Leading Through Complexity in BC Post-Secondary

A practical leadership series for navigating uncertainty, making difficult decisions, and carrying institutional strain.

BC’s public post-secondary sector is navigating one of the most disruptive periods in its recent history. Funding pressures, international enrolment declines, layoffs, program suspensions, labour tensions, and structural uncertainty are reshaping institutions across the province.

For leaders inside these institutions, the challenge is not simply operational. It is relational, ethical, and human. Leaders are being asked to make difficult decisions with incomplete information, support teams through uncertainty, navigate competing interests, and move institutions forward when there is no clear map.

This three-part online series is designed specifically for leaders working in BC post-secondary institutions who are carrying responsibility in conditions they do not fully control.

Who Should Attend

This course is designed for leaders navigating complex challenges in BC post-secondary institutions, including:

  • Academic leaders
  • Deans and Associate Deans
  • Department chairs and program directors
  • Associate Vice-Presidents
  • HR professionals
  • Labour Relations practitioners
  • People leaders across administrative and academic units

What Participants Will Learn

Participants will learn to:

  • Distinguish between technical problems and adaptive challenges
  • Use systems thinking to understand persistent institutional issues
  • Make grounded decisions when there is no clear "right" answer
  • Lead from values while managing competing pressures
  • Navigate difficult relationships and competing priorities
  • Communicate in ways that reduce escalation and build trust
  • Work strategically within their real sphere of influence
  • Build alliances and create momentum without waiting for certainty

Course Structure

The series consists of three online half-day sessions (3 hours each, including breaks). Sessions are designed to build on one another.

A shared fictional case study runs throughout the series, following a BC post-secondary institution navigating a government-directed sustainability review.

Session One:

Seeing the Whole Picture: Developing a Systems-Thinking Lens for Challenges

Leaders often respond to complexity by working harder and faster. This session pauses that instinct and asks a different question: What kind of challenge is this, really?

Participants learn to map systems, identify leverage points, and recognize the forces and relationships driving persistent institutional challenges.

Topics include:

  • Technical vs. adaptive challenges
  • Systems thinking
  • Relational accountability
  • Identifying leverage points
  • Seeing institutions as interconnected systems

Register Now (Register for all three sessions for a discounted rate)

 

Session Two (must have completed session 1 to take session 2)

Deciding Well in the Grey Zone: Making Good Decisions When the Path Isn’t Clear

When there is no clear right answer, leaders often default to the fastest defensible one. This session explores what it means to make thoughtful, values-informed decisions under pressure.

Participants examine how analytical and relational decision-making intersect and apply the Cynefin framework to institutional complexity.

Topics include:

  • Values under pressure 
  • Decision-making in uncertainty
  • Analytical and relational leadership lenses
  • The Cynefin framework
  • Navigating competing "good" values

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Session Three (must have completed session 1 & 2)

Leading from where you stand

Many leaders hold significant responsibility without full authority. This session focuses on leading strategically from where you stand, and on what supports you to stand while you do it.

Participants explore how to understand reactions of different parties, build alliances, and identify grounded first steps that build momentum without compounding risk. The session also turns inward to the practices that sustain a leader doing this work overtime: staying grounded under prolonged pressure, maintaining boundaries, and recognizing the trusted, safe spaces you can think openly with.

Topics include:

  • Circles of control, influence, and concern
  • SCARF model as a lens for understanding varying and competing needs
  • Alliance building
  • Strategic action in uncertain conditions
  • The ground you stand on: staying rooted while you do this work

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DELIVERY FORMAT

  • Online Delivery
  • Three half-day sessions (16 total hours)
  • Interactive and discussion based
  • Case-study driven
  • Designed specifically for the BC post-secondary context

Why This Course Matters

The current pressures facing BC post-secondary institutions are not temporary disruptions. Leaders are being asked to navigate sustained uncertainty while maintaining relationships, morale, and institutional function.

This course helps leaders hold complexity, act from values, and move people forward, even when the path ahead is unclear.

Facilitator(s): 

Georganne Oldham is a seasoned educator, curriculum designer, and leadership development specialist with over two decades of experience in post-secondary and organizational contexts. She holds a Master's degree in Organization Development and is currently a doctoral candidate in the Doctor of Social Sciences program at Royal Roads University. With a background as an Assistant Professor in the Master of Industrial/Organizational Psychology program at Adler University and a longstanding role as a Senior faculty member at the Justice Institute of British Columbia, Georganne brings deep expertise in facilitating reflective, inclusive, and transformative learning. Her work focuses on developing educational programs grounded in values-based and relational approaches. Georganne has supported change initiatives in various complex systems, guiding individuals and organizations through uncertainty with clarity, compassion, and insight.