Leadership For Building High Performing Stem Departments

STEM Department Chair's Playbook: Leadership for Building High-Performing STEM Departments distills the leadership practices we have tested in real departments over many years. Anchored in the Leadership Creed, this book challenges chairs and academic leaders to move beyond administrative maintenance and intentionally shape culture, performance, and innovation.

You will find concrete practices for setting expectations, building trust with faculty, managing conflict, and aligning individual effort with departmental goals. Each chapter includes reflection prompts and self-assessment exercises that help you diagnose your current leadership style and identify specific behaviors to strengthen.

The focus is practical: how to run effective meetings, cultivate high-performing teams, support early-career faculty, and sustain momentum through change. Designed for department chairs, program directors, and aspiring leaders, this playbook functions as an on-the-desk reference you can return to whenever you face difficult personnel decisions, stalled initiatives, or the need to re-energize your department's work.