Employee development and quiet leadership style marks Leo V. Sullivan's tenure as vice president for Human Resources. As one of the top decision makers at the University, Sullivan plays a hand in nearly every hire made from the cooks in dining services to top-level administrators in the Office of the Academic Vice President. The job requires him to know the ins and outs of Boston College extremely well, said Patricia DeLeeuw, associate academic vice president.
"I think more than anyone else he understands BC and people very well," she said. "He has to be a very good judge of character and to be the sort of sales person for Boston College."
Attracting and hiring candidates for University positions is often a more serious version of a sales pitch, said DeLeeuw, a skill Sullivan has mastered due to his deep knowledge of BC's culture.
"Leo knows this University so broadly and so deeply. He's in many ways the keeper of the culture at BC," she said. "He has to be flexible in making sure that we meet the needs of the people we are trying to hire and they fit into BC culture."
Richard Jefferson, acting director of affirmative action who has worked with Sullivan in several capacities, said Sullivan's grasp of BC's identity is due to his attention to detail, displayed in the personal attention he gives to every employee.
"He knows people," said Jefferson. "He can walk into any dining hall and he'll know the cook and the people who shovel the snow, and the people who wash the dishes. He knows people at that level personally well and as well as his peers, the vice presidents, and he's a real confidante of the president."
Sullivan's leadership style is thoughtful and relaxed, allowing his employees to work freely and use their ideas.
"He has a very relaxed leadership style. He doesn't micromanage," said Jefferson. "He gives people that work with him a lot of room to use their own skills and creativity, which is something we all appreciate."
Although Sullivan takes this approach, he is nonetheless interested in every area of his department, especially employee development and relations in order to make the working experience more enjoyable for all.
"[For him] it's more than just a job working here," said Jefferson. "He really takes leadership in the concept of how we are to care for people in the Jesuit tradition."
"Leo typifies what Boston College prides itself on, which is an interest and care for the whole person," said DeLeeuw. "His great gift is his whole humanity and his recognition of that in all that he deals with."
Diversity is an important component of employee development, one in which Sullivan has an active hand.
"We have very good employee development programs especially programming around diversity," said DeLeeuw. "He is now working on the Office of Institutional Diversity which reports to him."
"Most recently he's taken a real interest in the whole area of diversity here on campus and he's really shown some really strong leadership in that area," said Jefferson.
A director for the new office should be hired by early March, according to Sullivan.
The personal attention Sullivan pays to all of his employees began at home with his children and grandchildren, said Jefferson.
"He really takes an interest in his kids," said Jefferson. "He's also a grandfather and I know he really takes pride in that."
His attention to his employees and love for the University is unique, said Jefferson.
"He's an extremely caring person about the people who work at Boston College in a way that you don't see at many other institutions," he said. "He really sets the tone for us in human resources and the rest of the University."
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