Alison Johns

Leading an organisation always means balancing core mission and strategy with changes that are happening in the external environment that shapes the conditions the organisation is working in. In higher education in the UK we have seen a flurry of really positive change agendas around digital transformation, portfolio and curriculum enhancement, inclusion, civic engagement and much more, as higher education institutions continue to increase their impact.

We don’t turn overnight from junior members of the higher education community into its senior leaders, but leadership is important from the start of our careers, as we impact other staff and outcomes from early on. Even without line management, we lead projects, have roles in our union branch, and contribute in a leaderly way to discussions and problem solving, stepping in as needed; situated leadership, as it’s referred to in textbooks. Higher education needs good leaders.

Higher education is enormously well-served for professional development opportunities including in-house training and development, the pursuit of teaching accreditation or other recognised qualifications, and support for participation in one or more of a range of thriving professional networks. As a sector we can be proud of how we support university staff to learn and develop.