Change in leadership sounds inspiring—until you live it. Behind every policy win, reform effort, or equity initiative lies a personal story of risk, resistance, and resilience.

This week, I joined Dr. Brian Perkins on The Perkins Platform, now in its fourteenth year of bringing global thought leaders into dialogue about the challenges of leadership, to discuss “The Not-So-Subtle Costs of Change Leadership.”

In this candid 36-minute conversation, we talk about what happens after the press releases fade: the loneliness of leading equity work, the emotional toll of staying the course, and the professional consequences that can come when you push too hard against the status quo. We also explore how leaders can stay grounded in purpose when the cost of conviction feels high.

Drawing on my own journey, from scholar and advocate to dean and provost, I share the realities of changemaking in spaces that often prefer quiet compliance over courageous truth. Leadership, I argue, is not about popularity or comfort. It is about persistence, reflection, and the ability to keep walking even when the path narrows.

Dr. Perkins and I also discuss strategies for staying whole while leading:

• Building trusted networks of solidarity and mentorship
• Practicing transparency and empathy as leadership tools
• Recognizing when resilience must be paired with rest
• Learning to transform isolation into insight

If you’ve ever led change inside an institution—education, government, or otherwise—you’ll recognize the paradox we unpack: how those who seek to expand opportunity often face the sharpest resistance. Yet, as I note in our conversation, progress is rarely painless, but it is always possible.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here:

• Spotify
• Amazon Music
• iHeartRadio
  or find The Perkins Platform below or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Breaking Old Habits and Making New Ones: The Science & Application – The Perkins Platform

In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer, psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and author, joins me to discuss his groundbreaking research on how habits form and how we can change them. We explore what the science reveals about breaking unhelpful patterns and creating lasting change.  These insights are especially relevant for leaders seeking to shift behaviors, improve focus, and lead with greater awareness. Dr. Brewer offers practical tools for understanding the brain’s reward systems and using curiosity and mindfulness to build healthier, more effective habits.

1. Breaking Old Habits and Making New Ones: The Science & Application 40:41
2. The Not-So-Subtle Costs of Change Leadership 36:05
3. Power, Influence and Social Media Accountability 39:08
4. Peril and Promise: A Conversation with Beverly Daniel Tatum 44:41
5. Stress, Worrying & Leadership: Overcoming the Threat of Chronic Stress 29:53

True leadership requires courage, community, and conviction. I hope this conversation offers both insight and encouragement to those who are walking that difficult—and necessary—path of change.

Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig is a global leader in public scholarship whose work connects research, civic action, and public understanding. His Cloaking Inequity platform has reached more 1 million readers in 200 countries, while his LinkedIn account and newsletter Without Fear or Favor have drawn 1.5 million views in just six months. His research and commentary have been cited by The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, USA Today, and Education Week. He has appeared on Al Jazeera, ABC, CBS, PBS, NBC, NPR, Univision, Latino USA, Democracy Now!, and MSNBC, helping millions connect evidence to action. Through courage, clarity, and communication, he transforms scholarship into a civic force that advances democracy and the common good.