And underneath all of it — academic leaders increasingly feel they have no one to turn to. No safe place to say what's really challenging them.
Most leadership development adds knowledge, skills, and abilities — more conferences, more seminars, more to read. But when the outside stops supporting you, information isn't enough. Leaders who grow vertically — who lead from confidence and wisdom rather than the last thing they were told — aren't as easily knocked over by the waves. That kind of growth is the catalyst academic leaders need most right now, and it's exactly what Vertical Leadership Groups are built to develop.
VLGs rest on a simple underpinning: leaders grow best when they're given meaningful content to talk through, in community with others. Trust is built. People grow.
Each participant begins with an assessment of their type and their clearest growth opportunities.
Groups of 4–6 meet for one hour every two weeks — guided discussion, no prep, no facilitator required.
Between sessions, members work through personalized reflections tied to real situations they're leading through.
Over ten sessions, the group learns to coach one another — turning a cohort into a lasting circle of trust.
Especially well suited to associations of like-minded leaders who want a trusted place to cross-mentor one another — inside a safe space, outside their own reporting structures.
Chairs with chairs, deans with deans — leaders at similar career points, cross-mentoring one another through shared challenges.
Department chairs, associate deans, and deans together, for a fuller range of perspective and experience within one conversation.
Within a single college, or spanning many — held together by a shared affiliation or association.
Not a generic program with a new cover — VLGs are shaped around how academic leaders actually work, advance, and lead.
The ten modules move at a semester's pace — a rhythm that fits how your institution already works.
VLGs have supported leaders along the academic track — from department chair through dean, chancellor, and president.
Academic leaders keep telling us they want a trusted circle they can turn to — almost a personal board. The model builds exactly that, conversation by conversation.
A place outside the existing reporting structure to talk through what's really challenging you — honestly, and without risk.
Greater leader maturity is the best predictor of effectiveness — and the areas VLGs target are the ones that move it most.
Lead beyond the "protected community" and make sense of more forces than you can name — the core work of vertical development.
Colleges of arts and sciences exist to teach people how to think — to build a broad foundation, expand horizons, and cultivate intellectual curiosity. Vertical Leadership Groups align naturally with that mission. Where much of leadership training is professional preparation, vertical development is fundamentally about how a leader thinks and grows — the same drive at the heart of the liberal arts.
As financial pressures push institutions toward narrower, more professional paths, deans of arts and sciences are increasingly asked to be effective advocates for the value of a liberal education. VLGs give them a place to lead that conversation from strength.
The content of every module is built on research, practice, and experience drawn from hundreds of deans and thousands of participants — targeting the areas that most predict a leader's effectiveness. And every participant gets individual coaching and connection with the creators along the way.
Whether it's a single college, a cross-tier cohort, or an association of peers, we'll help you shape the right VLG structure — and the right place to start.
Email usOr reach us directly at info@leaderslyceum.com