Pros
- Junior staff are good people who are making the most with what they have - Managers and Directors resourceful even while overstretched - Lots of young, talented and passionate associates and analysts who are thirsty for knowledge and support
Cons
Overall - Poor business decisions and no strategic thinking - No support or help- DIY attitude - Bleeding talent - No thought leadership Cultural - Strategy and Operations senior leaders have no credibility in higher education, do not have the horsepower to remain relevant in the marketplace and focused more on maintaining power than competition - Strategy and Operations senior leaders are exceptionally poor people leaders, don't invest in developing junior staff, confuse ambition for intellect - Business decisions are often senior leaders' pet projects, special interests, personal/church relationships and friends. (A church pal of a senior leader earned a 5 figure paycheck for almost no work, and ended up getting fired from a client.) - expect lots of entitlement, infighting, tantrums by senior leadership ; no level of accountability for bad behavior, including berating, belittling, demeaning people, using abusive and exclusionary language - Embarrassing level of loyalty to former, ineffective, unproductive AA folks - Deeply misogynistic culture, with nearly exclusive all white male leadership - Junior, inexperienced white male staff often selected over experienced, non-white staff - No people of color in senior ranks and only recruit from predominantly white schools