As critical as leadership is, it can be overrated.
The Board of Regents for the University of Wisconsin System fell into that trap last week by giving hefty raises to some top officials. Most noticeably, the board gave system president Kevin Reilly a 21 percent boost to more than $400,000.
To his credit, Reilly plans to pass much of that fatter check on to his scholarship fund. Which makes us wonder why the board was so determined to vote it through in the first place.
Was it simply a symbolic move to lighten the ego bruise that Reilly must have suffered when new UW-Madison head Carolyn â??Biddyâ? Martin became the first chancellor to out-earn the leader of the system? Or is this a genuine strategy the regents have adopted to better compete for top talent?
Donâ??t answer that. Neither answer could justify such a big salary hike for a top dog.