The Department Chair Playbook

You don’t have to learn leadership through trial and error alone.

You stepped into the chair role with good intentions.

Maybe you wanted to protect your department during budget cuts. Perhaps you saw opportunities for positive change.

Or maybe it was just "your turn" and no one else would do it.

But three months in, the reality hit:

• Your inbox explodes daily with urgent "emergencies"

• Faculty meetings feel like diplomatic negotiations in a war zone

• You're caught between impossible demands from administration and faculty resistance to change

• Your research productivity has flatlined

• You barely remember what work-life balance feels like

What if leadership could actually feel sustainable?

The Department Chair Playbook is a practical, evidence-based guide that walks academic leaders through the three critical phases of department leadership—creating conditions for success, establishing effective systems, and ensuring lasting impact—to develop sustainable leadership practices without sacrificing their personal well-being.

Structured as both a troubleshooting guide and action plan, the book follows a unique three-phase framework:

• Leading In—focused on the early years and how to create optimal conditions

• Leading Through—targeting the middle years and establishing effective roles and systems

• Leading Out—dedicated to the final years and how to ensure a lasting impact

Stop putting out fires. Start building systems. This book will transform how you think about department leadership—from reactive crisis management to proactive system building that actually reduces your workload while improving outcomes.

Why This Framework Works

✅ Built from Real Experience: Based on coaching 300+ department chairs across all institution types—from community colleges to R1 research universities.

✅ Evidence-Based Approaches: Integrates research from organizational psychology with practical strategies proven in academic settings.

✅ Sustainable by Design: Focuses on long-term effectiveness over short-term heroics, protecting both your well-being and departmental health.

✅ Choose Your Own Adventure: Multiple approaches for every challenge, allowing you to select strategies that match your context and style.