Dean Susan Hart

Durham Business School

“I have achieved nothing alone. So, team formation, support and recognition are central achievements to allow everyone to benefit from wider work related achievements across the organisations I’ve worked for”

Where you’re from/place of origin

Scotland

Where you previously studied

University of Strathclyde

Previous roles:

FMCG Sales & Marketing, B2B Sales, Former Dean, Strathclyde Business School and various academic roles, in UK, EU, US and Australia

How has your business school adapted to the Covid-19 crisis, and what initiatives and innovations have your implemented?

The pandemic and the resultant lockdown and requirement for social distancing among colleagues and students required a change from pedagogies where in person face to face dominated, to those which foregrounded technology-enhanced learning, online face to face education and asynchronous taught material and online assessment. At first, this required all of the school’s managers to support colleagues in a (relatively) gentle change, in terms of actual education, alongside the very demanding shift to working from home, tooling people adequately and adjusting everyone’s expectations as to what can and could be achieved, and emphasizing the importance of looking after oneself as well as others. Gradually, we formed working and project groups, empowering those who were already well experienced in online and blended learning, learning to lead directly amongst their own teams as well as more widely across the school.

What do you feel are the most important skills needed for managing a business school through a crisis (couple of bullet points and why is fine?

1) Listening.

2) Holding (containing and interpreting what goes on in times of crisis, being present with colleagues to work out the way forward).

3) And, seemingly in contradiction to the above, being clear and decisive after a and b.

How has your career helped to shape your leadership capabilities, and your priorities for your role as Dean? Can you share an anecdote about a previous instance/moment in your career that you feel has left a lasting impact on you?

Having had academic leadership positions from a relatively early age (Director of Research, Head of Department, Vice Dean, Dean), I have made plenty of mistakes, for sure. I’m not sure there is any one instance – but rather a myriad of interactions with colleagues which have in turn, taught me better when to exercise boldness and conversely, when to show restraint. These interactions have been 360 – from bosses who have thrust me out of my comfort zone (nearly always a good thing) to direct reports who have shared how something I did or said helped, or hindered their work. I am grateful to them all.

What do you see as the greatest challenges and opportunities for business education in the coming years and what is your business school strategy to tackle this?

Being agile, flexible, innovative, collaborative; allowing the dissolution of some partnerships past their time, and forming new ones, beyond traditional boundaries. I believe these requirements were necessary before the pandemic, and, absurdly, it is the pandemic that releases the ‘normal’ rules to allow these transformations to happen more easily.

What would you say is your biggest achievement in your career so far?

I have achieved nothing alone. So, team formation, support and recognition are central achievements to allow everyone to benefit from wider work related achievements across the organisations I’ve worked for.

If you could give one life lesson/piece of advice to your younger self/young female leaders, what would it be?

Believe in yourself. You’re OK.