Successfully climbing the academic leadership ladder.

Many new nursing leaders assuming deanship, assistant deanship, or interim deanship have limited education, experience, or background to prepare them for the job. To assist new deans and those aspiring to be deans, the authors of this department, 2 deans, offer survival tips based on their personal experiences and insights. They address common issues, challenges, and opportunities that face academic executive teams, such as negotiating an executive contract, obtaining faculty lines, building effective work teams, managing difficult employees, and creating nimble organizational structure to respond to changing consumer, healthcare delivery, and community needs. The authors welcome counterpoint discussions with readers.