Shannon McClenton [Courtesy of Shannon McClenton]
UCLA Life Sciences
The campus-wide Bruin Beacon Award was established by UCLA’s Administrative Management Group last year to recognize managers and staff who’ve shown outstanding leadership in times of crisis.
This year’s recipient is Shannon McClenton, the chief administrative officer (CAO) of the Biology Group – which includes the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, the Computational and Systems Biology interdepartmental program, and the Stunt Ranch Reserve.
Shannon brings her unique combination of experiences and perspectives to effectively manage the Biology Group–connecting with individuals and building trust to collaborate on resolving problems and coming up with innovative solutions in an extraordinarily challenging and complex work environment.
Getting to know colleagues as individuals
As an administrative leader, Shannon’s approach to working with colleagues is not too different from that of a therapist. She makes herself available to address issues that arise – carefully listening, diffusing emotions, and collaboratively generating a plan.
“It’s a leadership choice to say I’m listening, I’m here to help,” she says. “If I tell you what to do, it can cause angst and resentment.”
For Shannon, the key is understanding individual personalities and recognizing that different people are motivated in unique ways. She has also learned that when a colleague comes to her with a problem, the first step is diagnosing what the underlying issues may be.
“Maybe they just need to vent,” she says. “And if you jump in too soon with input, it may turn out badly because that’s not what they really needed.”
Bridging the gap in stressful times
Serving as a vital intermediary for her unit, Shannon translates challenges and needs between faculty and staff. She works closely with faculty to understand their academic and research visions, while simultaneously advocating for her resource-constrained staff—ensuring both sides feel structurally and emotionally supported.
“Over the last two years, I am seeing everyone being required to do a lot more with a lot less,” says Shannon. “Individually, it could feel like it’s just you who’s overwhelmed, but having a global perspective of the entire department, I see that everyone in the department is feeling intense pressure.”
Grounding in shared experiences
Shannon’s deep empathy for heavy workloads and competing responsibilities comes from first-hand experience. More than 26 years ago, she began working full-time at UCLA as an administrative assistant while simultaneously earning her business degree and raising a young child.
Perhaps, because of her own experiences, she approaches challenging workplace dynamics with more grace.
“You never know what someone’s going through,” says Shannon. “And you can’t take things personally.”
Generating collaborative and creative solutions
By earning the trust of the department chair and vice chairs, Shannon has become a strategic partner in departmental decision-making. “Just tell me your vision and where you want to see things go,” she says. “And I can help you navigate that.”
In a time of campus-wide austerity, Shannon has tapped into her recent background as a chief operating officer for a startup to bring fresh, non-traditional ideas to the university system. She helps her colleagues consider creative strategies to pool resources across units and come up with new mechanisms of funding.
Moving towards the future
When Shannon joined the Biology Group as CAO, a little over two years ago, she knew she was walking into a highly challenging environment. She says things still aren’t easy, but her spirits are lifted by her collaborative work, seeing people succeed, and her mentorship of junior staff.
“I have to constantly remind myself that the culture has improved and that things are better than the day I walked in the door,” says Shannon. “But there’s still work to be done. Until I can see all the departmental units breathe, not just one group doing OK, that’s when I’ll feel I did a good job, and that we’re all good.”
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