to educate myself, put myself in the right environment, and really be focused on strengthening institutions because putting people first has always been my core mandate. And the foundation to all of it is a clear understanding that leadership takes elbow grease. That is my axiom. It is work, it is hard work, it's learned behavior, it's something that you've got to be committed to working with people and understanding yourself.
SPEAKER_01I agree. And I hope we'll get into get into more of that here in a couple of questions. I know that you you started, well, your first public service role was with the Peace Corps in Benin, West Africa. How did that come to be? Did you did you grow up with a model for public service, or how did that desire to serve others come to be in your life?
SPEAKER_00Well, prior to Peace Corps, I'd already I was a sociology major, so studying culture, studying um society, studying history in undergrad was something of keen interest to me. And I knew I wanted to go and be of service abroad. I wanted to have an international experience. But in the Washington, D.C. area, I had been a volunteer at a local free clinic and also um at a clinic that dealt with the women, infants, and children, the WIC program. So um food vouchers, working with uh people from underserved communities. I just felt like I could contribute um and give back to others. And that that's why I went into the Peace Corps. And then the Peace Corps allowed me a chance to work at the most basic grassroots level, using my leadership skills and volunteerism to engage with communities and just sort of explore and learn. Um, I really feel I felt at the time and I still feel today, that having an intercultural exchange and giving back to others um is quite important. And uh both my parents were uh laborers within uh a health system uh where we grew up in in central Virginia. I always saw in my family uh adults giving back to the community, and it was just something that I uh wanted to emulate, but do it in a different way, in a different capacity. And so that's how I started with the Peace Corps.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Well, listeners, Art and I worked together in Zimbabwe back in uh the early 2020s. Yeah, uh, he was the mission director, I was the democracy and governance office director. But um, it's always struck me, Art, that so many of our former USAID colleagues started as Peace Corps volunteers. And it was it was something that was never on my radar when I went to high school in Dallas and college down in Austin. Um, but what I've what I know of it, and having met lots of Peace Corps volunteers serving in the places where I've served or that did it a while back is that that's a real challenging time, but it's it it seems like a real growth, personal growth time as well. Um because you're living in some tough, generally living in some tough environments and and having to make your own way. And how do you think that shaped you going forward?
SPEAKER_00Peace Corps is the one professional experience that was transformative, and it totally changed my complete trajectory. I owe my professional existence to the experiences that I had as a young person living in a rural community in West Africa, in the Republic of Benin, um being a part of a community, understanding my role as just a volunteer, coming in to learn, contribute where I could, and then being a sponge and learning from so many others, um, local people with their wisdom. Um it's amazing to sort of cut your teeth professionally in an environment where people don't have the same economic means that you might have, and the environment might be um more underdeveloped than what you know, but you see the richness of the humanity and the dignity of people who don't have a lot economically, but they will give you their all to support you, to help you with your initiatives and the community, and it was just a transformative experience.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, well, I I greatly admire you and those that that did that. It's um a a good friend of mine, a good friend of ours, actually, Barry Gill, his daughter, just finished her Peace Corps time in the world.
SPEAKER_00Oh, fantastic.
SPEAKER_01And uh fantastic, and uh you really like like you've said, it's it's been transformative for a lot of people that I know. Well, you started Peace Corps volunteer retired as a U.S. ambassador last year, so that that's quite a journey.
SPEAKER_00Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01How did your understanding of of leadership evolve over time?
