ABSTRACT
It is 1 p.m. Tuesday April 4, 2008. (I know this detail because I took notes; an important habit to develop for anyone aspiring to a leadership role.) I am in my faculty office, revising slides for my 2 p.m. class, a second-level regression course at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), where I have taught since 1984. The phone rings, a woman identifies herself as the executive assistant to Harvard’s provost and asks, “Do you have a moment to speak with the provost?” Although I knew the provost reasonably well from an earlier stint as academic dean at HGSE from 1998 to 2004 (including one year as acting dean), I was surprised to get a personal call, since I was no longer in an administrative role.
