Hey Higher Ed Pro's... You Belong in the Room (So Take Up More Space)

Jan 25

by Claire L. Brady, EdD

A note about this series: This is a multi-part series for higher ed pros who want to lead boldly (without turning into someone they’re not). Higher ed is full of brilliant, community-driven leaders who tiptoe through their careers using language designed to sound polite, careful, accurate, and pleasant. But here’s the truth: Language shapes perception—and perception shapes opportunity. Words can shrink your influence, or they can expand it. This series is for the quietly powerful humans who are ready to take up a little more space in their own stories—without losing their collaborative soul.

Taking up space is not arrogance—it’s visibility, impact, and permission.

I was raised to be polite, Canadian-level apologetic, and deeply attuned to other people’s needs and comfort. That’s a generous way to move through the world. It builds trust. It fosters collaboration. It keeps relationships intact.

Until it becomes the reason your voice goes missing in rooms that need it.

Higher education is full of deeply capable leaders who know how to read the room, hold complexity, and keep the system moving. And yet, many of those same leaders have learned—explicitly or implicitly—to take up less space than their role, expertise, or responsibility actually warrants.

It shows up in familiar ways:

We speak second. Or last.
We downplay wins.
We defer decisions we’re fully equipped to make.
We ask instead of assert.
We wait to be invited rather than stepping in.

The impact of this isn’t theoretical. When leadership hides itself—especially leadership rooted in care, equity, and institutional knowledge—systems stagnate. Progress slows. And decisions default to whoever is most comfortable taking up space, not necessarily who is best equipped to lead.

Taking Up Space Is Not Taking Over

Let’s be clear about what taking up space is not. It’s not dominance. It’s not ego. It’s not speaking for the sake of being heard.

Taking up space means:

Naming what you know without apology
Influencing actively rather than quietly hoping
Being visible in the work you’re already doing
Speaking without a disclaimer attached
Asking for what you want—or need—for the work to move
Challenging “the way we’ve always done it” when it no longer serves students

You can be relational and commanding.
Warm and decisive.
Collaborative and bold.

Those traits are not in conflict. We’ve just been taught to treat them that way.

Where Higher Ed Leaders Need to Take Up More Space

There are specific moments where leadership presence matters most—and where shrinking has real consequences:

Strategy conversations where direction is set
Cross-division efforts that need coordination, not consensus paralysis
Resource requests that require clear advocacy
Student success priorities competing for attention
Crisis response, where clarity matters more than comfort
Innovation planning, where risk tolerance is uneven

In these spaces, hesitation doesn’t read as humility. It can read as absence or disinterest.

Practical Ways to Expand Your Presence

Taking up space doesn’t require a personality transplant. It’s about small, intentional shifts.

Try this:

Introduce yourself with clarity. State your role and scope without qualifiers.
Share your point of view early in meetings, before the narrative settles.
Volunteer to lead the pilot, not just join the committee.
Publish your thinking—through blogs, LinkedIn posts, presentations, or campus forums.
Ask for opportunities directly instead of waiting to be chosen.
Seek out a Sponsor and communicate your goals to them.

These moves don’t make you louder. They make you visible.

The Space-Taking Stretch

If you want something concrete to practice this week:

Pick one meeting where you speak first.
Share a win in a single sentence—no disclaimers, no softening.
Write down three arenas where you already hold influence.
Say the sentence you’re thinking instead of editing it down in your head.

A Final Word

When you take up more space, you don’t push others out. You model what’s possible. You create permission. You make room for more voices—especially the ones that have learned to stay quiet.

That’s leadership.

And higher education needs a LOT more of it.