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Developing Autonomous Leaders With Central Michigan’s Amy Folan & Tangela Cheatham

Guest Amy Folan, Central Michigan; Tangela Cheatham, Central Michigan
22:19 min watch

Central Michigan’s Zyzelewski Family Vice President/Director of Athletics Amy Folan and Deputy AD/SWA Tangela Cheatham sit down with ADU’s Steph Garcia Cichosz at the 2024 Women Leaders Convention to offer insight into how the Chippewas develop autonomous senior leaders within their department. Folan discusses her perspective on creating team culture via hiring strategies while Cheatham provides perspective on assessing “fit” in a job opportunity. Folan and Cheatham also talk about engaging mid-level staffers, expanding their leadership styles to accommodate different generation of team members and how they maneuver through expectations for the department via collaborative goal-setting and consistent communication.

The conversation is indexed below for efficient viewing (click the time stamp to jump to a specific question/topic).

  • - Tangela, you were recently on the 1Question Leadership Podcast discussing the concept of "supported autonomy" in your career journey. Talk about that and how AD Amy Folan has supported your autonomy as a Deputy AD.
  • - Amy, you experienced this throughout your career, especially at Texas where you began as an Assistant AD and ended as a record-setting fundraiser in the Executive Senior Associate AD role. Talk about how this concept manifested itself in your career.
  • - What is your rubric for assessing hires when you're looking to create and maintain a certain team culture within the department?
  • - Tangela, walk me through your rubric for assessing potential hires.
  • - Have you noticed a different dynamic when hiring a new generation of employees?
  • - What does "grunt work" look like in your current role and how do you manage the "busywork" that every job - no matter how glamorous the title - has?
  • - Talk about setting expectations for each other. How does communication flow between the two of you?
  • - How do you pivot away from a plan or project that isn't clicking for the department?
  • - Are those meetings at your lake house?
  • - How do you engage mid-level staff members to ensure they're staying excited and engaged and not burning out before they reach a senior leadership role?
  • - How do you embrace the culture and nuances of an institution to best represent it as a senior leader when it isn't your alma mater?
  • - Amy, leave Tangela and our audience with one final leadership nugget.

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