This is your
Dean's Room
A trusted space to ask the questions you can't always ask at your own institution.
For new, interim and sitting business school deans navigating the decisions and pressures of academic leadership.
“…an open environment where I feel comfortable authentically sharing whatever is on my mind.”
Aarti Ivanic Dean, University of Hartford
Three deans. Three very different years
Three deans at three different moments in the job.
Debbie Compeau
Debbie was a senior associate dean who did not think she wanted to be a dean. Fundraising was the part of the job she knew nothing about.
One of the first things she did in WIBE was take the fundraising class. It became her foundation when she stepped into the dean's role. Today she is leading one of the largest single-project campaigns in her university's history.
“That class made a huge difference in my preparation. It gave me a foundation.”
Liz Cartier
Liz went straight from faculty to interim dean, in the middle of an AACSB review. She had never been a chair or an associate dean.
A fellow dean in the room, Kathryn Birkeland, became her mentor and reviewed her whole application for the permanent role. Today Liz is dean of the Katz School of Business.
“Last year was the fire hose. This year I feel ready.”
Tommy Aicher
In his first deanship, Tommy led a college on its sixth dean in eight years. Budgets were cut every year he was there.
When he needed to benchmark teaching loads, six deans sent him their data within 24 hours. WIBE helped him move from his first deanship to his second, and this month he started as dean at Northern Arizona. He keeps bringing his whole leadership team into WIBE.
“Create a network. The WIBE network is one worth investing in.”
The higher you move, the smaller your circle gets
One day they are your colleagues. The next, you are evaluating them, setting their budgets and making decisions that shape their work. Conversations change. So do relationships.
Now you are deciding about budgets, people, strategy, donors, faculty, your leadership team and your provost. Often with fewer people you can talk to honestly than you had before you took the job.
Your cabinet knows your institution. Your friends know you. Your executive coach knows leadership. The Dean's Room gives you peers who know this seat.
Wherever you are in the deanship, there is a seat for you
New deans
Your first years in the chair. Everything is new and very public. Sit with deans who remember exactly what year one felt like.
Sitting deans
You know the job. You also know how few people you can talk to about it honestly. Sit with peers who carry the same weight.
Interim deans
You are holding the school steady while the search runs, and maybe deciding whether to apply. Sit with deans who have made that call themselves.
Bring the thing you are actually dealing with
Every Dean's Room Mastermind starts with what is live for you right now. The agenda comes from the deans in the room.
- A faculty situation that has become more complicated than it should be.
- A difficult conversation with your provost or president.
- A leadership team decision you want to think through before you take it inside.
- A budget, restructuring or staffing question.
- A donor or partnership opportunity with real stakes.
- Institutional politics you need help reading.
- A decision about your own next move.
- The issue that followed you home and is still in your head at 11pm.
You put it on the table. The people around it understand the job because they hold it too.
What happens in the mastermind
Every month, The Dean's Room meets for the mastermind. Each session is one hour with a small group of deans, completely off the record, facilitated by Lisa Leander.
You arrive
With a question, a decision, a challenge or an opportunity. Or you come to listen.
Deans weigh in
Perspective from peers working through their own version of the same job.
You hear what worked
What others tried, what they would do differently, and what they see that you might miss.
You leave clearer
With sharper thinking and deans you can come back to next month.
Twenty years. Twenty-three countries. Hundreds of deans. Lisa Leander facilitates every Dean's Room Mastermind herself and serves as an advisor to the deans in the room.
The room rules
Come with a question, or come to listen. Either way you leave with peers who get it.
One hour a month. You choose the hour
The real constraint for deans is the calendar.
The Dean's Room Mastermind runs several times each month, so you pick the session that fits your week. One hour is the whole ask. A bad week never costs you the month.
Of deans say they have time for their own development. 83 percent still love the work. The Dean's Room is built for exactly that gap.
Someone always saves you a seat
We gather at the conferences you already attend. Arrival dinners, breakfasts through the week, and trips that turn peers into friends.
Your own room, inside a bigger network
The Dean's Room is part of WIBE membership. It has its own programming built for deans, and you still have full access to every WIBE resource and the whole WIBE community.
Built for deans
Your monthly seat in The Dean's Room Mastermind, facilitated by Lisa Leander. Several sessions a month, deans only, off the record.
