The College | 048 | As a Living Organism
Culture determines whether strategy survives.
“A college is like a living organism. Treat it with toxicity, it produces negative outcomes. Treat it with kindness, it produces positive outcomes.” – Dr. Al Solano
Colleges are complex systems made up of people, policies, incentives, histories, and power dynamics. Like any living system, they respond to their environment. When the internal climate is corrosive, even well-designed strategies fail. When the internal climate is healthy, even imperfect plans can improve over time.
Strategy matters. But culture determines whether strategy survives.
What Toxicity Looks Like in Colleges
Toxicity is rarely loud. It is not always shouting or public conflict. Often, it is subtle.
It is:
Allowing a few individuals to consistently demean colleagues without intervention.
Passive aggression framed as “academic freedom” or “this is how we’ve always done things.”
Public callouts disguised as accountability.
Inviting speakers or professional development providers who inflame rather than build.
Treating staff and faculty as interchangeable rather than invested contributors.
Over time, this corrodes morale. Trust erodes quietly. Good people disengage first. Then they leave.
What remains is the status quo: Plans are written, committees meet, and with the exception of some modest pockets of success, that’s about it. Fear replaces candor and compliance replaces collaboration. Turnover increases. The organism weakens.
What Kindness Looks Like Institutionally
Kindness is disciplined respect. It is a leadership choice regardless of campus role.
In an institutional setting, kindness looks like:
Listening before reacting.
Challenging ideas without diminishing people.
Communicating directly rather than triangulating.
Assuming good intent while still holding high expectations.
Following through on commitments.
Giving credit generously.
Addressing unproductive behavior early.
Kindness creates psychological safety, and psychological safety fuels innovation.
When people trust their environment, they:
Share ideas earlier.
Admit uncertainty.
Experiment responsibly.
Collaborate across silos.
Take ownership of outcomes.
Don’t fear failure.
College practitioners who lead with kindness do not lose their edge. They sharpen it because they remove fear from the system.
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Why This Matters for Student Outcomes
Colleges often attempt to improve student success through structural reform alone:
New scheduling models.
Guided pathways redesign.
Early alert systems.
Advising/counseling restructuring.
Creating Centers for Teaching & Learning
Strategic plans.
They’re all important, but if the internal climate is toxic, the execution suffers. Faculty hesitate to engage fully. Staff withhold input. Cross-functional work stalls. Students feel the tension. Culture leaks into classrooms, advising/counseling offices, and hallways.
Students do not just experience policies. They experience people, and people respond to climate.
When the culture is rooted in kindness and trust:
Initiative momentum strengthens.
Collaboration deepens.
Turnover stabilizes.
Risk-taking increases.
Accountability becomes developmental rather than punitive.
That is when real progress happens.
Treat the Institution as a Living System
If a college is a living organism, then leadership is environmental stewardship.
Ask yourself:
What behaviors are we tolerating?
What tone do meetings carry?
How do we respond to disagreement?
Do people feel safe raising concerns?
Are we modeling the respect we expect?
You cannot PD or committee your way out of a toxic culture. You must lead your way out. Colleges respond to how they are treated. If the environment is corrosive, outcomes will reflect it. If the environment is grounded in disciplined kindness, outcomes improve over time.
If your institution needs support planning and/or implementing priorities, contact me. I’ll help you be successful.
Let’s connect on LinkedIn.
Onward…
Dr. Al Solano
Founder, Continuous Learning Institute | About
Host, Student Success Podcast
A meaningful test of success is how helpful we are in contributing to our fellow human being’s happiness.