SPEAKER_00Well, I think for me, one of the first things I I uh I did after doing the Peace Corps, coming back to the US, reacclimating myself, then going to graduate school, um, obtaining my uh MBA, I realized that I wanted to always work within an organization that had either programs or projects that ultimately had some type of human good at the end. Like there would be recipients of services, we'd be affecting change in a community or helping a nation advance in some way. I always wanted to be a part of a mission that was much larger than myself. Okay. But I I had a clear understanding that for me to affect change and to really engage in these institutions, I needed to retool myself. I needed to work on leadership. I had to learn skills, the techniques, retool myself and have and really adopt the mandate of lifelong learning to help myself evolve as a young professional to be able to essentially attack each level of leadership that I knew I would have to rise into to be able to continue to affect change and to also be able to give back nurture and mentor those coming behind me. I had always been in a position to reach back and give back to others because I just always felt that it was really important that if I was advancing in one direction, I had to pull others along with me. But I needed to retool and educate myself. So I just worked on slowly but surely having additional leadership programs, leadership certificates, additional graduate education and leadership. Um and I that was really important to me. So that's how my trajectory, and it was over three decades. Uh, I think within the federal government, I have I think it's 34 years of federal service. And within that, those three plus decades, really reaching back, mentoring others, and really displaying leadership at each pos within each position that I had, it was it was a methodical march, if you will. And I just slowly but surely worked my way up to uh to uh to to to be a U.S. ambassador representing the nation.
SPEAKER_01I appreciate it. When you were um acting ambassador in Zimbabwe, you hosted periodically luncheons for entry-level foreign service officers, mid-level, and more senior level. And the whole purpose was was to engage with people at those different levels and to pass on some of the lessons that you'd learned, field questions on advancing in your career. And I really appreciated that. So you you're you lived out what what you're talking about, and I I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_00Thanks, Lane. I I think um it's interesting that you raised that. Um I I was very that's a very that's a deliberate technique um for for me as a leader to be able to engage, be able to reach back, also to be able to actively listen to hear what the concerns, constraints are. But one of the things that I was confronted with coming up uh professionally was we're in an environment where a lot of people, there are a lot of type A type personalities, there are a lot of people who are trying to climb over you to sort of advance. There are a lot of people who um aren't being as kind as they could be professionally. And then I also ran into a lot of senior leaders who I thought didn't display the kind of attributes that I felt were as effective for the workforce. And I always just sort of worked to put myself in a position to create a better environment for people coming up behind me. And that was just sort of in my thinking and in my design of any of the positions I had, I always wanted to make an environment be better so that the people that reported to me would have a better opportunity to work and excel and be heard. And I and my and that approach is the approach that I use. Um, and I thought it was I thought I was successful with it, and um I appreciate hearing your comments.
SPEAKER_01Good, good. I've got a series of questions uh I'm gonna ask, and I've broken them down into a few different topics, and so we'll go topic to topic uh to take up the balance of our time. Sure. The first one is uh topic is leading across cultures. And the question is what if 30 plus years, you said 34 years, of working across cultures taught you about the danger of assuming that the way you see a situation is also the way that everyone else sees it?
SPEAKER_00Oh, I I I've I've lived that. I've lived first of all, we're we're all humans, and we have to give ourselves some measure of grace um because we're not all perfect. Um and we all have at some level uh biased behavior because we're we're human beings and we are raised a certain way, we've engaged the world a certain way. So understanding that our biases could cloud our engagement with others, our perception on particular issues, we have to understand that. And sometimes we lose sight of that. Um I can remember clearly um when I was in Afghanistan working on some particular projects on gender, and thinking that uh I had a clear understanding of some of the societal problems. Um and it wasn't until I dug deeper and brought in more local staff to better understand some cultural nuances and to open myself up for more data, more input. Uh, we revamped a program because of that. And if I would have only gone on what had been done before me and me with my understanding of how the project needed to be initiated, I we it would have been a disaster. So, yes, working across cultures is uh it requires real work and an understanding first that your own perspective might be clouded and you need to do your best to hone in and to figure out uh other perspectives, other voices to help guide you uh to go forward with your initiatives.
