One of the greatest leadership attributes is the willingness to change direction. Not constantly (that is its own problem) but on critical occasions, when evidence changes. It needs to be essential criteria in job descriptions. It needs to be emblazoned on appraisals. It needs to remain 1/

The problem with many university strategies is that they’re completely divorced from reality. Launched with fanfare, press releases and high quality videos, the people of the university mostly roll their eyes because there is no acknowledgement of the problems that need to be solved. 1/

Reminder of the next session of the Working Class Leaders in Higher Education Network tomorrow at 3pm with Maria Delgado - we’ll be talking class, creative arts and leadership. Not to be missed. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/working-cl...

‘Disadvantage gaps open early and run deep in this country’. New Sutton Trust report below finds very little change in the backgrounds of Britain’s ‘elites’, the pipeline from private school to high tariff uni to top jobs very much intact. There is some progress in higher education 1/

Recruit people who will help you sleep at night. Talent that will allow you go on holiday, relax, and not worry about what’s going on at work. A team where you don’t need to plan for someone deputising because they’re all top of their game. Recruitment as wellbeing.

𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴. But it is already reshaping how leaders reflect. I’ve written about what the research says, and why I created TalkSavvy™ Coach, an AI reflection partner for school leaders. Read here 👉 www.malcpd.com/post/why-we-... #edusky #AI #UKEd #TalkSavvy

After a hiatus, the Working Class Leaders in Higher Education Network is back with a bang: delighted to kick off with Prof Maria Delgado, Vice Principal at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Details below. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/working-cl...

As we continue to recreate BNU, we’re now recruiting for a Director of Brand, Communications and Marketing. Crucial senior leadership role for shaping our future. Reshares appreciated. jobs.bucks.ac.uk/vacancy/dire...

The more experienced we become, the more we need to put ourselves in situations where we become novices. Read about subjects you know nothing about. Attend conferences where you only understand 5%. Network with experts from completely different industries. 1/

Absolutely delighted to see that BNU has risen 75 places in the Postgraduate Taught Experience survey, now ranking us 14th in the country for PG. The perfect testament to the changes we’ve made and the excellence of our colleagues. www.bucks.ac.uk/news/bnu-ris...

We’re recruiting for a new professor - great opportunity to join BNU and help us develop a truly inclusive research culture. Reshares appreciated. jobs.bucks.ac.uk/vacancy/prof...

25 years ago this week, I started my education career. Half my life. Aimless until then. Meandering. But stepping into teaching for the first time felt like home, where I was supposed to be. Driving my clapped out car insanely early, walking into Lewisham College for the first time, 1/

I’ve been reading a lot about AI. The promised transformation of education; the death of the university; the end of the physical teacher; the demise of the classroom. I’ve been around long enough to have heard this all before. Don’t get me wrong, I see the potential of AI. I use AI. But let’s 1/

Good HR is more than managing processes, it’s about helping people to flourish and health needs to be a priority. So at BNU, all our colleagues now get access to 24/7 counselling and access to an online GP from 8am to 10pm, a full medical service and unlimited consultations. Proper HR

The problem with most restructures is that they’re top down. They too often start with a partial exec perspective that determines the shape of the organisation, partiality, a perspective that proceeds from the imagination rather than reality. 1/

At BNU, we’ve designated Fridays a meeting free day. We’re cutting committees by 60%. We’ve made it the norm not to email or call after 6pm or at weekends. We’ve simplified processes like course approval and business planning. We’ve devolved budgets to end protracted multi-stage sign offs. 1/

The profit motive is incompatible with the education motive. Completely incompatible.

There are many reasons for wanting to become a leader and a lot of them are bad. Do it for the meaning of the work. Do it for students. Do it to help build careers. Do it for social impact. Do it because it provides a platform to challenge inequalities in the sector. Otherwise, what’s the point?

One of the best things about the exec team at BNU, if I come up with an idea that’s not going to work, they tell me it’s not going to work and why. No sugar-coating, no artificial deference or demurring, just the unalloyed truth. Honestly, if you’re a leader, surround yourself with people 1/

I like children calling out as their mothers and fathers walk across the graduation stage. I like the impromptu dances. And the blowing of kisses to loved ones. And the tributes to loved ones who have passed. I like the national dress, the untraditional attire, even the smuggled-in air horns. 1/

Science fiction

‘AI is not going to remove the bias from your hiring processes at this point. AI doesn’t think’. Completely unsurprising results on a study below looking at AI recruitment, with women and Global Majority data-profiles being advised to ask for a lower salary. AI is built on biases and bad advice 1/

People need space to fail. The space to fail well, naturally, through experiment, through risk. Fail. Let failure be celebrated, let failure be public, let failure be normalised. Fail productively. Bake it into culture. Hardwire it into practice. Acknowledge its inevitability, its necessity. 1/

I’ve been doing another round of ‘back to the floor’ sessions with colleagues at BNU. You know what stays with me? The little things. The little actions colleagues perform to meet the needs of our students. The small courtesies that mean so much. The things that aren’t (and couldn’t be) in job 1/

In my experience, contrary to this article, there is plenty of talk about ethical leadership in education. Plenty of talk. The problem is there is too little ethical leadership behaviour, too little ethical leadership action. Saying we do the right thing is very different to *actually* 1/

An Amazingly refreshing lunchtime webinar from Change HE and BNUs own @profdamienpage.bsky.social taking on the thorny issue(s) around the changing face of culture in HE. Thank you. 🙏 #HigherEd #Learning #Education #Culture www.linkedin.com/posts/change...

