The paper identifies a need to shift the role of academic leadership from traditional roles towards an environment that has a recognition that management in academia has broad social leadership purpose. The need for structures and systems built around middle level management that responds to academic leadership and that supports innovation are explored.

Leadership models need to involve staff in planning and resource allocation in a collaborative and collective manner that is consistent with the characteristics of universities. The new corporate models of university administration are discussed as being of questionable value with a potential for anomie and alienation to emerge in a large organisational context. There is also to generate ideas and “hot house” new knowledge in teams that generate innovation in collaboration with communities of scholars.

The paper argues that any proposals for organisational capacity building will require and ability to work with ambiguity, contradictions and to manage change. This signals a revitalisation, renewal and a new valuing of academic middle level leadership in order to create an organisational climate that is not characterised by hierarchy, instrumentalism and dependency. This paper discusses some of the features that leadership that includes:

. A capacity to view the worksite as a cultural site that features cultural and linguistically diversity.
. A role that facilitates innovation in shaping the nature of the activity in the organisation
. A political leadership coalition and network builder across and outside the organisation.

The paper proposes some professional development and career strategies to facilitate an environment of change.

Keywords

• Academic Middle Management
• Leadership
• organisational capacity building

(30 min Conference Paper, English)