Do you struggle with university leaders who make pronouncements without consulting the Registrar’s Office? This can be challenging when you know that what they said is impossible, or at least will be very difficult. It can cause additional work for staff who may not appreciate someone making their lives more difficult.

This is a common problem in organizations and not only with universities. Sales teams are known to oversell. CEOs speak of a future state without their employees knowing what that future state is. New university Presidents and Deans may be used to working fairly autonomously and do not always realize the implications their decisions have on other departments like the Registrar’s Office.

There is a solution. And no, it does not involve responding in public, or using social media to share your concerns. If we have learned anything from a certain politician, it is how distasteful and abhorrent that is.

I have found it to be effective to meet with the leader to try to find out what their goals are – why they said what they did. I usually start with a phone call: “Dr. X, the local newspaper carried a story in which you said you are going to guarantee… (insert whatever you like). I haven’t heard about this plan before, but I am interested and of course it will involve my office, so I’d like to work with you on this. What did you envision?”

Everyone who has not worked with you before has a pre-conceived idea about who you are and what your job is. I have written before about how Registrars are often called “gate keepers” and people sometimes see us as a barrier. Leaders have strategies for dealing with barriers. Some work around them. Some think it is easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission. Some bully their way through. Your job is not to build a wider gate. It is not to build a stronger gate. It is not to build a taller gate. If Dr. X has this view of you and your office, you have a bigger barrier to overcome.

Your job is to show these leaders that the problem is with the image of a gate in the first place. Show them that you are a leader too, and that you like to make things happen. Show them that they need you, that you are an ally, that you have keys to gates, chainsaws for fallen trees blocking paths, and maps to find the way. Once they know this about you, your job just got much easier.

Once I have helped the leader reimagine the role of the Registrar, I always reinforce it by concluding the conversation with something like, “Dr. X, next time call me first. We can make this go smoothly if we collaborate early instead as late as we are working together now. This is what I do – this is how we can work together.” And the next time I’m in a meeting with that person and others, I say publicly, “When Dr. X and I worked together on the last project…” It further reminds Dr. X and the others that I am a team player and that I’m someone to call when something needs doing.

Of course, when we return to our teams and share the situation, we always make the leader look good? This is not only a matter of respect. It helps our teams have a better image of the leader (e.g., not a bully but a dreamer), which means they will be more open to working together on ideas and opportunities. And our team learns to trust that we will represent them as well when they are not in the room.