Organisations need to be more vocal about work seeping into home life and less vocal about home seeping into work. Work can never be a hermetically sealed vacuum away from our lives, devoid of the personal. Sometimes we need an hour away to watch a child’s school play or take a relative 1/

Can’t wait to take part in this panel tomorrow

I read an article recently that argued that we should ignore our self-doubt, shut it out, dampen it down, not listen to it. It’s bad advice. Instead, self-doubt should become a medium of thinking, a dialogue, a conversation. An exploration of the creative and the constraint. 1/

With finances tight in the sector, research is often one of the first casualties, especially when it isn’t externally funded. Research, in straightened times, sometimes becomes expendable. Not for us at BNU. We see research as integral to academic work, integral to teaching and development, 1/

Every UK resident is £355 better off per year as a result of international students. Even for those who are not convinced by the immense cultural and intellectual contribution of international students, even for those unaware of the cross-subsidy ground breaking research they allow, 1/

‘Theftosterone’. A new word for an old phenomenon, when a woman shares an idea then a man says exactly the same thing and receives the praise as if the idea was his own. Misogyny? Certainly. Sign of some men being over-promoted and trying to justify their position? Often. 1/

‘The education plans of students moreover are more strongly shaped by social background than by academic performance’. Largely unsurprising findings in this report below, with the most socially disadvantaged students internationally 22% less likely to anticipate completing some form of tertiary 1/

Universities are organisations of learning but not always learning organisations. We want to change that at BNU. Take our new Learning Exchange Programme where colleagues (academic and professional services) can spend up to four weeks fully paid in another organisation, sharing expertise, 1/

When I was an undergrad, having to work while studying was relatively rare. While I loaded HGVs in the evenings, my peers enjoyed the social; while I worked full time in the summer, they were travelling; while they studied at leisure, I read books in breaks between lorries. 1/

Really important new initiative here at BNU - we’re looking for external members to join our new Equity Board that will drive our strategy. Details below www.bucks.ac.uk/news/bucking...

One of the things new leaders struggle with is the struggle to find perfection. With the sudden scrutiny that leadership brings, there can be a perfection anxiety, the infuriating search for the one indisputably perfect decision in every situation. 1/

We’ve all met that academic

I’ve worked with good teams, bad teams and mediocre teams but only one phenomenal team, here at BNU. Creative, candid, ambitious. Endlessly innovative, endlessly supportive. Productively impatient, productively challenging. Authentic, deeply ethical, deeply committed. A team of remarkable people

Bad leadership is rarely solely an individual activity. It is usually supported, scaffolded, emulated, promulgated, distributed, impacting at every level of an organisation. Undoing it is equal parts archaeology, surgery and demolition.

Now we’ve restructured BNU from 9 schools into 3 colleges, we’re recruiting for 3 College Business Managers (advert below). As members of the College Leadership Teams, they’ll lead on the professional services work of the Colleges and help drive forward innovation and change. 1/

Never underestimate the damage poor leadership can do. Or how much effort it takes to fix it.

Good article on the ‘detachment paradox’ in organisations, where leaders recognise the benefits of colleagues disconnecting from work in the evening and weekends yet punish those who actually practice disconnection. The ‘visibility bias’ of colleagues who email back quickly no matter the time; 1/

Incredibly proud that Buckinghamshire New University has been named University of the Year for South East England. Voted for by students, awards don’t get more meaningful. www.whatuni.com/student-awar...

I miss the days when there was understanding of the incredible benefits of properly supporting children and families. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

‘Women in power face a well-documented lose-lose scenario where they’re either seen as competent but cold or likable but not very effective’. Some (mostly men) will decry the fact that articles like the one below need to be written, articles that advise women on how to control 1/

Article here about leaders lacking the time for strategic thinking, overwhelmed by the busyness of the role. It makes some good points - time to think is essential after all - but it makes one error: it positions strategic thinking solely as an individual activity. 1/

Organisations fail when leaders can’t accept critical feedback. When candour is ignored, divergent perspectives suppressed, when problems are deflected. When there is a refusal to accept you might be wrong. When those who might question your judgement are silenced or excluded. 1/

As a senior leader, you spend a lot of time with numbers. Our numbers at @bnuni.bsky.social tell us we’re changing fast: the highest ever pass rates, the best ever retention, the highest ever good degrees, the lowest ever awarding gaps. They tell a good story. 1/

The worst leaders are afraid of talent. They fear having highly skilled people around, they fear they might be shown up or replaced or exposed and that fear drives the worst of recruitment decisions. Don’t fear talent, embrace it. Surround yourself with the exceptional, the stand-outs, 1/