Purpose: Representing both "central university administration" and academics, deans are increasingly being confronted with the competing managerial and academic values. Being able to manage the competing values is pivotal to the success of a dean. However, there is dearth of research studying this. Considering the for-profit private sector may face greater challenge in dealing with the competing values, the purpose of this paper is to understand how deans in the private sector have managed this. Design/methodology/approach: A case study was conducted using two exemplar faculties of a private university in Malaysia as sample. The main sources of data are one-year field work which is supplemented by eight years' archival data. Findings: The findings show that sustainable deans have found a common ground between the competing values. The common ground aligns the central university administration, the deans and the academics, and contributes to the sustainability of the faculties and university. Originality/value: This paper contributes to addressing the ever-increasing tension between managerial and academic values experienced by the mid-level academic management especially at the for-profit private higher education institutions. The insights of this study enrich the existing knowledge in the area of mid-level academic leadership.