Jennifer Scott Mobley, Ph.D
Jennifer is a leadership and executive coach that helps higher education leaders and institutions cultivate the mindset and skill set needed to thrive in an ever-changing world.
Informed by approximately 20 years of progressive experience as a higher education leader, Jennifer’s coaching, training, and research focus on the key leadership competencies that higher education leaders need to break down silos and build strong collaborations and cultures where everyone can flourish. She works extensively with deans, provosts, and vice presidents as they navigate change in higher education and the next step in their careers.
Jennifer has worked with numerous clients in education and business including University of Chicago, Emory University, New York University, University of Tennessee, Tennessee Higher Education Commission, Microsoft, and GE Aviation. She serves as an executive coach for Commonwealth University and Academic Impressions, and she has served as a coach for the University of Tennessee's Executive Leadership Institute and the President's Executive Leadership Academy at TCAT Knoxville.
She brings those experiences, as well as her training and practice as an organizational communication professor and consultant, to synthesize best practices and approaches in a new paradigm about what it means to be an effective leader in 21st century higher education.
Jennifer holds an executive coaching certification from the Center for Executive Coaching. As a Gallup-certified strengths coach and as a Designing Your Life certified coach, Jennifer uses strengths-based and design thinking approaches to support leaders and teams in the successful pursuit of strategic and transformative initiatives. A core of her coaching philosophy is to provide clients with evidence-based frameworks and communication strategies needed for leading change and building successful collaborations.
Her approach is to combine a proven track record of higher education leadership with a variety of advising, consulting, and coaching approaches to ensure each leader has a custom process to help them achieve their highest professional and institutional priorities.
In addition to her work as a coach, Jennifer is an experienced trainer of professional development programming for emerging and senior leaders in higher education, ranging from department chairs to provosts.
Jennifer’s research has been featured in several journals including the International Journal of Appreciative Inquiry, Communication Studies, the Journal of Applied Communication Research, among others. She serves on several editorial boards including Management Communication Quarterly and the International Journal of Business Communication. She also frequently speaks on topics related to higher education leadership, women’s leadership, and leading innovation and change.
Jennifer holds a Ph.D. in Communication from Ohio University and she has held a variety of leadership positions in academic and student affairs throughout her career, including director of mentoring and professional development, department chair, and assistant dean. She currently serves as a director of strategic initiatives.
Jennifer’s ability to tune into the leadership challenges I was experiencing and create a customized plan to support my growth was both career and life-saving. The resources she provided helped me to better manage my schedule, prioritize tasks, and support my team. Jennifer is a confidant, a guide, and a true leader in her field. She has encouraged me to “live my questions” and trust that I will find the answers as I progress. In the past six months, I have grown tremendously, feel more confident, and settled into the process of learning how to execute strategic plans and how to let go of things that can wait. If you are struggling to figure out how to be your best self, personally and professionally, take the risk to invest in yourself and decide to work with Jennifer. I promise you won’t regret it.
– Amy Downes, Associate Vice President of Student Success & Campus Life, Commonwealth University of PA
Jennifer had a tremendous amount of empathy and good energy. She was my cheerleader, confidant, and coach during an incredibly difficult time. She helped me think more strategically about how I could approach my work, including offering me several tools for deeper reflection as well as reading and skills building around navigating a challenging internal political system, prioritizing and delegating, and leading with a stronger strategic mindset.
Jennifer helped me find tools that worked for me. Her approach is very catered to her client’s strengths and values.
– Meggan Madden, Dean of Academics, Principia College