SPEAKER_01I I concur. I I've shared a little bit on some previous episodes that when I would move to a new place, particularly when I was with this nonprofit that was my first exposure to overseas work, whether intentionally or not, I would land on having a sense of a local person that would be like my cultural guide that would tell me the real dynamics at play. What's trying been tried before, what's, you know, when when an expat comes in, and um and that cultural guide was vitally important for me to see with new eyes, like you've talked about. Um, and I think that applies, you know, we're we're talking about overseas work, but people in higher ed right now are often placed in new roles, new teams, new university. Um and it's a similar thing that the dynamics at play, the culture of the organization may be foreign to you. And when you come in thinking that your eyes are how it is, uh it can lead to some pitfalls. And so finding those people who can tell you the real deal or going in with humility to understand you've got a lot to learn before you start making changes can be. All right, the next topic is authority versus influence. You've held positions with considerable formal authority. What have you learned about the difference between having authority and having influence?
SPEAKER_00Well, I think the authority that you have is because of the title, the type of position that you're in, the history of sort of what you the role is that you step into in that organization and the expectations of people to follow you, um, or there's a codified, there could be a codified hierarchy in terms of what the position is that you're coming into. Um, so if you're the senior executive uh and everybody under you reports to you, the the authority is that people have to sort of tow the line. But I think what's critical is that you have to have the humility to understand that you need to first listen and figure out from your teams what is going on from their perspective before you start looking to adjust anything. Um, you first need to, from my perspective, think about the dignity of each employee and the environment in which they're working, and is the structure an enabling environment by which the people that report to you that are under your authority, are they going to be able to function in the best way you feel is possible so that they can then achieve all the new initiatives that you're trying to put into place that you're implementing because of your authority. I think authority often is abused. I think you have a lot of executives coming on board, people in leadership roles that have a title, and they use that title to uh to to influence immediately the decisions that they want without first taking stock of understanding what the organization's about, to understand the internal culture of an organization. I think that's vital to have listening sessions and figure out what's going on before you as a leader start tinkering with the machinery. Um, because you do yourself a disservice to simply leave with authority and have that be the only thing to influence decision making when you really need to put your people first and have a moment to reflect and figure out going forward, it should be a team effort, a combined effort, because you've taken the time to get the input from others so that you can proceed in a way where you've got more inclusion, more buy-in, and it makes you a more effective leader. There's no sense in just using the authority in the title and beating beating folks up. It just doesn't, it's not as effective.
SPEAKER_01Sure. It may be effective in the short term, but there's real costs like you've talked about to the long-term effectiveness, long-term morale and burnout of the team if uh if the leader's not investing in them and they don't feel like they're being cared for in the process.
SPEAKER_00I totally agree.
SPEAKER_01How do uh effective senior leaders stay connected to what's really happening several layers down on the ground?
SPEAKER_00I think it's important to first engage with your see your senior leadership that's under you because you're gonna have, regardless of what silos you're responsible for leading, all of those managers in those various programs or sectors, if you will, there's gonna be some level of senior or mid-level leadership that you're responsible for that report to you as this as the senior leader. Touching base of that leadership, understanding what their constraints and concerns are, and then letting them know that your leadership style is one in which you from the cleaning staff to the board of directors, you engage at all levels and make sure that folks understand that as part of the new normative structure, you will engage at all levels and that no one needs to feel threatened, but you as a leader, you want to be learned in the institution, and you you must touch all levels. You don't you don't want to be seen as someone who's aloof, who's not accessible. So it's the onus on you as the leader is to first structure with your senior leadership team an understanding that you're probing at all levels to fact-find, to truth things, because you're listening at all levels, and then you proceed and take action as you need it. But I think the institution needs to understand that you know, if you're going to the level of the of the motor pool drivers or the uh cleaning staff on a Tuesday, you're meeting with them, and then on a Wednesday you're meeting with the chairman of the board. That your leadership team needs to understand that that's your leadership style to solicit and to and to seek feedback at all levels. You just need to make that a new normative structure so that no one is weirded out or has a misunderstanding of what you're trying to do. You're just trying to demonstrate that you lead at all levels and you practice it, and no one needs to be threatened by it, but yeah, because you're you're you're You're new, this is your style. And um that's how I've always done it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I appreciate that. It's it's it's striking me that's maybe that's less of a way of leading, but a way of being if you're paying attention to getting to know engaging with the people from the bottom to the top, and and that's just will definitely give you a better sense of of morale, what's going on, what the challenges are.
