Stepping up into a new role as head of department or service in a university brings with it a host of challenges. On the one hand there are institutional demands to foster innovation, drive excellence and navigate complexity in a dynamic and evolving educational environment.
On the other, questions around your personal ability to lead authentically, influence upwards and manage teams of experts can quickly arise. Leading from the middle, where Heads of Departments inevitably are, can often feel like a lonely uphill battle.
As Programme Director for our most recent participants on Advance HE’s Leading Departments Programme, I was able to journey with them. A mix of academics and professional services colleagues from a wide range of different institutions, they came looking for ways to influence up and down in their organisation, to hone their skills in leading large teams and for some tools and techniques to ground their leadership instincts.
Many applied as a result of recommendations from colleagues who had gone through the programme before.
