Numerous reasons are given for the significance of leadership to higher education. Some are generic, transposing the needs of any large complex organisation to universities, other are more specific pointing to external factors such as changes in funding or regulation or internal to universities like changing educational technologies and the resultant reconfiguration of learning in society. It cannot be denied that higher education in the Uk is undergoing a process of change and here, again, we find the linkage between change management and effective leadership – developing a vision, generating engagement, managing resistance and creating a supportive culture are all cited as characteristics of change process which requires a leader (normally in the form of a President of Vice Chancellor).

But leadership is not confined to senior executives, nor should it be seen as the privilege of those occupying positions of power. The qualities required to affect change are not synonymous with the individuals who may be holding office, indeed current organisational structures may not themselves support the sorts of changes taking place (and may therefore not persist).

This research is designed to look at the process of change and the practice of leadership within it. It focuses on the change process and the collaborations that take place within it exploring the practices of leadership rather than the individual leaders involved. In this sense it seeks to de-centre the leader, to look more carefully at the actual practices involved and the contexts in which they operate. As result it seeks to avoid some of the more heroic interpretations of leadership in HE and return leadership (if we still wish to use that term) to the category of the normal or the everyday.

Keywords: Innovation, technology, leadership, change management.