The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture, (4/4)

by Prof. Fiona McClement (Leeds University)

Thursday 27 Jun 2024, 13:00 → 14:00 Europe/Berlin

Discussion and provocations on leadership and behaviour change

In the past decade or so, the landscape of what’s considered acceptable in the working environment has changed dramatically.
It is well researched how characteristics of the higher education research environment can particularly act as enablers of unacceptable behaviour, marked by atmospheres of negativity, conflict and incivility.
Furthermore, it is well understood how critical leadership accountability is, as leaders and managers are the ones who set the standard and cultivate culture, and that without their acceptance and commitment, organisation wide efforts to change behaviour are destined to fail.
Yet despite these widespread insights, the pace of culture change within academic and research environments can still feel stubbornly slow and demoralising.
This talk will focus on leadership behaviour and its impact on progressing or hindering positive workplace practices and culture in higher education and research environments. In the session we will consider both destructive and transformational leadership practices. We will discuss the practical steps that leaders can take to better leverage their power and responsibility for changing problematic norms and behaviour, to help improve cultural climates within their organisation and for the benefit of the sector more broadly.

Fiona McClement is currently Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Leeds. Prior to this, she held the same role at University College London (UCL). Fiona’s particular passion and interest is in behaviour change. She has been a consultant to a number of leading UK universities, delivering interventions on culture and behaviour change. Fiona has also been an expert advisor to the UK Parliament and has delivered leadership training on culture and behaviour change to CERN in Switzerland for the past few years.

presentation_27-07-2024_FionaMcClement.pdf