HERDSA 2010 program: invited address

*Please note that this provisional program is indicative only and subject to change.

Personal leadership in tertiary education: Will I be there when it matters?

Phil Ker

Chief Executive
Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand

Tertiary education in Australasia is going through unprecedented levels of change, with external forces challenging long held beliefs about the nature and purpose of further and higher education. Our institutions are under considerable pressure to be more businesslike, and to deliver more (better outcomes), often with less.

It is in this context that, more than ever, we need strong leadership: not just from those who hold formal positions of responsibility, but also from individual staff. We need distributed leadership – a range of people willing to step up to the plate, willing to "do the right thing".

This address will reflect on the nature of leadership as a career competency and consider how individuals within our institutions might release the leadership potential that lies within us all. It will also consider how our institutions might nurture and encourage individual leadership, and the benefits to be gained for all by doing so.