Do You Run A Univeristy?

I recently met with one of our past presidents at Concordia University Texas, where I serve.

My main question for him was simple: “What does a president of a university really do every day?”

His engaging response boiled it down to three focused areas: presence, technical skills, and telling the story.

• Presence means the leader’s daily focus on showing up where students, staff, and faculty are—encouraging, listening, and learning from the community.

• Technical skills are the leader’s daily work of financial acumen, academic oversight, and strategic decision-making.

• Telling the story is the leader’s call to notice what God is doing and to share the stories of lives being shaped by the mission.

Now, you may not be a university president (nor am I), but I think those three areas actually apply to all of us.

So let’s PAUSE for a moment wherever you are in your day.

Breathe in: “Come, Holy Spirit, come.”
Breathe out: anxiety, worry, and hurriedness.

As you breathe, linger with these questions about your daily life—whether in your work, your family, your friendships, or your faith:

• How present am I with those who matter most to me?

• What technical skills has God helped me develop, and how am I using them with gratitude?

• What story might capture what God is up to in my life right now?

Let this short verse from God’s Word pour over you as you step back into the hustle and bustle of your day:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” — Colossians 3:23 (NIV)

May you carry presence, skill, and story into your day as a living witness to God’s work in and through you.

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