It has been said that leaders have two jobs. First, they are responsible to accomplish the mission. Second, they are to take care of the people who help them accomplish the mission. Leaders strike the balance between the two that serves to accomplish both jobs as well as possible. You take care of the people because you can't usually accomplish the mission alone.
Leadership, consequently, requires tough choices. Particularly in war, asking a man to do something for the mission comes difficult because it might cost that man his life. People are frequently asked to take one for the team, and yet each member of normal society secretly hopes he will never have to give anything at all.
In education, there are some tough choices to make. The Governor of Nevada has announced that he will do away with the furlough program because it inconveniences all the customers of the few individuals who are absent on any given day. It might work if they agreed to change the schedule of offerings, but even if they closed the campus, I would have to come in, unpaid, and do the work anyway because the schedule precludes me doing it when I am actually here any other way. Someone wanted to cut one of our campuses. The trouble was that campus sits amongst the greatest number of residential applicants to the school whereas the others are in commercial districts, and as such it would impact a high number of our customers. We have more students accessing us than ever before, and it costs less to offer additional sections at one campus than to offer lots of courses in lots of locations. They have opted to close the satellite campuses, and they could continue to run the rooms at or near capacity. We have some instructors who are 'good enough' but not ideal. We would like to hire people who are better at the same rate of pay.
No matter how much we try, nobody's got a perfect idea. What it will take is leaders who know enough about what happens in the trenches to make enlightened decisions who also have authority to see it through. I am happy to provide ideas as long as leadership will back me up on what I recommend and see any of my recommendations through that they choose. I know how we can do some things. Leadership takes tough choices.
Perhaps some missteps in leadership come because they trust the wrong people. I lack the laundry list of credentials possessed by some who look good on paper. What I do have is theatre-specific information because I am on the front, interfacing with customers and instructors, on at least a weekly basis. I serve more of a supporting role, but Douglas Adams would warn you not to ship all the janitors away to settle another planet. The price might be dire!
When all is said and done, I am glad I don't have to make the decisions. What I hope they do is first of all make decisions and then stick with them. It's much easier to follow when a firm course has been set. Speaking of courses, once they set the objectives, it will be easier for teachers and students alike to meet them. Otherwise, the leader's role is more to manage a club than to lead an organization.
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