Interview with Fr. Spitzer
Level 3 Culture Key to Success at Gonzaga
Whenever Fr. Robert Spitzer gives one of his talks about the Four Levels of Happiness™, he is usually introduced as the president of Gonzaga University. Since one goal of the Four-Level model is helping leaders become more effective, it’s natural to wonder how this outlook has helped Fr. Spitzer lead at Gonzaga. The Four-Level Leader put this question and others to Fr. Spitzer recently, and his responses appear in the following interview.
As president of Gonzaga, have you used the Four Levels of Happiness™ as a framework for leading the university? Is it something you refer to when you’re talking to the faculty, students, and staff there?
Normally, when I meet with the senior faculty it’s about business – the state of the university or the growth of the university – so it’s difficult to bring up the Four Levels in that context. But with the young faculty, I do get to bring it up. When they arrive here, we have an orientation for them, and I talk explicitly about the Level 3 culture of the university, the importance of empathy and looking for the good news in others, and so forth. And I think it’s very moving for them to hear what we stand for at Gonzaga. It’s also very easy to discuss with staff. We have a three-day course for managers called the Strategic Leadership Program, and I take part in that program and give my full talk on Level 3 leadership for each group that goes through it.
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| Fr. Spitzer at the unveiling of a bronze bulldog sculpture outside the entrance to the McCarthey Athletic Center. The bulldog is the symbol of the Gonzaga's highly successful basketball team. |
Do you see any sign that the people you work with like the model and internalize it?
Oh yes, I really do. I don’t have to look any further than my own assistant, Jacinta Connall. There are weeks when we’re putting in 60 hours in my office, and sometimes she’ll look at me and say “My gosh! The work you’re generating is just enormous!” And I’ll say, “That’s true, but think of all the good we’re doing!” and she’ll smile and say, “Yeah, I know.” She really gets the Level 3 implications of what we’re accomplishing, which is how she’s managed to stay with me for 11 years doing unbelievable amounts of work. I see the same attitude in my chief financial officer. I see it in the University Relations team. I especially see it in the kids – the students. They really get it, and they form the ethos of the university.
How do the students show they get it?
They’re very Level 3 and Level 4 oriented. Normally when kids are going through their collegiate years, you see a drop off in church attendance. At Gonzaga, they don’t drop off. Over 65 percent of our undergraduate, on-campus Catholic student body go to Mass every Sunday. I think part of the reason is that they are being fed. Not only that, but our retreat programs are always oversubscribed. We’re running 18 retreats a year, and we could run another 10 if we had the money to subsidize it. These kids will sign up without qualification, and I think it’s because they get it.
Here’s an example. I was celebrating Mass the other day, and when it was over, one girl waited to the very end to speak to me. There were 800 kids pouring out of the 10:00 a.m. Mass, and she waited patiently for about 15 minutes to be the last person there.
She said, “Fr. Spitzer, do you know what I like best about Gonzaga?” I said “No.” And she said, “It’s not uncool to be religious here.” I said, “You waited 15 minutes just to tell me that?” She answered, “I really wanted you to know.”
That’s a very Level 3 action – to wait all that time just to say something nice to someone – and that type of action is very common at Gonzaga. There’s something going on at the campus that’s palpable, and it’s not just little things either. We’re the biggest volunteer service organization in Eastern Washington. We had 120,000 volunteer service hours last year.
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| Students at the Gonzaga campus in Spokane. |
Enrollment at Gonzaga has grown by more than 50 percent in your 11 years as president. Do you think that growth has anything to do with the culture you’re describing?
Yes, I believe it does, though it’s not the only factor. The tuition and the financial aid package make a difference. The marketing, which makes people aware of Gonzaga, makes a difference, and of course the basketball team makes a big difference as well. All these elements help in getting people to visit the campus, and that’s the real secret weapon – our visit program.
One of the first moves I made when I got here was to quadruple the visit program, and now it’s six times larger than when I arrived. When both the parents and the students attend a visit day together, 70 percent of them decide in favor of Gonzaga. That turnaround rate has made me the envy of every other university president. It’s just remarkable.
Why do you think the turnaround rate is so high?
As I mentioned, there’s something palpable you can feel just by being on the campus.The visitors hear from me the morning they come, and they hear the other administrators. Then the ambassadors take them around so that they can hear from the students, and that’s the key. The kids on the campus are so friendly, so helpful, and so willing to do things for other people. You can feel the empathy, and you can feel the generosity. It’s very clear and palpable, and it’s very Level 3.