ABSTRACT

The traits and characteristics of effective leaders that are mentioned consistently are largely common, regardless of context. The issue of patience arises in several narratives, especially where a newly appointed leader fails to understand the strength of an embedded culture or structure and seeks to effect change too swiftly or without adequate consultation. One observation that struck home for us was to the effect that success in leadership is not simply in being appointed to a role and doing a job. Real success in higher education (HE) leadership, as is the case in sports, entails genuine passion to perform and willingness to do the hard work of training and self-development needed to achieve excellence. Part of an HE leader’s legacy to themselves would of course be a set of skills that are inherently valuable outside HE.