Reimagining leadership: Collaboration over hierarchy

If you’ve been in higher education leadership for any length of time, you’ve probably seen the same scene play out: a tightly controlled meeting where a few voices dominate, decisions are made behind closed doors, and everyone else is left to execute orders they had little say in shaping. It's efficient, sure, but it's also alienating. And for women leaders in particular, navigating those traditional power structures can feel like running a marathon in heels: doable, but unnecessarily painful.