The advice column addresses a department head's struggles with a toxic relationship with their dean, who displays favoritism and an abusive leadership style. The dean undermines faculty morale through public criticism and self-serving decision-making. The department head feels anxious about speaking up due to fears of retaliation and the impact on their department. The response emphasizes the need for better management training among academic leaders, reiterating essential leadership principles such as giving private criticism and public praise to foster a more supportive work environment.
Your dean may be brilliant in her scholarly field, but she's willfully ignorant about leadership. It sounds like you aren't her only target, so let's start with ways to protect anyone who has to report to her.
Many deans and other people in academic power roles need better management training. Your boss is breaking two of the most basic rules: "Criticize people in private, praise them in public," and "your job as a manager is to help the people under you succeed."
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