Larry D. Lauer

The Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) held its seventh annual Summit for Advancement Leaders this week. This Summit, however, would be quite different for me. I was to receive one of those lifetime professional achievement awards.  

I had watched others receive this award over the years and thought I knew what to expect. But standing there before hundreds of my peers I found myself thinking, “How in the world can this be me?”  My mind was racing. “There are so many smart people out there,” I thought. “What must they be thinking about all this?” I became consumed with the thought that I had learned everything I know from these and other colleagues! 

Suddenly I was recalling what I had learned from two CASE board of trustee chairs, one of them also receiving an award this day. I had watched them both pilot the board through a particularly troubled time in the association and it became a very memorable lesson for me in skillful leadership and courage. I had written about leadership, but I had learned the really helpful lessons from them.

Then I found myself recalling when, as a very young faculty member, I had asked my academic dean at TCU for a promotion in faculty rank. He responded: “We better get you tenure while we can… I think you are going to need it!”  He was right. His insight paved the way for a long and rewarding future as a maverick who was destined to get involved in changing how things were done. It was my first practical lesson in strategic thinking and timing.

I also recalled the academic vice-chancellor who knew I was not headed into administration but nonetheless asked me to take a position directing the University’s evening college, summer school, and non credit programs. I had been complaining about the programs and so he challenged me to take the job and fix them. Later, when I went to him with my problems, he countered: “I hired you for solutions, Lauer, not to bring me problems.”  That experience became one of the most  important learning opportunities of my career.

Another major career-changing moment came when a development vice-chancellor brought me into this field, thereby enabling me to practice what I was teaching. It would require rethinking everything in the communication  division. But this would open the door for everything that would follow… my books, presentations, articles, travel, and literally everything that led to this award. 

Beyond those board of trustee chairs I mentioned there were many other strong professionals involved at the time in  CASE.  Talented volunteers and innovation-minded staff became my collaborators and teachers as we worked to bring new levels of sophistication to the communication field. Together we were able to inject strategic and integrated marketing concepts into our work. Timing was everything, and no one could have done it alone.

More recently I had a mentor-teacher at the American Council on Education (ACE) who taught me the importance of  advocating on behalf of the issues that are shaping the future of our industry. And with my academic hat back on, I found new collaborators at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). They helped me conclude that the internationalization of higher education would bring significant world problem-solving opportunities that we had never before even anticipated.

This moment of personal recognition clearly had me realizing that everything I know came from someone else. We all stand on the shoulders of many others, and it is especially during these moments that we fully understand and recognize that it is not ultimately about us. It’s all about our teachers and mentors.

Finally, I must confess that I also wanted to be giving a speech that day about how lucky our young professionals are to be in this field at this moment in time. Our industry is becoming global, governments are changing, and as a consequence advancement professionals are moving front and center in their institutions. We are in the middle of a major “sea change” in higher education, and the leaders in our field will literally have an opportunity to help change the world.