SPEAKER_00Um right, because because because ultimately there's a lot of lip service by senior leaders that you know that everyone matters, right? All levels of the institution make the machine work, but we don't see people from the C-suite speaking at all levels, right? Yeah, and I think it's just really important to model the behavior that you're communicating that that that you're a part of that you want to promote, you got to model that behavior, people have to see it, and then you it's the onus is on you as senior leader is to set this new normative structure, and you gotta be, you gotta articulate it, and then you gotta demonstrate it.
SPEAKER_01Agreed. And it's it's again striking me that some people lead, they're very task-focused, some are very people focused. And I'm not, I don't think either one is inherently wrong, but if a leader is consistently or always task-focused, that's going to have a real cost for your people. The flip side is uh, you know, I spoke with some marine recruiters about a week ago on servant leadership, and they pushed back against this concept of servant leadership because at times you do need to have clear authority direction. And in their situation, that can mean life or death at times, and that's totally valid. Right. But leading in a way that is focused on your people and their well-being while accomplishing the big things is a so much healthier way to operate. And that's something that we in the Office of Leader in Culture Development talk with teams across the system as a real valuable model of leadership is this servant leadership, investing in your people, valuing them, equipping them, not period, but while accomplishing the mission.
SPEAKER_00I agree wholeheart wholeheartedly on that.
SPEAKER_01Yep. Next topic is leadership under pressure. And this is the question I ask uh senior leaders in almost every episode.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01When information is incomplete and waiting for certainty isn't an option, how do you go about making consequential decisions?
SPEAKER_00I think it's really important to understand the pros and cons of the decision you're going to make. Um but one of the reasons why you're in that senior leadership role is because at some level you have been able to make decisions with a lack of information. Um, and becoming a little more comfortable with that has been a part of your development. All you can do is find out as much information as you can to be able to support the end objective, the ultimate goal that you're looking to obtain. And if you have the position to be able to confer with your senior leadership team, you can bounce an idea off of others if that's possible. But ultimately, if you're the senior leader, you've got to make the call. And you can do so with having tried to seek all the data that you can, and you make the call because you know that's the direction things need to go in. Um and you do it in a strategic way. You're not just hoping and praying in thin air. I mean, it has to be supported. Your decision is a decision that's of consequence. Um, so you try to support it the best way you can.
SPEAKER_01How do you get over? Well, let me back up. I suspect that most leaders certainly at some point in their careers have a very strong fear of making the wrong decision and the consequences that can come with that. Right. How do you how have you wrestled with that fear of making a wrong decision, especially as you rose the ranks and they became more high profile and more consequential?
SPEAKER_00Well, you you you as I was mentioning earlier, you you you grow and you realize that uncertainty is par for the course. This this this it's not easy. And and and and my uh I haven't trademarked it yet, but um leadership takes elbow grease. Um it's it's my mantra because it is hard work. Yeah, and you don't always technically make the right call. You do your best to make the right call, but then if the call you make is not the best thing, you then you have to be humble enough to know and get and have take be able to take and accept the feedback and course correct and adjust, and have your hot washes or your after-action review or seek feedback from your subordinates and not be so draconian that your perspective is the only perspective, and you course correct. Yeah, yeah, you have to be open to that. Um, now, granted, yeah, because of that authority piece and because you're driving the institution as the boss, there are gonna be a lot of things that you want, and um you're gonna be adamant about the way things need to be, but I think the humility piece and being open to feedback is important. Um because if you you have to you have to lead by knowing that you you it takes a team to make it work, um, and you can't just uh be too draconian too rigid, uh it's just not as effective.
SPEAKER_01Um follow-up. We talk a lot with people across the system about this concept of psychological safety, which Amy Edmondson is the guru of this, and she talks explains that is that it's the the environment where people can feel free to take personal risk in their jobs without fear of professional consequences. In other words, people will speak up if they have an idea that may run counter to the ambassador's opinion or course of action in a respectful way. Um, and so it feeds in with what you're talking about, with having to course correct, you need to be able to create the environment where people can share different perspectives than than you may have. How do you go about creating that with a team?
