Steadying the Ship: Why Professional Coaching Matters in Turbulent Times

The pace and pressure of academic leadership have intensified. Many leaders are navigating increased responsibilities, constrained resources, political tension, and widespread fatigue. In this environment, clarity, presence, and sustained energy are essential and precious.

To lead effectively, leaders must protect their most limited resource: their focus and energy. Coaching provides a structured space to do just that.

Protecting your cognitive budget

A cognitive budget refers to the limited amount of mental energy, attention, and processing capacity that a person has available to manage tasks, solve problems, and make decisions. It’s a concept used in psychology, behavioral economics, and organizational behavior to describe the amount of “mental bandwidth” someone has at a given time. 

When that mental bandwidth is stretched too thin, the results show up quickly. Communication suffers. Decisions become reactive. Leadership presence begins to erode.

Coaching helps leaders slow down enough to notice what’s being spent and what needs to be restored. It creates space to reflect before reacting, and to prioritize with intention instead of urgency.

Making space for clarity and care

The familiar metaphor applies: put on your oxygen mask before assisting others. Academic leaders are often expected to be fully present for everyone else—faculty, staff, students, and boards—without adequate time or space to regroup. Coaching offers that breathing room.

It is not about stepping away from responsibility. It is about stepping into it with steadiness. With the right support, leaders can manage their energy, stay aligned with their values, and re-engage with clarity and calm.

A real example: reclaiming purpose and influencing others

The level of uncertainty facing most universities today has created unique and substantial challenges, including the need to adapt to external forces and deep financial uncertainties. Leaders are faced with situations with no clear solutions, and everything feels like a trade-off they don’t want to make.

In our coaching conversations, we help leaders move from reactive problem-solving to a reflective space where they reframe challenges and design concrete steps they can take. 

Reframing is a powerful coaching technique that helps uncover new options and reduce cognitive load. Examples of questions a coach might ask to support reframing include:

• What if this were happening for you instead of to you? What might it offer?
• What’s within your control right now—and what isn’t?
• What assumptions might be limiting how you are approaching this?
• If you named this challenge not just as hard, but as meaningful, what shifts?
• What values do you want to stay anchored to as you navigate this?

Shifting from a reactivity to a focus on a shared possible future can lead to changes and opportunities that once felt impossible. Coaching can also support managing difficult conversations related to the change. 

Coaching prevents isolation

Leadership, especially in higher education, can be a profoundly isolating experience. The more responsibility a leader holds, the fewer safe spaces they may have for reflection. Coaching creates that space. It allows for honest exploration without judgment and performance pressure.

In conversation with a skilled coach, leaders can see themselves more clearly, surface underlying assumptions, and make intentional choices that align with their roles and values.

Building institutional resilience

Institutions benefit when leaders are clear-headed, focused, and supported. When coaching is integrated—not just reserved for the most senior roles—it strengthens leadership at every level. Department chairs, emerging leaders, and program directors all carry real influence on campus culture. Supporting them builds long-term capacity.

Coaching helps institutions:

• Reduce decision fatigue
  
• Strengthen communication
  
• Retain leaders who are otherwise at risk of burnout
  
• Reinforce mission-aligned leadership

The bottom line

Higher education will continue to evolve, often in ways that feel unpredictable. What leaders need now is space to think, to reflect, and to recharge. Coaching is one way to protect that space.

When leaders learn to manage their cognitive budget, restore their presence, and stay grounded in purpose, they lead not just through change, but through it with clarity.

Jennifer K. Stine, Ph.D., is co-founder and president of Academic Leadership Group and the bestselling author of The Empowered Leader. Please contact us if you would like a copy of the book, The Empowered Leader.