MY BEST ADVICE

the LASTWORD

PATRICK FERRY

PRESIDENT

Stay self-aware

The Rev. Patrick Ferry, president of Concordia University Wisconsin and Concordia University Ann Arbor, recently announced he will retire at the end of the academic year after 30 years with the private Lutheran university system. It’s important as a leader to stay self-aware and know your own limitations, Ferry said.

“I haven’t thought about it so much as a philosophy as much as a necessity to recognize my own – to put it charitably – limitations. There’s so much that I don’t know or don’t know very well, and I’m not troubled by that. But you need good people who more than compensate for your own shortcomings. And then you have to let them do their jobs, to not micromanage. To weigh in where it’s appropriate but not overextend. And then to cultivate trust within the team members. Building a team is certainly as much art as it is science, but you have to have the right players to make it work well.

“To be self-aware includes knowing my own strengths and weaknesses, and complementing where there are needs. But I also think it’s involved in this decision – I’m aware that the time is right for me (to retire), but it’s also right for Concordia. I don’t know if I would have arrived at that if I weren’t somewhat self-aware.

“We have a very senior team. I felt it was very important for me to be the first to step to the

Concordia University Wisconsin

Mequon Industry: Higher education Employees: 630

cuw.edu

side so that when the new leader is in place that person would have the opportunity to build the team of (their) own preference. Whoever it is, they will be facing some really large challenges. I hope that person will have the opportunity to get a running start at it and that includes building a really strong team.” n

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Issue Date: December 14, 2020

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