SPEAKER_00Well, I I I think that that's uh it's a it's a great concept that you bring up because it's it's so important. Um because when we talk about having diverse views and diversity of thought in decision making and having people with varying backgrounds, right, because it helps with decision making for everyone to be able to feel like they can contribute and not be penalized because their thoughts um, you know, there shouldn't be any censure on people having varying views, right? And so you as a leader need to be able to create an environment by which everybody knows that hey, let's throw out ideas. No one's gonna be penalized. Yeah, not every idea is gonna work, but there shouldn't, there should be a sort of a normative structure by which free thought is allowed, and uh, you as the leader need to need to cultivate that, and um and I think so. I don't, you know, that that's how I would answer that question, but I do also think, and I don't know if you're gonna ask this one, um, but I think one of the core concepts that I think every leader in this sort of modern era that we're living in needs to have in the forefront and a clear understanding of is the concept of emotional intelligence and and and where you as a leader, how you apply that concept and understanding, I think is is critical.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, because it's not just about leading with empathy and you know, understanding others and putting people first, it's really about how you emotionally are being triggered and react to various settings and circumstances and how you respond and how you need to engage with others. So it's you know, it all goes hand in hand. Sure.
SPEAKER_01100% agree. We that's one of our core topics we talk with teams is is emotional intelligence. And is you've you've wisely placed that within the context of psychological safety. If if a leader hears pushback and flies off the handle, well, then there goes any psychological safety. But if a leader is able to receive that feedback, even if it's pointed, measure a measured response, no personal consequences for that person, that's gonna allow others to share their views as well. So um, yeah, it's uh core skill for a leader.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. And it's something that um if I would say, you know, if you were to ask, you know, what what's one core leadership principle that is, you know, allowed you to advance in your career or transform you, um, it would be um an un an understanding of emotional intelligence and the ability to self-critique and and be open for feedback. And uh until you practice it on yourself, um, you really don't have a a clear understanding of of it conceptually, and and you understand the tool or the concept, and you understand how you can be retooled to be a more effective leader when once you have a have a better understanding of emotional intelligence.
SPEAKER_01Yep. Yeah, it's it's it's a skill we can learn with with focus, with feedback.
SPEAKER_00Um exactly.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Our next topic is on character, it's an issue that we talk a lot about here at the Texas Tech System. Um, the the former chancellor had this vision for the whole system and the five universities within the system being values-based organizations, and not just in the way that it has a mission, vision, and values that goes on a wall in a conference room, but that's that are operationalized and lived out. And a big part of that is is leader character. For you, what do you think, what character trait do you think becomes more important as a leader gains power and authority?
SPEAKER_00I would say at the core of it, you know, humility for me at the core of it, I think is important. But as you go up, being able to display empathy and having that be a core characteristic, I think embodies exactly what you need as a senior leader for people to be able to come to you when there is a crisis or when there are problems, because you want to be able to guide your team to effect change as quickly as possible. And the worst thing is when people fear coming to you as the leader because they're worried about how you're gonna react. Yeah, and I think it's just super important to set the groundwork so that your people know they can come to you in confidence, and confidence means in confidence, or uh a bunch of managers rally together and have a sit-down to give you feedback, and they're not worried about you yelling, screaming, or being indifferent to their concerns. Um, and I think that comes from having uh uh being empathetic and having, and I'm talking about in a professional setting.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, that sort of leadership empathy is is is quite important because it's uh it demonstrates a strength in character that uh resonates with the workforce.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. One follow-up on that. Another issue that is is common in the the teams that we work with is this feeling of what's called the imposter syndrome. The the fear that I'm gonna be found out as not really knowing what I'm doing. Right despite all evidence to the contrary. It's a common feeling for people in higher education, in development, in any organization, any kind of sector. And so the tendency for someone in that mindset, like I'm gonna be I fear being found out, is to project confidence, absolute confidence. That's one possible response. Um, but as a senior leader, how do you reconcile this value, like you've talked about, of humility with the the legitimate need for a senior leader to project confidence? How do those two things balance?
