handbook-executive-leadership-of-research-development-pdf-v10

Principle 4. Devolve leadership of researchEffective devolution of control, or distributed leadership, is fundamental to improvingresearch performance at all levels: the aim is to push responsibility for outcomesback to faculties and research centres with clear top-down direction and support.Effective devolution requires a team of determined leaders operating at both centraland faculty levels to provide consistency and continuity and ensure that academicmanagers and research leaders develop systems that interpret the university’sresearch strategy in the context of specific local conditions.A highly effective first step will be to develop a larger number of new research leadersacross the university: the type of people who are keen to participate in nationalforums and pursue competitive opportunities and who encourage their peers to dolikewise. This involves extending the expectations of academic appointments beyondexcellent teaching and research track records to possession of wider scholarly,leadership and entrepreneurial capabilities. The intention is to enhance institutionalstocks of academic staff willing and able to lead change processes and take theiruniversities to significantly higher levels of research intensity.What it means in practiceProvide role clarity for senior research leadersWe have emphasised that leadership is the single most important environmentalfactor influencing research productivity. This applies especially at the level of theresearch group or department. It follows that one of the most significant things anexecutive leader can do to ensure that devolution works is to focus on improving thequality of research leadership at all levels.The coordinating goals of the plan should identify how research leaders in facultiesand research centres are expected to contribute to the change agenda. This includesclear expectations about their performance with criteria and accountabilitiesdirectly related to the tasks and timeframes set out in the research plan. Role clarityencourages a strong sense of ownership of the goals and the implementationprocess. Assertive-participative leadership comes to the fore at this point with sharplyfocused expectations, managed firmly, but with high levels of support, rewardsand recognition.Focus 2 — Taking an assertive-participative approach to leadership45