In 2015, the first Inspire “Woman of the Year” award was presented to Donde Plowman. At the time, she was serving as the Dean of the College of Business at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Donde was presented the award for her many achievements and contributions, including the spearheading of a new College of Business Administration building. “I am proud of our success while in Nebraska in growing the College of Business and raising the money needed to build a beautiful new facility for business education,” she recently shared.
After more than six years in her role as dean, Donde was promoted to Executive Vice Chancellor at UNL. Then in 2019, she left Nebraska to serve as Chancellor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. “In each role, I learned so much. As dean at UNL I learned how to bring an organization (the college) together, aspire to greatness, and achieve a goal that others thought was not possible: raising $84 million for a new, 100% privately funded building,” Donde said. “As executive vice chancellor I learned about the complexities of a large organization and how to get 11 deans, who compete for resources, to work together towards the common good. As chancellor, I have learned that much of my job is to inspire others to raise expectations, invest in each other, and aim for greatness.”
When asked what lessons she could share with aspiring professionals in her field, Donde replied, “Everyone on my team has strengths. I try hard to leverage my strengths and help my team to leverage their strengths for success. Most conflict is not interpersonal conflict. Conflict is often just two people using their unique strengths to get things done. Sometimes our strengths can cause friction, but easily managed once we recognize what is creating the friction.” The principle she uses, and encourages others to use, is: Leadership is the willingness to act. “It requires courage–sometimes a little courage and other times a lot of courage. Most organizations are starved for leadership, so look around, figure out what someone else needs and ACT.”
