The big question is why leadership is becoming much more important than management for universities. Universities are facing a lot of challenges. They need people who can really lead.

Leadership is about making decisions and taking risks. It is about being able to inspire people and get them to work together towards a goal.

• Being a leader means being able to listen to others and make decisions that are best for everyone.
• It means being able to motivate people and help them to be their best.

University leaders have to be able to balance a lot of things. They have to make sure the university is running smoothly and that everyone is happy.

Leadership is what will help universities to succeed in the run. Universities need leaders who can make decisions and take risks.

The universities that are able to find these kinds of leaders are the ones that will do well. Leadership is the key to success, for universities.

If you spend time around universities these days you will hear people talking about something that’s really frustrating them. They usually talk about it in a voice. There are a lot of strategies and people have to write a lot of reports. There are also a lot of systems that keep track of how people are doing their jobs.. Even with all of these things many people think that it is getting harder to know what good leadership is. Universities have leadership. It is not always easy to see what that means. People are looking for leadership. It is hard to find.

Universities look good on paper. They meet their targets. They file their reviews. They follow all the processes.. When you talk to the people in charge of the programmes they are struggling to find enough staff.. When you talk to the academics they are trying to deal with changes to the curriculum. They will tell you a story. What they really need is not another set of rules. Universities need someone, with judgement. They need someone who’s really present and paying attention. Universities need someone who’s willing to take responsibility when things do not go as planned and do not fit into the usual policy.

The tension in education is getting worse. Higher education is going through a time right now. There are a lot of changes happening. Digital tools are changing the way we teach.

The rules are getting stricter. Students are expecting more they want to be treated and they want support.

Higher education needs leaders who can deal with the uncertainty of all these changes, not people who can follow the rules and manage systems. Leadership, in education is very important right now.

Lots of academics have had the same thing happen to them. When change happens because of rules and procedures people do what they are told but they are not really, into it.. When change happens because people talk about it and think about how it affects them they are more likely to get involved.

Quality assurance is an example of this. When people from outside come to review what we are doing it is supposed to help us do things better.. Sometimes when this happens the people in charge get really defensive and nothing changes. This is because they think of the review as an inspection not as a chance to talk and learn. On the hand when people think of the review as a conversation they are more likely to make improvements. The amount of paperwork we have to do is the same either way.. The end result is different. What makes the difference is the attitude of the people, in charge the quality assurance people. They set the tone for everything.

Leadership is really obvious when things get tough. Universities are always trying to find a balance between keeping things the same and making changes. They need to be consistent. They also need to be flexible. Having rules helps to make sure everything is fair. Following those rules too closely can actually create new problems that are not fair.

Strong leaders do not think they can solve these problems once and then forget about them. They know these problems will always be there and they make decisions in a way that everyone can see. They explain why they made choices and what they had to give up to make those choices. Leadership is about dealing with these kinds of situations and making decisions, about universities and how they should be run.

Narrative matters more than strategy documents. The. The students like stories that help them understand where the institution is going. A programme is not a list of modules. The programme is something that the students live with every day it is like a journey. When the leaders do not tell the students about this journey the decisions they make seem to not make sense.. When the leaders do tell the students about the journey even the hard changes seem like they are, for a good reason.

Technology has made this problem bigger. Machines and data systems make things more efficient. They usually work.. When we use them too much they take away our ability to make choices. A computer screen can show us there is a problem. It cannot figure out how to deal with the problem in a way that is fair to people. As universities start to use data to make decisions they need to think about what is right and wrong even more not less. Universities and technology like data systems and machines need to work so universities can make good choices. Technology and data systems are important, to universities.

Something big is happening in colleges and universities. People are getting tired of the way leaders are judged by numbers. This does not mean they do not want leaders to be responsible for what they do. It just means they know that numbers are not the thing that matters. People want leaders who can hear what they have to say explain things in a way that makes sense and sometimes say, “This rule does not quite fit here.” People want education leaders who can think for themselves and make decisions not just follow rules because they are rules. Education is about more than just numbers and rules and people are starting to speak up about this. They want leaders who really care about education and the people in it, like the students and teachers.

• They want leaders who can listen to them
• They want leaders who can explain things clearly
• They want leaders who can make decisions like saying “This rule does not quite fit here” when it is necessary.

This type of leadership is really slow. You cannot always measure it. It means you have to take a chance.. It is also what helps people trust you especially when things are not going well. Universities may be able to follow the rules without this kind of leadership. They usually do not have a clear direction. This kind of leadership is what builds trust. That is important, for universities.

As institutions face the next wave of change, the real question may not be whether leaders are competent, but whether they are willing to lead as humans rather than managers. The future of higher education may depend less on how well systems run, and more on whether someone is prepared to take responsibility when the system runs out.