One of the big problems facing hashtag#HigherEd is that our executive leaders, like all of us, were taught that the only relational model available to us is that of parasitism.
hashtag#Parasitism is when one organism is helped and the other is harmed. Our socioeconomic system is built on the ability to convince people that this is the only option available to us. If you get something, I must lose something.
But the natural world (which we're actually a part of!) tells us the truth. hashtag#Mutualism is when BOTH organisms are helped. It exists all around us. We can BOTH benefit. We can create, cultivate, and protect spaces of mutual benefit.
The leaders who operate solely on the idea that their faculty/staff must be controlled so that they don't "take advantage" are limiting their options to parasitism. That model is clearly straining at the seams. It won't hold. How many more reports do we need to read about collapsing employee well-being to realize this?
Leaders who, for example, encourage their teams to establish and protect their hashtag#ScopeOfPractice, for the good of themselves, their students, their communities, and the institution, are opening themselves up to the option of mutualism. This is the way forward toward a better future for all.
hashtag#Leadership
hashtag#Biomimicry
Thoughts on #HigherEd #Leadership, #ScopeOfPractice, and yet another report on collapsing employee #WellBeing. #Biomimicry is learning FROM the natural world and offers us a path forward.