The Path to University President

The Sydcast

Episode Summary

Scholar, leadership guru, author, speaker, and influencer, for the last 7 years Christine Riordan has been President of Adelphi University in New York. How did she get there? How did her leadership work translate to when she was sitting in the corner office? How did she navigate running a large university during Covid? And how does she think about women and leadership? A master class on leadership, with Christine Riordan.

Sydney Finkelstein

Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life.

Christine Riordan

Christine Riordan (MBA, Ph.D.) is the 10th President of Adelphi University in New York and has been since 2015. Since starting, Chris has established the University's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and has helped launch 50 new academic degree programs. She also sits on a number of boards including those of RE/MAX Holdings and the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU).

Prior to becoming Adelphi’s President, Riordan occupied roles including Executive Consultant at State Farm, Dean of University of Denver’s College of Business, and Associate Dean at TCU, to name a few. Chris is an expert in leadership, talent development, career success, and diversity. She has published 70 articles and is authoring Shift Happens: How to Adapt and Thrive in a Rapidly Changing World of Work—a book on helping employees adapt to the changing workplace. Chris’s TEDx talk, “Dare to Be Extraordinary,” has received more than 26,000 views.

Insights from this episode:

• How to create an inclusive environment
• How to involve people in creating an inclusive environment
• Chris’ journey to being university president
• Chris’ challenges as a president
• Navigating classes during covid
• How Chris helped her university to respond to the pandemic from an academic standpoint
• How she helped her community with resources to tap into during the pandemic
• How Chris helped her community to navigate in the new environment with the COVID-19 pandemic
• How to successfully fundraise
• Chris’ mission to help every student succeed
• What are the attributes of good leadership

Quotes from the show:

• “One of the things that was really important for me was to be able to make an impact on students’ lives” - Christine Riordan [5:36]
• “Diversity is easy but it's useless if it doesn’t have inclusion, and I think the hardest work is to make sure people are included” - Christine Riordan [9:23]
• “The job of not just a leader but almost anyone in any significant senior position with responsibility is to figure out what that puzzle is” - Sydney Finkelstein [19:01]
• “I think when you are trying to accomplish things then the challenge and opportunity again is to try to find that shared goal and commonality” - Christine Riordan [30:55]
• “From a leadership standpoint, it is really important to understand who you are serving and understand their desires and make sure you are communicating constantly with them” - Christine Riordan [39:09]
• “To do all the work around diversity, equity, and inclusion and belonging, you have to be very intentional” - Christine Riordan [44:31]
• “To me the number one capability that a leader has to have is adaptability ” - Christine Riordan [46:11]
• “Even if someone has the capabilities to do a particular job, if they do not have the right mindset, they are not going to be successful” - Christine Riordan [47:05]

Stay connected:

Sydney Finkelstein

Website: http://thesydcast.com

LinkedIn: Sydney Finkelstein

Twitter: @sydfinkelstein

Facebook: The Sydcast

Instagram: The Sydcast

Christine Riordan

Website: christineriordan.com

LinkedIn: Christine Riordan

Twitter: Christine M. Riordan

Instagram: Christine M. Riordan (@prezriordan)

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This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.