Building confident and connected Heads of Department with a Russell Group university

Taking responsibility for an academic department is a significant leadership transition. New Heads of Department must quickly build credibility, lead colleagues, manage competing priorities and navigate complex institutional relationships, often while continuing to contribute to teaching and research. This leading UK university wanted to ensure that its leadership and people-management development reflected the different needs of its academic and professional services communities. They also wanted to build stronger connections between those communities during a period of significant institutional change. 

The brief 

Strive Higher were commissioned to develop a programme that would support new Heads of Department through their first year in role. The university needed more than a conventional series of leadership workshops. It wanted a practical programme that would: 

• respond to the real challenges participants encountered during their transition 

• provide timely tools and guidance that could be applied immediately 

• build confidence and credibility in role 

• create stronger relationships between academic and professional-services leaders 

• align with the university’s wider leadership expectations

Our approach 

Diagnosing the leadership context 

We began with a focused needs analysis, combining stakeholder interviews with a review of the university’s existing leadership provision and institutional context. This allowed us to understand the practical realities of the Head of Department role and identify where new leaders most needed guidance, challenge and support. 

Designing with participants 

Before formal delivery began, we brought participants together to explore their priorities and expectations. Their input directly influenced both the programme content and the sequence of workshops. This ensured that development was delivered at the most relevant points in participants’ leadership journeys, rather than according to a fixed or generic curriculum. 

Providing practical, just-in-time development 

The programme combined facilitated workshops with psychometric insight and coaching. Participants were introduced to practical approaches and tools that they could apply to live leadership situations. The learning was deliberately sequenced around the first-year experience, helping participants address emerging challenges with greater confidence and credibility. 

Connecting leadership across the institution 

The programme was designed alongside development for newer professional-services leaders. Creating opportunities for the two groups to engage helped participants better understand different perspectives, develop a shared view of institutional challenges and establish relationships across organisational boundaries. 

Learning and adapting throughout delivery 

We worked with the programme sponsor to agree evaluation methods from the outset. Continuous feedback enabled the programme to be refined in response to participants’ experiences and emerging needs. This created a programme that was structured and purposeful while remaining responsive to the realities of leadership in a changing institution. 

Outcomes 

• Participants' confidence increased as they transitioned into the Head of Department role 

• Practical learning that could be applied immediately 

• Strengthened engagement with coaching and psychometric development 

• Improved alignment between programme content and the university’s leadership-capability expectations 

• Opportunities created for stronger relationships between academic and professional-services leaders 

• An adaptable model for supporting future leadership cohorts established

Following the initial programme, Strive Higher was commissioned to deliver the programme for a further cohort of new Heads of Department.  

Every university’s leadership context is different. If you are reviewing how your institution prepares and supports Heads of Department or other leaders taking on complex roles, we would be pleased to explore the challenges with you. Strive Higher can help diagnose the need, design the right intervention and build leadership capability that lasts. Please, get in touch.