Nido Qubein, president of High Point University since 2005, built one of the most remarkable transformations in American higher education by asking a different question than everyone else. Today, 99 percent of High Point graduates have a job, are enrolled in graduate school, or have started a business within 180 days of graduation, compared with a national average of 65 percent. The leadership lesson is simple: transformational leaders redefine the scoreboard.
That gap is not an accident. It is the result of two decades of intentional leadership decisions made by a man I am proud to call a friend. US News and World Report recently published an in depth interview with Dr. Qubein about how High Point University built what he calls a "life skills ecosystem" that prepares graduates for the workforce in an age of artificial intelligence and rapid technological change. I have linked it below, and it is worth reading in full.
However, the real story is a leadership lesson that applies far beyond higher education. It applies to every CEO, executive, manager, and entrepreneur who has ever asked, "How do we grow?"
Who Is Nido Qubein?
Dr. Nido Qubein has served as president of High Point University in North Carolina since 2005, making him the longest serving university president in the state. Before leading the university, he built a career as a business leader, author, and professional speaker. Under his leadership, High Point has become a case study in how a clear vision can transform an entire institution.
High Point University by the Numbers
When Dr. Qubein became president, the school had approximately 1,500 students. Since then, the growth has been extraordinary.
- Enrollment: from about 1,500 students to more than 6,550, growth of 322 percent
- Faculty: from 108 to 502
- Endowment: from 42 million dollars to 240 million dollars
- Campus investment: more than 3 billion dollars in facilities
- Economic impact: 850 million dollars a year for the region
- Job placement: 99 percent of graduates employed, in graduate school, or running a business within 180 days
These are the numbers that show up in press releases and rankings. Yet they are not the lesson. The lesson is in the question Dr. Qubein asked before any of those numbers existed.
The Question Most Leaders Never Ask
When most university presidents take office, they ask, "How do we grow enrollment, increase rankings, and raise more money?" Those are reasonable questions. They are also the questions every other university is asking, which is why most universities look essentially the same.
Dr. Qubein asked a different question: "What do our graduates actually need to succeed in the world they will walk into?" That question changed everything.
Inside the Life Skills Ecosystem
That single question led him to build what no other university had built.
- A required Life Skills 101 course that he teaches himself, focused on confidence, communication, and personal branding
- A mock airplane cabin where students practice intelligent conversation with strangers, because graduates will inevitably sit next to executives on flights and need to hold their own
- Required dining etiquette training with rotating country themes each month, with no cell phones permitted at the table
- Periodic mock interviews with potential employers throughout the four year experience
Other universities have luxury dorms. High Point has an ecosystem designed to produce graduates who can walk into any room, any boardroom, and any opportunity, and perform with competence and confidence. That is the difference between asking how to grow and asking what you are growing for.
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Check AvailabilityTransformational Leaders Redefine the Scoreboard
I wrote about Dr. Qubein in my book The Solutions Oriented Leader because his approach represents something rare in modern business and education. He had the courage to define success on his own terms rather than chase someone else's definition.
When he started building the life skills ecosystem, critics called the airplane cabin and dining etiquette training gimmicks. They are not gimmicks. Instead, they are the precise tools required to produce the outcome he was committed to. Other universities measure themselves by selectivity and prestige. Dr. Qubein measures High Point by what graduates can do six months after they leave campus.
This is the principle that separates transformational leaders from caretaker leaders. Caretaker leaders inherit a definition of success and try to hit it more efficiently than the person before them. Transformational leaders, on the other hand, ask whether the definition itself is correct, and if it is not, they build a different one. It is the same courage I describe in why transformational leaders do not shy away from conflict.
In my work coaching executives and speaking to organizations around the world, the leaders who produce extraordinary results almost always share this trait. They redefine the question their industry is asking, they measure something different than their competitors measure, and they build their organization around an outcome nobody else thought to pursue.
The Personal Connection
Dr. Qubein and I have known each other for many years. He occasionally sends me High Point University jackets and hoodies, and he sometimes jokes that I helped double enrollment at the university. I did not. He did. Every bit of that growth is the result of his vision, his discipline, and his refusal to settle for an ordinary university.
Still, the fact that a leader of his stature would say something so generous about a friend tells you everything about the culture he has built. Generous leaders build generous cultures. Secure leaders build secure cultures. Visionary leaders build visionary institutions. When you walk through High Point University, you can feel it. The students are confident, the faculty is engaged, and the facilities are not just impressive, they are intentional.
How to Apply Nido Qubein's Lesson in Your Organization
You do not have to be a university president to apply this lesson. The principle is universal.
- Sales leaders: the question is not how to hit a quota. It is what kind of salesperson you are developing.
- CEOs: the question is not how to grow revenue. It is what your company should be known for in ten years.
- Department heads: the question is not how to be efficient. It is what your team should be capable of that no other team in your organization can do.
The leaders who answer these deeper questions build extraordinary organizations. The leaders who skip them build forgettable ones. So ask yourself: what deeper question is your organization not asking? A solution oriented mindset is the place to start.
Most leaders ask how to grow. Transformational leaders ask what they are growing for, and then they build everything around the answer.
About Dr. Rick Goodman
Dr. Rick Goodman, CSP, is a six time Global Gurus Top 30 Leadership Expert, keynote speaker, executive coach, and author of five books including the Amazon bestseller The Solutions Oriented Leader. He has delivered more than 2,000 programs across all 50 states and 32 countries, helping organizations lead, engage, and grow.
Meet Dr. RickContinue Reading
- Transformational Leaders Don’t Shy Away from Conflict
- Humility is Key to Transformational Leadership
- How Transformational Leaders Deal with Distraction
- Solution Oriented Mindset: The Framework Leaders Use to Win
- 5 Traits of a Solutions-Oriented Leader That Separate Good Leaders From Great Ones
- What Is Thought Leadership? Definition, Examples, and How to Build It
Further Reading
- US News and World Report: Life Skills Ecosystem for College Students in the Age of AI
- High Point University: Office of the President
- The Solutions Oriented Leader on Amazon, which includes a full chapter on Dr. Qubein
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