Listen to A Budget is a Moral Document Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts :

In This Episode, You’ll Hear:

• [3:27] My thoughts on whether institutional budgets reflect institutional values, with differing opinions from leaders in Academic and Business Affairs.
• [5:29] My powerful encounter with this phase while visiting George Floyd Square in Minneapolis.
• [8:58] How the University of Minnesota’s president immediately emphasized the importance of aligning values and institutional spending in her responses to George Floyd’s murder.
• [14:08] A new recommendation: follow Loleen Berdahl’s newsletter, Academia Made Easier, on Substack. I especially like her the way she’s thinking about setting goals grounded in your values and autonomy.
• [17:13] News about my new course, Leading with Clarity, which will help you connect the dots between personal priorities, planning, and the ways you lead your people.

A Budget is a Moral Document

This idea has pervaded my life since childhood, but I hadn’t heard (or remembered) the phrase until I saw it last summer, painted starkly on a building mural near George Floyd Square in Minneapolis. For days I couldn’t get the phrase out of my head.

Budgets reflect values – that’s not news. I’ve seen this at play in institutional budgets on every campus where I’ve worked. It’s the heart of the debates we have every budget cycle. As leaders, we have a responsibility to ensure that our institutional values and our distribution of resources are aligned. And when they’re not? We should be honest about that.

After seeing George Floyd Square, I began to wonder what our lives could look like if we approached all our budgets through this lens. How would we allocate our money? Our time? Energy? Our love?

So today I invite you to think about the resources you have and what you do with them. What do you save and spend? What do you cling to out of fear or worry? What do you generously distribute? And why? What’s behind all those choices and feelings?

This is just one issue I help women leaders explore in my new course, Leading with Clarity. The course gives leaders the space and community that makes it possible to think deeply and connect the dots between our personal values and priorities, the ways we plan, and how we lead our teams. Doors will open soon — join the waitlist so you can be first to hear when registration opens!

Resources

• Academia Made Easier by Loleen Berdahl: https://loleen.substack.com/
• The Grounded Academic Leader: My step-by-step guide to planning a year — and a life! — you love: https://theclareogroup.lpages.co/2023-grounded-academic-leader/
• Get on the waitlist for Leading with Clarity: https://theclareogroup.com/leadingwithclarity

Connect with Me

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolechabries/

Related Episodes:

• Episode #32: Lessons from my Year of Yes: https://theclareogroup.com/2023/01/09/lessons-from-my-year-of-yes/
• Episode #31: Transformational DEI: https://theclareogroup.com/2023/01/02/32-transformational-dei/
• Episode #27: Investing In Your (Future) Self: https://theclareogroup.com/2022/12/05/27-investing-in-your-future-self/

Episode Transcript

More about The Uplift:

The Uplift broadcasts the mission of The Clareo Group: to unleash the power of women’s leadership in higher ed. Each episode blends real stories, leadership philosophies, and actionable advice – all designed to amplify women’s voices and elevate their leadership.