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From Control to Connection: Building Human-Centred Leadership in Higher Education
Amidst a maelstrom of financial shocks and wider societal change, UK Higher Education is undergoing significant transformation. The widely adopted response is classic restructuring based on centralised control.
Paradoxically, whilst there’s growing debate about human-centred approaches to leadership (characterised by servant leadership, authentic leadership), these approaches are rarely evident on our campuses.
Vertical Influence: The Art of Building Trust Upwards When the Power Isn’t in Your Hands
The toughest learning I’ve ever tackled across my career in HE has been this rather ephemeral concept of ‘managing upwards’. And I don’t think I’ve yet got to the finish line! I rather dislike the term, so I’ve rebadged it ‘vertical influence’ in this blog.
When the emails stop…
This is a tricky subject but one that I’ve been meaning to write about for a while. I’m talking about the first day that you find yourself ‘not employed’.
We’ve all been there – or will be at some point. It’s normal. A rite of passage that should be covered in all good careers training. To put this in context, most people I know – including me! – have been there. Many have been there several times over.
The Power of Hidden Work – What’s Below the Waterline?
Every day, alongside the “official” tasks we are paid for, there is another seam of vigorous, necessary activity.
This is the investment in people, relationships, and unseen problem-solving that keeps teams, projects, and institutions from fracturing. This blog digs into ‘hidden work’ and what it could mean for us.
The Case Against Change
The received wisdom is that change is necessary in the face of challenge or opportunity or, well, anything really. Change is perceived to demonstrate ‘action’, ‘purpose’ and ‘responsiveness’. I’m not so sure, and this blog explores why.
The Dubious Decisions Committee
Love them or loathe them, committees are a permanent feature of life in HE. But how could we work them to greater advantage?
Restructuring Realities
University Restructures: The Hidden Cost of Getting It Wrong.
University restructures have been constant throughout my 30-year career in higher education. I’ve led them, survived them, and learned hard lessons from both sides. Yet despite their frequency, we rarely discuss what actually works.
Most restructures trigger an organisational freeze response. Projects stall, investments pause, staff become collateral damage. The longer it drags on, the worse it gets—breeding anxiety, killing productivity, driving talent away.
The Organisational Apology
Too often, organisations issue unemotive apologies, as though that will resolve an error and absolve responsibility. But true apologies are far more complex than that, and we need to do better.
Bursting Your Bubble
We tend to – instinctively – surround ourselves with people who think, act and believe similarly to us. What might this mean for our HEIs?
The Post Office and HE Governance – Some Reflections
The failings of governance in the recent PO scandal have far wider ramifications than the PO alone. The issues in the recent IoD report show how HE and other sectors could – and indeed must – learn from this horrific scandal.