As a coach, I focus on supporting the courageous and resilient leaders that higher education so desperately needs, and I bring to each coaching relationship the full range of my experience at both a large research university and a small liberal arts college. While I draw on my experience as president, dean, and department chair—including being the target of a nationally publicized takeover—I offer customized coaching designed around the goals of each client.  Committed to partnerships built on trust, I help clients find solutions to immediate needs and chart a path toward long-term professional goals.

Central to my coaching is a belief that higher education has under-invested in leadership development and that this neglect has made it easier to continue the status quo in which many people—women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and others—are seen as “not looking like” academic leaders. But we do not need to accept the status quo: we must invest in ourselves, collectively and individually. 

And if you are wondering “Do I really need a coach?” I ask you to imagine the sporting world without coaches. Would anyone expect elite athletes to perform at their highest level if they had never had a coach?  Why, then, do we assume that academic leaders can reach their full potential without the partnership of a trusted expert focused on helping them thrive as an academic leader in an increasingly challenging world?  

Patricia Okker, Former President, New College of Florida