Strategic Leadership Intelligence™ · Leadership Insight Series · 2026
Shared Governance & Institutional Politics
One of nine clusters in the SLI Leadership Insight Series — each exploring salient aspects of executive leadership in today’s complex higher ed landscape.
C3
Shared Governance
Authority is contested, shared governance is a negotiation where history often conflicts with reality.
— Shared Governance · Cluster 3 of 9
“When leaders do their best to address faculty concerns and are still experienced as adversaries — the asymmetry isn’t just exhausting. It becomes the thing that quietly erodes trust on both sides.”
SLI Concept
Asymmetrical Relational Labor
One party carries responsibility for maintaining the relationship.
Key Themes
→ Faculty-leader tension pervasive→ Governance roles poorly defined
What would change in your leadership if you stopped working to close the gap between your intentions and their perceptions and focused on what is not being said?
The ACUMEN Framework™ · Strategic Leadership Intelligence™
SLI domains are measured in real time through the Leadership Telemetry Diagnostic™. ACUMEN represents the developmental competencies that emerge through the SLI coaching process. Gold letters indicate the components activated by this cluster.