Being Visible

For the past 26 years of my professional life I have been affiliated with a large organization. It is a public institution of higher education that boasts over 33,000 students and over 6,000 employees. In addition, as a result of its many facilities and public programs, an average of more than 3 million people visit its campuses each year. Taken together, we are talking about a great many people. Despite their differences in background, age, origin, etc., they are all connected by their need for and interest in this institution: George Mason University. That kind of connectivity, of course, is no small thing.


One key challenge for the institution is how to keep all of these folks feeling connected to an entity of such size and complexity. Given its layers of depth, it is easy to see how individual students, employees and visitors could fall into a pattern of doing what they have to do - attend class, work in an office, attend a lecture, etc. - without feeling much of an affinity toward the overall entity itself. One way to address this potential scenario falls on the shoulders of its leader: the university president. A big part of this individual's job is to help make people feel good about their ties to the institution. If the president does not do that, then they are not doing their job.


This is why it is essential for this person to be as visible to the entire campus and surrounding community as possible. Obviously, the president is extremely busy and rarely, if ever, has free time o their hands. Part of that being busy, however, must be the result of being physically and actively engaged with as many of those with a connection to the university. The folks from all stations look to the leader for reassurance that their choice to connect with the university is a good one. No one can provide that as well as the top leader. This truism applies not just to George Mason but to any other public or private organization as well. When it comes to maintaining a positive connection, face-to-face communication remains the best way to go.