Oxford Women's Leadership Development Programme

This warm summer has been focused on a load of bits and pieces: finishing things off, handing over some responsibilities, and thinking about new paths. One of the drivers for my new thinking has been participation in the Women's Leadership Development Programme from the University of Oxford. This is a 6-week intensive online programme to really help you think through the challenges of leadership through three ideas: self-acceptance, self-management and self-development. It might seem like all this is a bit insular, but actually it is about learning to lead better: to listen more, to make decisions, to have tricky conversations, to create encouraging communities. The course has been excellent and has forced me back into writing assignments again (I now remember what it is really like to be a student!). It is now time to consider all I have learnt and begin to put it into practice.
This feels like a transition period in many ways. Last year, my first year as a professor, was so full of 'things' that I didn't have chance to really think over what sort of professor I am going to be: what value can I truly bring? This summer and into next year provides a little more space to attend to this important question and set up some ambitious plans for the future. I have also been reading Maggie Berg and Barbara Seeber's The Slow Professor which is encouraging me to resist speed for the sake of it. It is a very interesting book if you haven't investigated it.