Diagnosing executive team dysfunction requires more than recognizing familiar patterns. After 25 years of working with teams, I've learned the importance of resisting quick conclusions, listening without assumptions, and building an understanding grounded in each team's reality.

Making a small effort to be more understanding and avoid being myopic on your own “busy” in September, will payback in a much happier and more effective year for senior leaders... no matter if they are extroverted or introverted, academic or administrative.

Organizations don't usually fail because people stop caring. They fail because people slowly stop telling each other the truth.

What looks like resistance is often responsibility. A story about leadership, trust, and why teams make progress when they stop arguing positions and start understanding what people are carrying.

Canadian higher education is not facing a simple correction. It is facing a collapse that exposed fragile funding models, weakened leadership alignment, and the urgent need for institutional robustness.