The New Meaning of Leadership in Autonomous Universities

...Thus, leadership becomes an essential quality for an institution to allow it to develop a completely new self-understanding, to be strongly present in the outside world, capable of defending its own interests as well as being reactive to inside demands and needs. It becomes a major factor that will determine universities’ capacity for change in the context of external demands and expectations while at the same time developing an independent profile...

Thus three types of leadership seem to be essential in order to ensure that the change to autonomy for universities is a winning one also for those within the institution:

Visionary leadership means the capacity to look at the existing myths on which many universities are based and consider their validity today. This would bring about a new self-understanding compatible with the needs of academics and the demands of society. This is essential, since poor career structures and mechanistic assessment procedures can threaten the process of identity building.

Thus, to be visionary means to be capable of not simply buying into the Zeitgeist but reinforcing the university’s capacity to think ahead. Informed leadership addresses the issue of reconciling strong leadership with broad consultation structures. While collegial decision-making bodies might have led to lengthy decision-making routines
without clear responsibility structures, at the same time they were inclusive.

Informed leadership addresses the issue of reconciling strong leadership with broad consultation structures. While collegial decision-making bodies might have led to lengthy decision-making routines without clear responsibility structures, at the same time they were inclusive. Informed leadership would have to recreate this idea of inclusion in new ways.

Finally, creative leadership needs to interact with elements/structures in their environment in order to shape and control the universities’ relations of dependencies. While strategic choices have to be made within the limits imposed by the universities’ environment, the potential radius of action can be widened when creative and flexible internal institutional environments are provided. Creative leadership thus means rebuilding niches within the institution which do not necessarily follow criteria imposed from the outside...

By: Ulrike Felt, Professor of Social Studies of Science, Department of Social Studies of Science, University of Vienna, Austria (2003)

From: Managing the university community good practice, EUA CASE STUDIES 2007