SPEAKER_00Well, the the I'm I I appreciate you raising the imposter syndrome. So you you can you you still hear me, right?
SPEAKER_01I can.
SPEAKER_00Okay, great, great. Um the imposter syndrome, it's interesting that you raise this because I have a bit of a uh a different take on the imposter syndrome. And because I know that it's been been talked about, I know that there have been articles on it. Um and I'm not saying that it doesn't exist, right? But I like to define it a little differently when I'm working in coaching and doing mentoring sessions. I just challenge people to first give yourself as a young leader, or even if you're a senior executive, give yourself a bit of grace and to realize that you're a human being. And you will naturally have doubt. And that's what we're talking about. What I what I don't like as a as a senior leader and as a coach and mentor, I don't what I don't like is when we start classifying or using syndromes, you know like falling prey to a syndrome, when you know it's like you got a knee problem and you're going to a brain surgeon to work on an orthopedic issue. Like you like the brain surgeon doesn't know anything about the orthopedics, but it's not like the brain surgeon isn't intelligent, right? It's like the wrong doctor to diagnose and deal with that particular problem. You yourself classifying and labeling and putting yourself in a particular syndrome, I don't think is effect is effective. I think that you first have to realize, hey, I'm human. And there's gonna be confidence and then there's gonna be doubt. And self-doubt is normal. It's part of your defense mechanisms, it keeps it's kept us alive for thousands of years. Okay? So it's okay to have the doubt. But then you understand that if you're in a position of authority, if you're in a position to lead others, if you're in a position to make an institution be strengthened to achieve a greater objectives that has a higher calling, a mission, um, and goals that you're trying to achieve, well, then you build that confidence and you communicate what you need to communicate in the best way possible. And it's okay to have that be tempered with some humility and to understand, hey, I don't have every single answer. And I may not be the 100% best in explaining or presenting, and it's okay to doubt oneself, but I don't think it's I don't think it's valid to say that I have a syndrome and then spiral on um being incompetent because no one person can know everything. And and and ultimately, I would say to anyone, you're in the position that you're in because you've had the traits, the skills, and abilities to rise into the level that that where you find yourself. Take stock in that. And sometimes as humans, we lose taking stock of where we've achieved and at the level that we're at, and then we let self-doubt or doubt in general bleed too far into ourselves, and now we have all this other literature and people writing about you know imposter syndrome and whatnot. And I just say, hey, listen, we're human beings. You know, sometimes we're gonna have a thought or two that might not be as positive inwardly looking, right? But it's okay to build confidence and understand we are exactly where we are doing what we need to do, and we push through, and that's when we display the confidence and we deliver. I'm sorry that was made that might have been a little round around the way, but I've had I've had a lot of thinking on this one, so sorry.
SPEAKER_01Well, and it's an astute response. I'm I'm I'm reading a book right now because I'm I'm leading a session later this week on on the imposter syndrome for a large team here in our building. Um, but the author of the book, it's called The Imposter Cures, the book, but it it argues the same point that it's misnamed. It's not a syndrome. Right. This author says it's more of the imposter phenomenon, that it it is, it's something that comes and goes. And what this what distinguishes the self-doubt from the phenomenon is the sense that um it's an accusatory voice in your head that goes beyond self-doubt, that you you cannot show any weakness, you cannot let people understand. Um, so not to, I mean, it's a little I think what you're saying is is dead on that it it's um we we shouldn't label it as a syndrome because it is it is something that is temporal, it is something that many people deal with, and the only way out is through often. Well, two two final questions from me. For uh for anyone listening who aspires to senior leadership, what's one habit or discipline you think they should begin developing long before they get the title?
