In 2020, those of us who have the privilege of working in higher education as college and university presidents have found ourselves at the helm of complex organizations coping with three significant crises. The first crisis is the public health emergency represented by COVID-19, a once-in-a-generation global outbreak of a highly contagious and novel disease. The second is the economic emergency triggered by the pandemic, requiring teams around the world to reinvent the way they do business. The third, prompted by the tragic loss of another Black life at the hands of law enforcement, is the unrest associated with renewed calls for social justice as we reexamine issues of racism and abuse of power.

College and university presidents must do more than merely survive these crises—we must lead through them. Leadership, especially at times of crisis, requires the ability to focus on navigating the current circumstances without losing sight of the ultimate destination. A crisis—let alone three simultaneous ones—can either distract a leader from the mission or accelerate their progress towards achieving it, allowing them to leverage the urgency of the moment into action that cements their legacy.

The notion of legacy—what we leave behind—is a deep motivator for leadership, indeed for all human action. Every phase of existence is temporal, and it is deeply ingrained in the human psyche to consider how we want to be remembered. We are here—in this particular role, at this particular location, with this particular group of people—for a limited period of time. Crisis makes the realization of our limited time more acute as we face an immediate threat.

This is true for individuals and for organizations. Institutions are the vehicles human beings have devised to manage the inevitably temporal nature of our existence. Institutions provide the matrix for individuals to mobilize in pursuit of common values and goals. The genius of institutions is that they make it possible for the talents of individuals to transcend through others, beyond immediate people, places, and eras. Leadership is essentially legacy building through an institution.

For the University of Miami, the crises of 2020 struck at the halfway point of our strategic plan, the Roadmap to Our New Century. The goals we articulated in the Roadmap and our progress over the past five years set the stage for how we would approach our response to COVID-19, its economic consequences, and the need for social reform. Part of what is making it possible to remain focused on our goals is how deeply rooted they are in our mission.

  Part of what is making it possible to remain focused on our goals is how deeply rooted they are in our mission. 

The Roadmap called on our faculty, staff, and students to advance our mission by pursuing a number of strategic priorities, five of which have been particularly salient in these historic times. The mission of the University of Miami is to transform lives through education, research, innovation, and service.

The first priority that allowed us to respond to current crises from a position of strength was our commitment to educational innovation. We have been investing in new modalities and technology ranging from academic supercomputers to 5G networks to mixed reality.

When the time came in the spring of 2020 to transition every course to an online format, ensuring the continuity of our students’ education and the completion of degrees for our graduates, we were ready. Thanks to the tireless work of our faculty and staff, we were able to migrate every one of our more than 1,700 courses to an online format in a matter of 10 days. This was not without hiccups and challenges, at our University and at every other school, but we largely managed well.

The second priority that positioned us for success in leading through the ongoing crises is our focus on interdisciplinary problem-based research. Global problems require global solutions, and their complexity demands an interdisciplinary perspective that fosters holistic thinking and integrative approaches. We have taken big steps toward breaking down disciplinary and organizational barriers to address consequential problems ranging from cancer research to climate change.

  Global problems require global solutions, and their complexity demands an interdisciplinary perspective that fosters holistic thinking and integrative approaches. 

One of the ways we have done this is through U-LINK, which is both an acronym—it stands for the University of Miami Laboratory for Integrative Knowledge—and an accomplishment, now in its fourth round of seed funding to support teams of scholars from multiple disciplines in problem-based inquiry. Projects mix natural and social sciences with arts and humanities. The type of innovation required to lead through the current crises and build a better normal cannot happen absent a collaborative approach.

The third priority we directly utilized to address ongoing crises, particularly the fight against COVID-19, is achieving preeminence for our academic health system, UHealth. Our health workers, support staff, clinicians, and researchers have been on the front lines of the pandemic in South Florida.

The fact that UHealth had strengthened its supply chain and turned its finances around allowed us to meet the surge in demand from COVID-19 and keep our health system from being overwhelmed. While the necessary pause in elective procedures has hurt financially—particularly for a system whose strength is specialty services—the forward-thinking practices put in place by leadership have allowed UHealth to aggressively pursue the cutting-edge diagnostics, treatment, and vaccines that will continue to advance it towards preeminence.

The fourth priority that has proven essential in the times in which we are living is our advocacy for what we refer to as building a culture of belonging, one where everyone feels valued and has an opportunity to add value. The social crisis we see today is a passionate call for ending the historic oppression, vestiges of segregation, and entrenched racism faced by African Americans.

Because we were already highly committed to equity and inclusion—and had made significant progress with a 47% increase in the number of Black first-year students and a 26% increase in the number of Black faculty over the past five years—we are positioned to live out our core value of diversity with concrete steps to promote racial justice both on and off campus.

The fifth priority, without which the economic crisis might have proven devastating, is administrative excellence rooted in operational efficiency and financial sustainability. Behind the cutting-edge research, collaborative innovation, and adaptability for which crises call are teams of staff working hard to create a platform for success. As a result, the University’s fiscal performance heading into 2020 was solid.

  Behind the cutting-edge research, collaborative innovation, and adaptability for which crises call are teams of staff working hard to create a platform for success. 

The strategic decision five years ago to improve our financial footing to fund the needs of the present and build for the future has allowed us to stay one step ahead of the economic crisis, much in the same way he had to stay one step ahead of the health crisis to save lives.

Our financial sustainability relies not just on efficient management, but on visionary fundraising. Part of our progress on the Roadmap has relied on consistently exceeding our annual fundraising goals. We have attained bests in University fundraising history, while growing our endowment.

Great universities create a sense of continuity and perpetuity. Crises can motivate principled philanthropists to engage in new and different ways. As the world navigates uncertain times, we have expanded our ’Canes community offerings for lifelong learning, connection, and partnership.

Leaders understand that as we achieve goals, they become steps on our institutional journeys. The way we steward our institutions through those steps becomes our leadership journey.

Crises give us an opportunity to leverage problems to accelerate the pace of progress on those parallel journeys. In other words, crises are not a parenthesis along our leadership journeys; rather, they can become the quintessential stumbling block turned steppingstone.

  Crises give us an opportunity to leverage problems to accelerate the pace of progress on those parallel journeys. 

Ultimately, the way we lead through crises becomes one of the most memorable parts of our legacy. In building a lasting legacy, leaders should keep three principles in mind.

First, do not make a big mistake. History is peppered with leaders who made one major error that overshadowed everything else they did.

Second, do not ruin what is already working well. This includes both what I have described above—using crises to accelerate the pace on existing priorities, rather than letting them become a distraction—but also encompasses having the humility to build on the legacy of those who came before you.

If you follow the first two principles, then you can work intentionally to develop the distinctive elements that you will add to enrich the institution for the next generation. Leading effectively through crises is perhaps the most effective way to leave our institutions better than we found them.

The stakes in times of crisis are high. The spotlight on our action—or inaction—is bright. And the returns on our willingness to be bold can be transformative.

Colleges and universities can play a critical role in the search for solutions to address the crises the world is facing today. As leaders, our responsibility is to ensure they do so. If we meet that challenge, our legacies will take care of themselves.