Rutgers Edge Newsletter
Advancing Impact. Amplifying Innovation. Building the Edge.
January 22, 2026 Issue
EDGE INSIGHT
What's Going On?
My Leadership Playlist
During the winter break at Rutgers, I was able to slow down and reflect—on the events of the past year, my transition from Louisiana to New Jersey, and the leadership lessons I have learned over the course of my career. I took some of these reflections to social media and found that they struck a chord with many people, some of whom offered their own insights to personalize or complement the lessons.
I share these with you here in the hope that they resonate with you as we engage in shared leadership across Rutgers. At the very least, they might help you understand my approach to making decisions on behalf of our university.
Leadership Lesson #1: Effective leaders ask more questions than Marvin Gaye! Asking great questions fosters more informed decision-making, stronger trust and credibility, higher engagement and ownership, clearer problem-framing, continuous learning and adaptability, better talent development, and a healthier organizational culture. A brilliant friend added a corollary, “Emotionally intelligent leaders lead with curiosity, not conclusions.”
Leadership Lesson #2: Tight control is a mirage for the insecure. Eventually the quality factors get choked out and die. As one of my friends phrased it, tight control can force a situation where decisions pile up on senior leaders and nothing moves without their approval, creating bottlenecks that stifle progress.
Closely related is Leadership Lesson #3: Sharing authority is like buying cheap assets. In the end, you will multiply your value. The process of collaborating is a low-cost investment of time. Collective engagement fosters greater buy-in and affords different perspectives and, together, acts as a compounding factor that accelerates the attainment of organizational aims. A colleague extended the concept, arguing that leadership that empowers others allows quality and creativity to grow while strengthening the institution and sustaining excellence. This approach develops talent and positions the organization for positive outcomes over a significant period.
Leadership Lesson #4: There is no "edit" button for our past decisions and mistakes. You can’t undo it. We only have mercy, resolve not to hit the "repeat" button, and press "play." Stop rewinding past mistakes, seek forgiveness if you have harmed, and pursue corrective action. Ask yourself: why is this difficult for me? I have found that if you can answer that for yourself, then you are on the road to fruitful change and leading well.
This last lesson generated a lot of wonderful feedback on social media. One wise colleague noted that the ability to acknowledge a mistake, pursue mercy where appropriate, and press "play" without getting emotionally hijacked requires developing self-awareness and regulation. Too often leadership development skips this entirely.
The biggest leadership lesson of all might be that the lessons don’t end. Organizations consist of archeological digs of suboptimal decisions. This presents an opportunity for all of us to work collectively toward improvement. I am still learning all the time and always trying to apply those lessons to decisions we make at Rutgers. I hope the same is true for you.
Past Newsletters
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"Future generations will ask: Did we denounce threats, incitement of violence, physical intimidation, and the destruction or defacement of university property, and did we protect academic activities on campus from disruption? These acts cannot be tolerated. We must be vigilant to ensure we are on the right side of history."
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"We all have a responsibility to model how to engage in difficult arguments without resorting to silencing others, harassment, or threats of harm or violence. The university must remain a place where ideas—popular or unpopular—can be tested through reason, evidence, and debate. Truth emerges not from uniformity but from the contest of ideas."
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"Rutgers’ value is not simply in sentiment—it is measurable. Our university contributes more than $5 billion annually to New Jersey’s economy, sustains jobs in every corner of the state, and drives innovation with over 800 active technology licenses. This is the Rutgers Edge: the combination of research, innovation, education, and service that ripples across all 21 counties of New Jersey and beyond, pushing us to the edge of new possibilities."
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"Rutgers' Edge lies not just in what we do, but how we do it together. We battle. In these past two weeks, we’ve seen leaders fighting to reinstate federal grant funding; a new Athletic Director earning strong reviews for her past successes and a winning introductory press conference; Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care offering targeted mental health support to students and families in school districts across the state; and ScarletWell’s efforts to promote student well-being and health featured in national media."