SPEAKER_00Okay, long before they get the title. Um, and are you saying uh within institution, you know, within higher learning or corporate America or just in general?
SPEAKER_01I think in general. I mean, uh, we're operating in the higher ed space, but in general.
SPEAKER_00This is what I would say to anyone looking to aspire to rise within the ranks of their institution to achieve goals and objectives professionally beyond their current role. Uh, this is something that's tried and true. And I would say that the individual needs to first think about what it is that they're looking to obtain, right? What's your target goal? What level do you want to rise to? What is it that you want to achieve? How do you want to affect change? You know, what is your ultimate goal, right? You really need to understand where you think you want to go. And this technique is tried and true, and it's something that I promote to everyone that I mentor. You need to sell that vision to people within the institution who are leaders that can affect change so that you can develop a sort of indirect but yet direct relationship with leaders who can actually help advocate and potentially. Sponsor you to be able to create opportunities for you to change to achieve your goals. Because if you don't sell your vision and let others within the leadership hierarchy know what it is that you're trying to do, it's really hard for you yourself to be quiet to ascend within an institution. Because think about it. Let's say you're trying to apply to the next managerial level and you're low-level management, and your application goes in, and 10 other applications are being reviewed, and there's a technical review panel, and everybody knows everybody in the organization, but nobody knows that you're trying to achieve to that next level because you haven't sold your vision, you haven't taken the time to meet with senior leaders, you haven't had the time to do the small coffee or the small tea or the water cooler discussion, asking others about how they achieved and how they rose and how great it would be for you to then rise to that level because that's what you're trying to seek. If you don't do that, it's really hard within an institution to rise. So you need to plow that path of opportunity for yourself through, and I call it selling your vision internally. It's a concept I think that's really important.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. That's good. I've not heard people on this podcast talk about that, but it makes total sense that that I mean that that that takes some real internal reflection, some real evaluation of your skill set, current, and desired, getting that vision and then being able to cast it within the organization. Not in a selfish way, I don't think you're saying, but in a way that benefits people, benefits the organization, making that known and that creates opportunities in itself.
SPEAKER_00Sure. Because one of the things, because it it, you know, of course, we don't have a this session, isn't about breaking that concept down and and and and and me digging into it, but but but when I'm doing leadership sessions, mentoring sessions with folks, um, if you think about it, it's it's great to talk to the to the leadership level above you, but at some point trying to go two and three levels higher than your current leadership is really important because at that level, that perch, those leaders are gonna know what kind of deficits exist within the applicant pool that they're receiving, and they can tell you at your level here's some things that you might need to think about obtaining to do the retooling and the added education or what have you, the added exposure within the institution that you're gonna need later on when you're trying to rise to that level three, level four, or whatever it might be within your hierarchy. So you might have a goal and you say, Hey, I want to be this in and this level within the organization, and two or three levels up, they're like, Hey, look, why as you're rising, you might want to go to procurement for a year, you might want to go to budget for a year. Like we're seeing senior executives and the ones that serve the institution best have these components, and only people at that perch would be able to give you that feedback. But again, they you wouldn't learn that if you didn't at some level try to influence them to let them know what your vision is.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's really good practical advice. I appreciate that. And I think that's probably a good place for us to wrap it up. Um, I I really appreciate Art. Your taking the time to talk. It's been great to catch up and to hear your journey and and get some principles that our listeners can apply.
SPEAKER_00I I really appreciate it. Um, I I think I need to uh start jotting down some of my leadership takes elbow grease um uh mantra, if you will. But uh all kidding aside, uh Lane, it's it's a real pre pleasure. It's always been great to engage with you, and uh, I'm so glad that you're in this role in Texas Tech and um certainly want to be a resource uh for you and the Texas Tech community at any level uh going forward. So stay in touch.
SPEAKER_01Appreciate it, Art. Yeah, thank you very much.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01To 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. Listen next time when I'll be joined by Dr. Ted Mitchell, Chancellor Emeritus of the Texas Tech University system. 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.
.jpg)