Former Tulane head Cowen hopes book will inspire new leaders | Business News

Scott Cowen, president of Tulane University from 1998-2014, led the one of the nation’s most prestigious schools through the unprecedented and uncharted challenges brought on by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The storm that swamped New Orleans sent Tulane students scattered for a semester and threatened the future of a university that dates back to 1834.

Cowen’s work rebuilding the school — and simultaneously helping reimagine K-12 education in New Orleans — earned him a reputation as a capable leader in times of crisis.

Or as he puts it, he became the “master of disaster.”

In 2020, while Cowen was serving as interim president of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, his crisis management skills were again put to the test by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he used the lessons learned from Katrina to steer the ship.

Cowen traces his lifelong interest in leadership to his days as high school class president in his New Jersey hometown, through his time in the U.S. Army and as an undergrad at the University of Connecticut.

During the half-century career in academia as a researcher, professor and top administrator, he honed his leadership skills and, even, distilled many of the lessons he learned into a leadership class he created for Tulane. The course continues to this day.

Now Cowen, 79, has written a new book, his fifth, called “Lead and Succeed.” His aim is to pass on what he’s learned as a student, infantry officer and educator to the next generation. Cowen’s intended readers are college students and high schoolers who will be taking the reins in the years to come.

This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Why this book and why now?

I want to share with young people what I’ve learned. I want the next generation to be effective, thoughtful and moral leaders in a world that seems increasingly lacking in such figures. I’m worried about the next generation, so I wanted to address them.

How did this project fit into your other obligations?

I had been thinking about this for a very long time. When I stepped down after being president, I was teaching at Tulane. I asked if I could create a course on leadership, which I had never done before. The more I saw the impact the class was having on students, I realized, “This is working. If I can do this, maybe somebody else can do it, too.” They’re still teaching that course every year at Tulane and at Case Western.

Is the book a distillation of the lessons you’ve been using in the classroom?

Yes, and my own experience growing up. When I was in high school, I was captain of the football team. I was head of the student body, but to be honest, I didn’t know what the hell to do half the time. During one high school speech, instead of saying what I had prepared, I threw away my notes and said, “Hey, listen, you want me because I’m cool. And, by the way, I’ll get beer in the school.” I don’t know what I was thinking. After I finished, a faculty member said, “Mr. Cowen, one of two things is going to happen to you. You’re either going to be nothing or you’re going to do great things.”

In the book, you talk about a humbling moment at the University of Connecticut when you tried a similar speech, but it was not well received.

It didn’t work at all. I came off as some crazy guy, and they put it in the school newspaper. I learned my lesson there and decided I should be a little bit more thoughtful. I was trying to be a big man, not knowing what I was doing or what I wanted to do for the university. It was embarrassing. 

How much have you been out there promoting the new book?

A lot more than I thought. I’ve gotten a lot of requests to speak. I went through a university to release my other books. This time, I used a hybrid publisher, who helps you build your book. (In this model, authors pay higher upfront costs but keep more of the back-end royalties.) Not only did I learn from them, but they’ve been so good about promotion. 

You have a section in the book about the importance of being vulnerable. Why is that important?

You have to let people know who you are and what you stand for. My view is what you see is what you get with me. There’s no bulls*** with it. It is what it is. Beware of anybody who thinks they’re the smartest person in the room. I’d rather be the person that says, “Hey, I have some thoughts, but I need help.”

What do you mean when you say to lead with the end in mind?

If people are struggling to make a plan, I’ll say, “What does winning look like? What do you want to get done?” If they don’t know, I encourage them to really think about it. Take my book, for instance. Why am I doing this? It’s because I want the next generation to learn how to lead. I always talk about the end game. What is it you want to see happen, and how can you get from where you are now to there?

I learned a lot about that after Katrina. I said to everybody, “This is a mess, but we’re going to make this institution better.” And I meant it. We got our students out in the community to work, and the city’s public school system is better because of it. Tulane is a better institution because of it. And I think New Orleans is better off overall.

What were the most important lessons you learned during the pandemic?

To emphasize communication. Talk about what’s going on, what’s working, what’s not working, my expectations, other people’s suggestions. Find out if there are silver linings. Before the pandemic, most faculty members didn’t know how to use Zoom. Now we all do. So something came out of it that was good.

What makes you most proud about your time at Tulane?

Going through what we all did after Katrina was a heroic moment. I think most people did a very, very good job. And I was glad that if it was going to happen that I was there and could do something to help. And, because of that experience, when universities have a problem, they call me. 

What’s next for you?

I think probably in another year, I’m going to say enough is enough and spend the rest of my life hanging around and doing whatever it is that I want to do. I’ve been at it for a very, very long time. I’m getting older. Knock wood, I’m still in good shape. I’m not at that point right now, but I’m getting there.