Special 100th Episode of the Innovating Together Podcast Featuring Bridget Burns & Doug Lederman

Today marks the 100th episode of the Innovating Together podcast, and Bridget Burns is in the hot seat to discuss the show's success. While the University Innovation Alliance has been around for several years, Weekly Wisdom just kicked off around the time of Covid. Bridget says it was needed for a variety of reasons, one being the palpable sense of people looking for optimism and leadership. The UIA was also ready to expand and had identified institutions it wanted to include. They wanted a way to interview presidents without signaling who they were considering, and weekly wisdom presented an opportunity to hear about the values of a leader.  She shared that she loves hearing from the audience and what types of questions they find most useful and what guests have had an impact on them.

Leadership can be a very lonely job, especially in higher ed. The podcast aims to give people a sense that they are a part of something bigger, and that someone, somewhere, is dealing with the same things they are. Bridget has felt so fortunate to be able to meet so many leaders through this podcast. She has been inspired through all the lessons shared by her guests.

Bridget shared that she has worked with over 40 college presidents and chancellors thus far, and observed a marked difference amongst them. To her, visionary leaders have a compelling vision, and an ability to get others enrolled in that vision. Her current work enables her to help university presidents see a shared, collective vision, and move in a common direction. She does this through genuine curiosity, empathy, and care. She takes the time to observe people in leadership roles, in order to really understand, to help them identify underlying challenges, and then to overcome those challenges.

When asked about important advice, she offered that people should aim to be less interested in who gets credit for the work and more about getting the work done.  She shared leadership advice that has been helpful to her from presidents and chancellors, including that taking care of yourself and your health is critical to being an effective leader, because you need energy to make difficult decisions. She suggested two books that were powerful in her journey: Leadership and Self Deception by the Arbinger Institute, and The Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey.

What You’ll Learn:

• How negative examples can teach us just as much as positive ones.
• What it means to be a true leader.
• Why a president’s tenure matter when it comes to innovation

Favorite Quote:

“The most presidential moments on the show have been the ones where people have shown their true heart.” -Bridget Burns