Your Dream Team: Target Strategies for Building a Leadership Team

A high performing leadership team for a division or department is the single most critical strategic goal that a senior leader can have for his or her institution. This session will focus on how to strategically think about your talents, experiences, and role as a senior administrator and how to build a team of professionals that not only support the work of the institution but support the vision and the direction of your department or division. This session will address the challenges of a staff you inherit, leveraging the role of Human Resources, best practices for hiring based on the national landscape of higher education including diversity hiring, and on-boarding of new hires.

Ellen Heffernan

President - Spelman Johnson

Ellen Heffernan graduated from Smith College with a B.A. in economics and government. She joined Spelman Johnson in 1996, after a ten-year career in higher education that included positions at Smith College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is also a national speaker and writer on topics related to recruiting and professional development in higher education and serves as faculty for several national higher education association professional development programs. Ellen also currently serves on the executive board of the National Association of Executive Recruiters.