Leading to Yes: How I Saw Every Challenge as an Opportunity
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2025
Pages: 110
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2025
Pages: 86
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This is about the humble beginnings of a blue-collar kid from San Bernardino, California. How as a first-generation college student he was able to ascend from a student leader to a university executive.
Every experience was an opportunity for personal and professional growth. Imposter syndrome was not to be embraced.
He shares how opportunities presented themselves and why it's important not to shy away from the stretch ones.
It includes some self exercises and a leadership checklist of skills and traits one should possess to achieve success in leading.
A nationally recognized leader in Student Affairs and Vice Chancellor Emeritus of UC Berkeley, Harry Le Grande’s illustrious career spans nearly four decades in higher education. Most recently serving as Vice President for Student Affairs in multiple interim roles within The California State University system, he returned to retirement in June 2020 but remains a trusted consultant for leaders across the country.
As Vice Chancellor Le Grande has often said throughout his career, “students are not an interruption to our day; they are the reason we are here.” Once retired and enjoying life away from the office, VC Le Grande returned to the profession because of his unremitting desire to serve the next generation of students through Student Affairs work. During a time of transition within The California State University system, he was recruited by campus leadership to assume the position of Interim Vice President for Student Affairs at Sonoma State University, California State University, San Bernardino and California State University, Fullerton. He served as the inaugural Vice President for Student Experience at California Institute of the Arts and as Special Assistant to the Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management at San Francisco State.
Le Grande currently serves on the Boards of the BluPeak Credit Union. Governor Newsom appointed him to serve on the Board of Governors for the California Community College system, and he is a Trustee for Calbright College. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Foundation for Community Colleges. He previously served on the UC Irvine Alumni Association. The Le Grande family now has an endowed scholarship at UC Berkeley.
Originally retiring from UC Berkeley in 2016 after 35 years, VP Le Grande had led as chief student affairs officer for nearly a decade, overseeing nineteen administrative units with almost 1,500 career positions and an annual operating budget of more than a quarter of a billion dollars.
This was a proverbial leadership opportunity 27 years in the making, with VP Le Grande beginning his professional life as a Golden Bear as a Student Affairs officer in 1981, successively rising through the ranks — from Associate Director of Housing and Dining Operations to Associate Vice Chancellor of Residential & Student Service Programs — until his appointment as Vice Chancellor in 2008.
VP Le Grande’s institutional service and contributions to higher education landscape are as wide-ranging and diverse as his Student Affairs portfolio. This includes serving as an appointee of Governor Brown on the California Student Aid Commission; Chair of the Education Funding Model Committee; Chair of the Council of Student Affairs Vice Chancellors; Principal Investigator of the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program; and Vice President of the National Forum for Black Public Administrators. He is also no stranger to the awards podium, having been recognized with the Pillar of the Profession Award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA); the Berkeley Citation, the highest honor awarded by the UC’s founding campus; and the Diamond Honoree Award by the Association of College Personnel Association (ACPA); University of California established the Harry Le Grande Excellence in Mentorship Award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated consistent leadership and a dedication to mentoring African American students, staff or faculty. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Ecology from UC Irvine and a Master of Education in College Student Services Administration from Oregon State. He has been married to his college sweetheart since 1978 and father of two adult children.
This is about the humble beginnings of a blue-collar kid from San Bernardino, California. How as a first-generation college student he was able to ascend from a student leader to a university executive.
Every experience was an opportunity for personal and professional growth. Imposter syndrome was not to be embraced.
He shares how opportunities presented themselves and why it's important not to shy away from the stretch ones.
It includes some self exercises and a leadership checklist of skills and traits one should possess to achieve success in leading.
A nationally recognized leader in Student Affairs and Vice Chancellor Emeritus of UC Berkeley, Harry Le Grande’s illustrious career spans nearly four decades in higher education. Most recently serving as Vice President for Student Affairs in multiple interim roles within The California State University system, he returned to retirement in June 2020 but remains a trusted consultant for leaders across the country.
As Vice Chancellor Le Grande has often said throughout his career, “students are not an interruption to our day; they are the reason we are here.” Once retired and enjoying life away from the office, VC Le Grande returned to the profession because of his unremitting desire to serve the next generation of students through Student Affairs work. During a time of transition within The California State University system, he was recruited by campus leadership to assume the position of Interim Vice President for Student Affairs at Sonoma State University, California State University, San Bernardino and California State University, Fullerton. He served as the inaugural Vice President for Student Experience at California Institute of the Arts and as Special Assistant to the Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management at San Francisco State.
Le Grande currently serves on the Boards of the BluPeak Credit Union. Governor Newsom appointed him to serve on the Board of Governors for the California Community College system, and he is a Trustee for Calbright College. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Foundation for Community Colleges. He previously served on the UC Irvine Alumni Association. The Le Grande family now has an endowed scholarship at UC Berkeley.
Originally retiring from UC Berkeley in 2016 after 35 years, VP Le Grande had led as chief student affairs officer for nearly a decade, overseeing nineteen administrative units with almost 1,500 career positions and an annual operating budget of more than a quarter of a billion dollars.
This was a proverbial leadership opportunity 27 years in the making, with VP Le Grande beginning his professional life as a Golden Bear as a Student Affairs officer in 1981, successively rising through the ranks — from Associate Director of Housing and Dining Operations to Associate Vice Chancellor of Residential & Student Service Programs — until his appointment as Vice Chancellor in 2008.
VP Le Grande’s institutional service and contributions to higher education landscape are as wide-ranging and diverse as his Student Affairs portfolio. This includes serving as an appointee of Governor Brown on the California Student Aid Commission; Chair of the Education Funding Model Committee; Chair of the Council of Student Affairs Vice Chancellors; Principal Investigator of the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program; and Vice President of the National Forum for Black Public Administrators. He is also no stranger to the awards podium, having been recognized with the Pillar of the Profession Award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA); the Berkeley Citation, the highest honor awarded by the UC’s founding campus; and the Diamond Honoree Award by the Association of College Personnel Association (ACPA); University of California established the Harry Le Grande Excellence in Mentorship Award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated consistent leadership and a dedication to mentoring African American students, staff or faculty. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Ecology from UC Irvine and a Master of Education in College Student Services Administration from Oregon State. He has been married to his college sweetheart since 1978 and father of two adult children.