Everything WIBE offers
Workshops, the on demand library, the private community and app, and in person gatherings with leaders across business education.
The Dean's Room Mastermind
Your one hour monthly mastermind with other deans, facilitated by Lisa. Several sessions a month.
Monthly workshops
Expert led and practical, built from the real conversations happening inside the masterminds.
On demand library
Every workshop, recorded and ready. Watch at 2am if that is when your hour appears.
Private community and app
Your always on room between sessions, for the question you would rather ask outside your institution.
Leadership visibility
Panels, contributions and introductions that put you in front of the people who open doors.
In person gatherings
Dinners and meet ups at the conferences you already attend. Someone saves you a seat.
The member bulletin
What is happening across the network each month, and who to meet, in one short read.
You would be in very good company
“Being a dean means living in complexity. WIBE turns complexity into possibility.”Michael Bedell, Dean, Northeastern Illinois University
I built the room deans kept asking me for
For twenty years I have worked with business school leaders across six continents, including hundreds of deans. Again and again I watched the same thing happen. The higher leaders moved, the fewer places they had to say the real thing out loud.
The Dean's Room grew out of those conversations. I facilitate every Dean's Room Mastermind myself. It is small, practical and candid, and it is built around what deans are facing right now.
If you are a new, sitting or interim dean, consider this your invitation.
Sit in on a mastermind before you decide
Join one Dean's Room Mastermind as our guest. Bring a real question if you have one, or come to listen. Meet the deans in the room and decide for yourself.
Leave your name and email. Lisa will write to you personally with the next dates.
Your request is in
Lisa will email you personally with the next Dean's Room Mastermind dates. Your monthly Dean's Bulletin will arrive in the same inbox.
Join The Dean's Room
Your seat in The Dean's Room Mastermind every month, and everything inside The Dean's Room all year. Most institutions fund it from professional development.
Want to see it first? Request a guest seat
WIBE membership is included.
We offer similar masterminds and programming for the academic leaders on your team, with group discounts when colleagues from your school join together.
Email membership@wibenetwork.com for a group invoice.
- The Dean's Room Mastermind. Your one hour monthly mastermind, facilitated by Lisa.
- Monthly workshops. Expert led and practical, live or recorded.
- On demand library. Every workshop, recorded.
- Private community and app. Your always on room between sessions.
- Leadership visibility. Panels, contributions and introductions.
- In person gatherings. At the conferences you already attend.
- The member bulletin. The whole network in one short monthly read.
What deans ask before they sit down
What is The Dean's Room?
A community of new, sitting and interim deans who want to connect with other deans. You meet every month in The Dean's Room Mastermind, and the room stays open all year in between.
What is The Dean's Room Mastermind?
The monthly one hour mastermind inside The Dean's Room. A small group of deans, facilitated by Lisa Leander. Several sessions run each month, so you pick the one that fits your week.
Who can join?
New deans, sitting deans and interim deans.
Is the mastermind recorded?
Never. The Dean's Room Mastermind is deans only and completely off the record. What is shared in the room stays in the room.
How much time does it take?
One hour a month. Workshops are live if you can make them and recorded if you cannot.
What if I do not have a big issue to bring?
Come anyway. Sometimes the most useful session is the one where another dean brings the question you did not realize you needed to think about yet.
What exactly do I get for $799?
Your monthly seat in The Dean's Room Mastermind, facilitated by Lisa. Every monthly workshop. The full on demand library. The private community and app. In person dinners and meet ups at the conferences you already attend. Introductions to the people who open doors. The monthly member bulletin. Every item is included in the $799.
Can I try it first?
Yes. Request a seat at our next Dean's Room Mastermind and Lisa will send you the dates personally.
Will my institution pay for it?
Most do, from professional development funds. $799 also sits below most approval lines. Here is approval language you can copy.
How does The Dean's Room relate to WIBE?
The Dean's Room is powered by WIBE, and WIBE membership is included when you join.
Is there something similar for my associate dean?
Yes. We offer WIBE membership with masterminds in The Strategy Table or The Leadership Lab. There are group discounts.
Pull up a chair
One hour a month. A small table of deans, facilitated by Lisa. A room you can come back to when the next hard thing shows up.
Request a seat at our next mastermindThe Dean's Room is powered by WIBE Network.