School of Health & Wellbeing

IHW is committed to encouraging and supporting colleagues from all job families to pursue leadership training. Here, research and teaching and professional services colleagues who have recently completed leadership programmes reflect on what they learned, and the difference this has made to their working lives and career development. 

Claire Hastie, Lecturer in Public Health, completed Aurora leadership training (the Advance HE development initiative for women) in 2019/2020

Before Aurora was suggested by my line manager I had never heard of it. My initial response was "Do I want to be a leader?" and "Do I have time to do it?".

But after a quick Google it seemed worthwhile. I was lucky to complete the programme pre-pandemic, which involved meeting roughly once a month for half a year. Four development days were with the whole group (~200 women) at conference venues in Edinburgh, and two were in a smaller group (my “action learning set”; a support group in which to discuss work issues and seek solutions). The attendees were from HE institutions across Scotland and the North of England. There are other regions spread across the UK.

The topics covered were: Identity, Impact, and Voice; Politics and Influence; Core Leadership Skills; and Adaptive Leadership Skills. The development days were a mix of lectures and exercises. We had some excellent guest speakers, including Prof Carron Shankland herself (recent Maurice Bloch speaker, on the topic of "staying well and being productive"). Some of it was a tad introspective for me, and at times a bit embarrassing (highlight the acting coach who was wonderful but gave us lots of loud activities including getting out of our seats and moving around!).

It was a very positive experience for me. I gained confidence, partly through the work itself and partly because the investment in my development made me feel valued. I have put some of the advice into practice. Including how to say NO. I met lots of lovely people and benefited from the experience of those in different positions in other institutions. Beforehand I would not have sought out a course for women. However, once there I understood its value.

Aurora is for women up to senior lecturer and mid-level professional services. If it appeals, I urge you to request nomination from your line manager. 

Andy Baxter, Research Assistant in the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, completed an IHW ECR leadership course* in 2018

When hearing the term "leader" applied to people in their career paths, I had always assumed this meant those who were bossy presiding over those who were productive. Or at least an influential person who got other people to do things merely by the weight of their personality and the vigour of their pronouncements. Certainly, I figured it didn't apply to me, as I rarely felt comfortable trying to wield this over others.

Imagine my dismay then to start into a PhD and hopefully a research career and see the expectation of developing "leadership" qualities and responsibilities through it all!

I eventually bit the bullet and signed up to a leadership course (at least if it's on my CV I can call myself a leader, right?), and the IHW one-day ECR leadership course seemed a good introduction. It was a lively, inspirational and accessible day. And what a change of perspective I got!

The course was definitely an eye-opener to the multifaceted nature of "leadership" itself. Having previously wondered why "person who's bossy" seemed to be what the university were asking for, it was a helpful change of perspective to see that more fundamentally leaders are people with vision, people who are actively developing themselves, people with direction. Fundamentally, it helped me see the value in taking some control over your own career progression, and not being ashamed (or feeling that you're being rude and pushy) to assert some of your own designs and plans on your development as an early career researcher.

The short-course nature of it of course means that not all things are covered. There are of course a plethora of other skills and techniques for self- and team-management provided through courses, YouTube channels and large sections of bookshops. But having experienced this course and being given a wider vision for the positives of growing in leadership capabilities, I've certainly been more driven – and in some ways "permitted" by learning not to see leadership as a bad/pushy thing – to seek out the resources and tailor my development to develop as a leader.

*IHW organises and buys in ECR leadership courses approximately once per year. Please contact ihwadmin@glasgow.ac.uk if you would like to be added to the waiting list for the 2022 course.  

Enni Miller, Communications Manager in the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, completed the Aurora leadership programme in 2019/2020

I would definitely recommend the Aurora programme to others.

The combination of large-scale events with inspiring key note speakers and small group meetings with other attendees enabled me to grow my professional network, learn from leaders from across the HE sector and to develop my leadership skills. The content was designed to challenge you, but the constant peer-to-peer discussion and reflection meant I felt supported throughout the programme.

Find out more about UofG's leadership and management development programmes

Find out more about the Advance HE Aurora leadership programme for women

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First published: 21 September 2020