Summer planning is coming, which means something subtle, but important is about to happen.
The pace slows just enough to create the illusion of space, and with that space comes a surge of ideas.
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New initiatives feel possible. Lingering problems feel solvable. Everything starts to look like something you could finally “get to.”
And almost without noticing, the list grows.
Not because the ideas are bad. In fact, they’re often quite good. But because no one has made the harder decision yet—the one that actually creates capacity instead of quietly eroding it.
By the time August hits, that list becomes reality. And reality, as you know, is much less forgiving.
Why summer matters more than you think
What you decide over the next 8–10 weeks will shape far more than your fall calendar. It will determine what actually gets executed versus what gets postponed, how leadership interprets your priorities, and whether your work begins to scale in meaningful ways or continues to live at the program level.
This is also the window where leadership perception starts to solidify. Not based on how hard your team is working—because they already assume that—but based on how clearly you’ve chosen what matters.
Fall doesn’t usually break teams. Summer planning does.
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A different way to think about planning
Most planning processes are built on addition. What should we build? What should we expand? What did we not have time for this year that we should try next year?
Strategic leaders approach this differently. They plan with a clear understanding that capacity is finite, that priorities compete with each other whether you acknowledge it or not, and that every “yes” carries an invisible cost.
They assume that things will take longer than expected. That new initiatives will demand more coordination than planned. That staff bandwidth will tighten at exactly the wrong moment.
So instead of asking, “What should we add?” they ask a more useful question: What will actually hold up when everything gets busy again?
1. Decide what to stop
This is the decision that creates everything else.
Capacity is not created through better time management or more efficient meetings. It is created through subtraction. And yet, this is the step that most teams avoid, because stopping things carries a different kind of weight.
There are programs that have history. Events that people enjoy. Initiatives that feel aligned, even if they’re not particularly effective. There is often at least one long-standing effort that continues largely because no one wants to be the person who finally says, “We’re done here.”
But if everything carries forward, nothing has room to grow.
This is the moment to take a hard, honest look at what you’re sustaining. Not just what exists, but what is actually contributing to outcomes, visibility, and momentum. What is clearly working? What is simply continuing?
If something would not make the cut if you were building your model today, it deserves a serious conversation now. Not a soft “we’ll revisit later,” but a real decision—stop it, or fundamentally redesign it so it earns its place.
Strategic leaders understand that subtraction is not a loss. It is the only way to create the space required for meaningful progress.
2. Prioritize what actually scales
Once you create capacity, the next decision becomes clearer and more uncomfortable.
Not everything should scale. Some efforts are meant to stay targeted, high-touch, and limited in reach. Those can still be valuable. But your core priorities should do something different. They should extend beyond a single program, a single audience, or a single moment in time.
They should reach more students without requiring proportionally more effort. They should connect to the academic experience in visible ways. They should influence behavior beyond your immediate team.
This is where many plans quietly fall apart. It is far easier to improve what already exists than it is to rethink how work is structured across an institution. A better workshop feels like progress. A more polished program feels like momentum.
But neither necessarily changes outcomes.
Scaling requires a different level of design. It often means moving upstream, integrating into existing structures, and letting go of some control in order to increase reach. It is slower at the beginning, but far more powerful over time.
If your top priorities for next year still live primarily within your office, it is worth asking whether they are truly positioned to move the needle in the way leadership expects.
3. Bring forward recommendations… with tradeoffs
The final decision is less about what you plan and more about how you position it.
Many leaders walk into planning conversations with updates or options. They present a range of possibilities, outline a few directions, and invite feedback. It feels collaborative, thoughtful, and appropriately cautious.
It also keeps you in an operational role.
Strategic leaders do something different. They make a recommendation, and they make the tradeoffs visible. They articulate not only what they believe should happen, but what will stop or shift as a result, and what that change will enable.
This changes the entire conversation.
Instead of asking leadership to choose from a menu, you are asking them to react to a clear point of view. You are demonstrating that you understand the constraints, that you are willing to make difficult calls, and that you are thinking beyond activity toward impact.
It can feel riskier. It is certainly more direct.
It is also how leaders are perceived as leaders.
Your move
As you head into planning, don’t try to do all of this at once.
Instead, choose one place to start:
Identify one thing you’ll stop—and actually stop it
Ask whether your top initiative would still work if your team got 20% busier (because they will)
Turn your next update into a recommendation with tradeoffs
Start there. Small moves here create disproportionate clarity later.
Final thought
Summer planning has a way of rewarding ambition. It encourages big thinking, new ideas, and a sense that more is possible. All of that has its place.
But the leaders who create real momentum heading into fall are not the ones with the longest list. They are the ones who have made the clearest decisions.
In my work with leaders, this is often the turning point—the moment where progress stops being tied to effort alone and starts being driven by design. When that shift happens, the work doesn’t just feel more manageable.
It starts to move.
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INTRODUCING THE CAREER DISCOVERY EXPERIENCE
powered by Podium Education
Experience can’t wait. That’s not a new idea, but where it’s starting might be.
This spring, Podium ran a pilot with hundreds of first- and second-year students to test what happens when career-connected learning is introduced early in the degree, and for credit.
Students engaged in real-world, structured experiences designed to help them explore career paths firsthand, connect with industry professionals, and reflect on their interests and emerging sense of purpose.
Students rotated through a series of industries—from global companies to nonprofits to innovative startups—and gain durable skills along the way, connecting authentic work experiences to academic pathways.
Midway through, a few signals started to surface:
67% are beginning to recognize what kinds of work interest them (or don’t)
93% report stronger clarity or connection between college and career
As one student shared:
“You’ll discover something new about yourself, or gain a fresh perspective on your future plans.”
Career-connected learning isn’t something to save for the end of the academic journey - it’s something that can fundamentally shape how students experience the beginning. The Career Discovery Experience will do just that.
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