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Connecting the Dots for Professional Practice in Higher Education: Leadership, Energy Management, and Motivation

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Professional and Support Staff in Higher Education

Part of the book series: University Development and Administration ((UDAA))

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Abstract

This chapter considers the contexts for leadership and work in higher education at a time described as volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). It does so by connecting the dots between leadership, energy management, and motivation to call for the creative energies of all who work in higher education to be called upon to meet these challenges. It is also a time where leader and follower distinctions are increasingly moot given that all involved in knowledge work have responsibilities for both leading and following well, no matter the formal responsibilities held.

This chapter discusses “energy management” as is a useful throughline for contemporary leadership studies and professional practice in higher education. Today professional staff repertoires include soft skills and behaviors which rely heavily on knowing the self well. Here the idea of the T-shaped professional is a term that elevates the many tangible and intangible strands necessary for higher education management work in knowledge-intensive institutions.

The chapter also explores these ideas through a case study of motivational and other energy-related drivers elicited from the lived experiences of work and leadership shared by 226 professional staff members working in Australian universities.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. LH Martin Institute for Tertiary Education Leadership and Management, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Heather Davis

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  1. Heather Davis
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Correspondence to Heather Davis .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia

    Carina Bossu

  2. University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia

    Natalie Brown

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Davis, H. (2019). Connecting the Dots for Professional Practice in Higher Education: Leadership, Energy Management, and Motivation. In: Bossu, C., Brown, N. (eds) Professional and Support Staff in Higher Education. University Development and Administration. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1607-3_11-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1607-3_11-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-1607-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-1607-3

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Connecting the Dots for Professional Practice in Higher Education: Leadership, Energy Management, and Motivation
    Published:
    25 October 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1607-3_11-3

  2. Connecting the Dots for Professional Practice in Higher Education: Leadership, Energy Management, and Motivation
    Published:
    29 June 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1607-3_11-2

  3. Original

    Connecting the Dots for Professional Practice in Higher Education: Leadership, Energy Management, and Motivation
    Published:
    10 November 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1607-3_11-1

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