
Bold Leadership, Human-Centered Wisdom: Lessons from Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet
From The Innovating Together Podcast by University Innovation Alliance
October 29, 2025 · 27 min · Season 1 · Episode 197
About this episode
Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet discusses her unique approach to leadership in higher education, emphasizing compassion and resilience.
What does it take to lead with both strategy and soul? In this moving and powerful episode of Start the Week with Wisdom , host Bridget Burns sits down with Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs for a conversation that redefines leadership in higher education. With a background in business and strategic planning, Jennifer brings a refreshingly different perspective to the chancellorship, one rooted not just in data and efficiency, but in deep compassion and human resilience. This episode dives into Jennifer’s unconventional path to leadership, the profound personal and professional experiences that shaped her approach, and the vital role of executive coaching in navigating the complexities of higher ed. Jennifer shares the unimaginable weight of leading through campus tragedies, and how leaning into both vulnerability and resilience has become her compass for serving students, faculty, and community. In this episode, you'll learn: Why nontraditional paths to leadership can be an asset in higher education. The role executive coaching has played in Jennifer’s 20-year leadership journey. How to lead through crisis with humanity, courage, and…
People in this episode
Host: Bridget Burns
Guest: Jennifer Sobanet
Topics covered
- leadership
- higher education
- executive coaching
- human resilience
- crisis management
- nontraditional paths
Keywords
- leadership
- higher education
- executive coaching
- crisis management
- human-centered wisdom
- nontraditional paths
- compassion
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University Innovation Alliance
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