Dr. Michael Cottam and Dr. Vernon Smith

Engaged By Design

Education EN ↓ 59 episodes

Exploring innovation trends in learning, design, leadership, and change management in higher education. Experienced, successful leaders who have been there, done that, and own the t-shirt share perspectives and lessons learned from more than two decades of online learning and student success. Other Podcast Providers:Amazon: https://www.audible.com/podcast/Engaged-By-Design/B0DB9GZV7F?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdpiHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-engaged-by-design-283650488/Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/engaged-by-design-6102170

Author

Dr. Michael Cottam and Dr. Vernon Smith

Episodes

Unbundled: How AI and Economics Are Redefining Faculty Roles 15.07.2025 43:04

Episode 9 Welcome to a new season of the Engaged by Design podcast! In this episode, Dr. Michael Cottam interviews his co-host Dr. Vernon Smith—this time in the role of featured guest—to explore how artificial intelligence, economic pressures, and platformization are driving the unbundling of professional roles in higher education. Drawing from Vernon's dissertation research and recent policy...

MACRO Leadership - How Might You Go MACRO? 08.07.2025 27:42

Episode 8 MACRO Leadership: Leading Agile Change and Innovation in Higher Education Chapter 8 - How might you? In this final episode of the MACRO Leadership podcast series, Michael and Vernon take listeners on a practical journey through applying all five elements of the MACRO framework—Match, Assign, Coach, Reflect, and Ovation—to a high-impact institutional initiative: redesigning the First-Ye...

MACRO Leadership - Ovation: The Power of Recognition in Leadership 01.07.2025 25:36

Episode 7 MACRO Leadership: Leading Agile Change and Innovation in Higher Education Chapter 7 - Ovation In the final episode of the MACRO Leadership podcast series, Vernon and Michael explore the “O” in MACRO: Ovation—the practice of authentic, values-aligned recognition. They dig into Gallup research showing that only 27% of employees feel regularly recognized at work, despite the fact that fre...

MACRO Leadership - Reflect: How Smart Leaders Learn, Adapt, and Improve 24.06.2025 31:25

Episode 6 MACRO Leadership: Leading Agile Change and Innovation in Higher Education Chapter 6 - Reflect In this episode, Vernon and Michael explore the fourth principle of the MACRO Leadership model: Reflect. Why reflection is a leadership imperative—not a luxury Michael’s story of using Agile SCRUM and reflection cycles to improve student success and team alignment Understanding the Diffusion of...

MACRO Leadership - Coach People to Grow While Getting the Work Done 17.06.2025 29:37

Episode 5 MACRO Leadership: Leading Agile Change and Innovation in Higher Education Chapter 5: Coach In this episode of the Engaged By Design podcast, Michael and Vernon unpack the “Coach” step of the MACRO Leadership framework. They share personal stories of transformative coaching, explore the difference between coaching and mentoring, and introduce the practical FRIES method for performance coa...

MACRO Leadership - Assign with Intention to Unlock Strategic Momentum 10.06.2025 31:42

🎙️EPISODE 4 MACRO Leadership: Leading Agile Change and Innovation in Higher Education Chapter 4: Assign In this episode of the Engaged By Design podcast, Michael and Vernon explore the second step in the MACRO Leadership model: Assign . Even the best match can struggle if the assignment isn’t clear. Learn how clarity, structure, and purpose in your assignments can unlock momentum and prevent proje...

MACRO Leadership - Matching People to Projects 03.06.2025 35:00

🎙️EPISODE 3 MACRO Leadership: Leading Agile Change and Innovation in Higher Education Chapter 3: Match In this episode of Engaged By Design, Vernon interviews Michael about the first step in the MACRO Leadership framework: Match. Drawing from a personal story of an international student exchange early in his career, Michael illustrates what it really means to match people to projects in a way that...

MACRO Leadership - Prioritization Lessons from Rocks, Chocolate, and Chaos 27.05.2025 41:31

🎙️EPISODE 2 MACRO Leadership: Leading Agile Change and Innovation in Higher Education Chapter 2 Prioritize Ever feel like you’re drowning in tasks with no clear way out? In this episode, Michael and Vernon unpack what it really means to prioritize strategically as a leader. From Covey’s famous “rocks in a jar” to the chaos of Lucy and Ethel in the chocolate factory, they explore how planning, tran...

Engaged By Design - Leading Through VUCA with Innovation and Purpose 13.05.2025 29:49

🎙️ EPISODE 1 Introducing Engaged By Design — Leading Through VUCA With Innovation and Purpose Welcome to the first episode of the Engaged By Design podcast! Your co-hosts, Dr. Michael Cottam and Dr. Vernon Smith, kick off the series with a conversation about who we are, why we started this podcast, and how we plan to help leaders thrive in the middle of change. In this premiere episode, you'l...