Academic Leadership: Sit on the sidelines or ‘dare greatly’?

Kamal R. Mahtani is a GP & Professor of Evidence-Based Healthcare and Director of the MSc Global Healthcare Leadership and Oxford Primary Care Research Leadership Programme. Here, he reflects on the rationale for leaders to advance in academia.

Developing your academic leadership roles can bring many opportunities, such as leading innovative research or teaching initiatives, influencing the strategic direction of your group or department, and mentoring the next generation of academics.

However, as leadership roles evolve, the challenges correspondingly intensify. These increasingly complex responsibilities encompass managing heightened expectations, skillfully balancing competing priorities from diverse stakeholders—including colleagues, students, and senior management—and adeptly navigating the nuanced landscape of institutional politics.

The expanded roles, responsibilities, and visibility of leadership will also invariably expose leaders to a broader range of opinions and feedback from others. For the reflective and introspective leader, constructive feedback is an opportunity for growth and improvement. 

Stay on the Sidelines?

However, for others, the heightened exposure of leadership coupled with the competitive nature of academia can feel overwhelming. Constructive feedback can sometimes tip into unsolicited and unproductive criticism from individuals merely critiquing from the sidelines. 

The mounting complexities of leadership can make disengaging look like an appealing alternative. In certain circumstances, this may be a perfectly reasonable option. In others, the sidelines can, over time, become a comfortable position. However, this ‘comfort’ may act as a barrier to the opportunities associated with leadership. Worse still, it may even be an easy excuse to criticise others in leadership roles.

Daring Greatly

So, why step forward to lead? Why take on the additional demands and develop the resilience to face potential criticism of your decision-making?

Reflecting on these questions, I was reminded of Brené Brown's book Daring Greatly. Brown emphasises that daring greatly is about stepping forward and striving for something valuable despite the discomfort and uncertainty that leadership can bring. In the opening section, she explains that Theodore Roosevelt's speech, Citizenship in a Republic, inspired her book title. In his speech, Roosevelt states:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly..."

While some of the language and the imagery are less inclusive than we value today, the sentiment is clear. Leadership is not about being perfect or merely avoiding failure. It is about having the courage to enter the arena and navigate the uncertainties that come with it. It involves acknowledging and accepting that not everyone will agree with your views and decisions, even though you may feel that you are pursuing something meaningful. Effective leaders can embrace this vulnerability while cultivating a deep inner confidence in their intrinsic worth.

In academia, where the pressures and complexities of leadership may feel overwhelming, it can seem easier to remain on the sidelines - safe, unexposed, and untested. However, genuine transformation, personal growth, and meaningful impact happen in the arena. The essence of impactful academic leadership lies beyond the realm of marginal critique. It emerges when we embrace vulnerability, take decisive and thoughtful steps forward, and, in doing so, inspire others to do the same. It happens when we dare greatly.

This blog is dedicated to Cohort 1 of the MSc Global Healthcare Leadership. A group of remarkable leaders who stepped into the arena of a new MSc programme and dared greatly - Kamal.

Acknowledgements: I thank Munesh Mahtani and Corina Cheeks for their comments on an earlier draft and Meena Mahtani for reminding me of Brené Brown's book.