Interview with Dr. Margarita Benítez, Senior Consultant, Arredondo Advisory Group
The purpose of this interview is to gather perspectives on leadership from Dr. Benitez and to invite her to discuss her experiences as a leader. The story will start with a biographical sketch about Dr. Benítez.
Bio Sketch
The existential fact that defines my professional trajectory was growing up on the main campus of the University of Puerto Rico in the fifties and sixties. I was privileged to witness the transformative effect UPR had in the individual and collective experiences of many of my compatriots. That experience has determined every one of my life choices.
I went to college and graduate school in the United States—Vassar, Middlebury, and Columbia—with a couple of years of study in Spain that affirmed my fascination with our rich Hispanic cultural heritage. My teaching career mostly took place at the UPR-Cayey Campus, a 3500-student liberal arts college with a large population of first generation students. First as a professor and later as chancellor of the college, I was able to expand the horizons of students and faculty through study abroad and research experiences, as well as by bringing to campus artists and scientists in residence.
In Washington, DC, where I have lived since 1998, I have focused on access and success initiatives for the underrepresented in higher education. I have held leadership positions in the U.S. Dept. of Education, The Institute for Higher Education Policy, The Education Trust, and the American Council on Education. I am a Senior Associate at Excelencia in Education, and one of four Lumina Fellows (2013-15) selected by Lumina Foundation in recognition for my work to increase access and success in higher education. Since 2014, I have worked closely with The National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good at the University of Michigan in the development of a leadership curriculum anchored in the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Interviewer: How would you describe inclusive leadership? Why has it become so important to organization leaders?
Inclusive leadership stems from the awareness that a leader represents and serves a community. A community’s growth is its main source of strength; leaders must pay attention and be actively involved with growing the community, both in terms of its size and of its interactions, internal and external, towards the common good.
Shared values and shared goals are the glue that bonds a community together, and that enables it to make room for a diversity of opinions, and reach agreement on what matters most. A leader understands that dynamic and enjoys the challenge of framing her work in it.
Interviewer: What are characteristics of an effective and inclusive leader?
First, the capacity to articulate the vision, the values, and the yearnings of the communities the leader represents, as well as others she also seeks to serve but has not yet reached. Then, the disposition to seek out and listen to multiple voices, to ask for advice as well as to pay attention to it, and to seek common ground among differing viewpoints. Effectiveness requires cultural competencies beyond one’s own, which the leader must strive to acquire, to be truly inclusive. Ensuring transparency and opportunities for participation in decision making processes and procedures is a hallmark of effective and inclusive leadership. Also essential is to treat everybody with respect.
An inclusive leader shares substantive information as background and as context for important decisions; encourages and acknowledges the contributions of others; celebrates their accomplishments; and articulates a community narrative spanning diversity and inclusion that conveys the capacity to deliver results.
Interviewer: In your experience as a university president and leader in higher education circles, what are some of the obstacles for effective and inclusive leaders? How did you manage these?
Sometimes people are used to authoritarian styles of leadership, and misconstrue your asking for input or feedback as a sign of ignorance or weakness, especially if you are a woman. Because I had both witnessed and experienced political persecution as a faculty leader, when I was a candidate for a college presidency I often made the point that my opponents would have nothing to fear from me. Some of my campus colleagues took me at my word, and decided to test the limits of my tolerance when I became their president.
What gave me strength to deal with both explicit and indirect attacks without resentment was to draw courage from my own convictions, because I knew how authentic they were, and I truly believed that living up to them would allow me to be my best self, and to serve the institution well. As a feminist, I knew that I had to open doors and set an example for other women by charting my true path, selecting as appropriate from a range of leadership styles traditionally associated with males and females. As an academic leader, I had to demonstrate my faith in the academy as a place for vigorous, yet civil, debate, as well as my commitment to protect minority rights at all levels, especially with regard to their right to question and to oppose the administration. Those strongly held convictions opened reserves of confidence and patience I didn’t know I had, that allowed me to focus on leading by example, and to actually enjoy most of the back and forth with my opponents in a sporting spirit.
Interviewer: The face of higher education and other workplaces have changed over the last 10-20 years, what are some of the people-related changes you have seen? Women, persons of color, Latinx students and leaders?
While it is clear that student demographics have changed significantly–as documented by Lumina Foundation in its various reports on the students of the 21st Century–, there has not yet been a parallel development with regard to the leadership in higher education. Actually, in some areas there has been a decrease in women and minority presidents, as recorded in the latest ACE report, The American College President Study 2017. We are faced with a need that has not been fulfilled yet. That reality increases the obligation to advocate for increased opportunities, as well as to mentor and to train our successors for those of us who hold, or have held executive positions.
Interviewer: What are new approaches to lead in these times of dynamic change and diversity?
I think we continue to have an obligation to convey and explain the value of diversity, equity and inclusion, not only for the sake of what my good friend Jamie Merisotis calls “the emerging majority,” but for the benefit of academia in general, and for the common good. Having said that, new approaches must include an understanding of nontraditional teaching, learning, and credentialing formulas that allow the next generation of leaders to accommodate the needs and capacities of adult learners and 21st century students without compromising that elusive but essential element known as academic excellence. We must be on the alert for alternate tracks that limit opportunity for underrepresented students.
Interviewer: What are 4-5 words that you associate with leadership?
Empathy, enthusiasm, courage, principles, narratives
Interviewer: Do you have advice or words of affirmation for novice women leaders or students and post-grads striving to integrate into leadership roles and positions?
Young women are often concerned about failing or not meeting the high standards that they expect of themselves. In my experience, the best way to overcome this is to remind yourself that you are working for and serving others – you are representing and serving a greater good and there is a cost to this type of work that is greater than yourself. When I remain focused on furthering an agenda and providing a voice for those without one, I find I can be more effective and I can do more.
Sincere thanks to Dr. Margarita Benítez for taking part in this interview.
Dr. Margarita Benítez is a Senior Consultant with the Arredondo Advisory Group, Inc.