ABSTRACT
Discussion and review of staff management interaction in universities does not feature prominently in the literature, as compared to the more commercial business management world and its associated publications. This chapter further widens the discussion on the important qualities current HE leaders say and HE studies demonstrate, are required of our managers. Personal leadership/management qualities are identified in published HE staff interviews, female business leader interviews and in articles by HE and management experts. These qualities, such as being open to management review by all staff, shared leadership skills, basic relationship skills such as giving full attention to those you are talking and listening to, identifying as part of the team, being accountable, being considerate, modelling good practice, giving appropriate feedback and mentoring are highlighted by the authors as being extremely important for leadership and management success.
They are compared with a snapshot of university applicant requirements for leadership roles as found in recruitment documentation. We can then ask whether we have the balance of qualities, skills, gender and experience right within university senior management teams, in faculty and departmental managers.
Consideration of what constitutes a ‘supportive environment’ is addressed, as is the complexity of teams, speaking up and a reminder about the huge influence managers have on staff, as these areas are further explored in the following chapters. These further business-related and HE study expectations of management/leadership team members allows an accumulating collection of beneficial management practices to be gathered and assessed.
