Having the Right Tools: the Leadership Frames of University Presidents

The presidency at an institution of higher education demands a person with a multiplicity of skills in order to deal with a multitude of internal and external stakeholders. They must be able to multitask and seek competitive advantage to deal with a myriad of stakeholders. Bolman and Deal postulated that leaders who analyze problems from a variety of perspectives were able to solve more complex problems. This study examined the leadership frames of University presidents. The findings show these frames presented in descending order: human resources, structural, political, symbolic and the absence of the any particular frame. By viewing problems from numerous perspectives, leaders may be able to perform more creative problem solving to better address stakeholders’ concerns.