Doug Wotherspoon

Luckily, I work for an institution who believes in the fundamental value of leadership development. For the past two weeks I have had the opportunity to put the day-to-day grind on the back burner and consciously work on my leadership skills at Harvard University. Figuring others in higher education might be interested, both in the program and the subjects covered, over the course of the next two weeks I will be posting a few of the lessons learned while attending the HIHE Management Development Program.

Brand building lessons that are easily transferable to a college campus near you.

Swan inlaid in floor at Boston's Logan Airport

What do you think of when you think of Boston? What images and symbols come to mind? What do you think of when you think of your university or college campus? What images and symbols come to mind? When you stroll your campus are your values on display. Do they visually hit you in the face?

Many university and college presidents seem inclined to throw in the towel when faced with the task of turning a lemon of a physical plant into lemonade. They either don’t believe in the power of place to build campus spirit and tribe or they worry that their dream campus comes at far too high a price.

As I travel, I am reminded that building a symbolic, meaningul sense of place is not necessarily an expensive endeavor and never more so than when I landed in Boston on my have to a two-week professional development course at Harvard.

Boston’s Logan ariport is undergoing a few renovations and one of the investments is the inlaying of symbols in the floor of the arrivals terminals. This relatively inexpensive addition serves to remind all airport visitors, whether from the area or away, of the symbols and values Bostonians hold dear. The image of the Patriot, Swan, and Mariner are I suspect just the begining of a set of images that will adorn the terminal floor when completed.

So the next time your campus floors are undergoing some form of renovation stop and think of it as an opportunity to build association and shared spirit.