Helping University Leaders Stay Calm, Clear and Connected – Even in the Chaos of Change
IF YOU'RE LEADING CHANGE IN HIGHER EDUCATION RIGHT NOW, YOU'RE LIKELY BALANCING PEOPLE, PRESSURE, POLITICS - AND YOU'RE DOING IT IN A CONTEXT WHERE YOUR OWN ROLE MIGHT NOT FEEL SAFE. YOU'RE NOT ALONE.
Higher education today is a complex and shifting landscape. Strategic priorities keep evolving, resources are under pressure, and expectations are rising. At the same time, leaders are navigating a web of stakeholders - each with differing perspectives and priorities. There is rarely, if ever, a single agreed version of reality to work from, which makes alignment challenging and leadership even more demanding.
Facing Rapid Change
Leaders are juggling rapid change, resource constraints and heightened expectations. They’re guiding teams through ambiguity, holding responsibility for tough decisions, and trying to stay steady in roles that feel increasingly precarious. In many cases, their own jobs may be at risk, yet they’re still expected to deliver business as usual.
Beneath that professional pressure lies a set of often unspoken emotional challenges:
Wrestling with decisions that don’t align with your values - wondering how to lead with integrity when the system feels at odds with it.
Making high-stake decisions with imperfect information, in fast-moving and ambiguous contexts.
Carrying the weight of responsibility in isolation, with few safe spaces to talk honestly.
Running on empty with no time to rest or recover.
Losing sleep over how to lead and support teams who are stretched, tired and feeling uncertain.
Battling inner doubts that quietly erode confidence.
Absorbing the emotional weight of others while struggling to process your own.
Grappling with the tension between doing what’s right for the long-term health of the organisation and the short-term pain those decisions can cause - making it all too easy to default to what’s popular, rather than what’s necessary.
If this resonates, it’s not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign you care deeply.
This programme offers a reflective space to think clearly, helping you to lead with integrity and stay grounded - especially when change feels unrelenting
The C.A.L.M. leadership pathway
You will be guided through four foundational elements that support sustainable, effective leadership:
Centre
Reconnect with yourself. Stay grounded under pressure. Lead from your values and not your fears.
Align
Balance institutional demands with personal integrity. Lead in a way that feels right.
Lead
Lead authentically, even when change feels relentless. Navigate resistance with empathy and influence without pressure.
Move
Keep momentum through uncertainty. Take purposeful steps forward while managing business-as-usual.
This is about more than surviving change — it’s about leading in a way that feels sustainable and true to you.
Results Through 6 Stages
Stage 1
Foundations of Change Leadership
The Challenge: Everyone is looking to you for answers, but you’re not sure you always have them. The weight of leading complex change is daunting. The responsibility feels overwhelming, and self-doubt begins to surface.
Our Focus: We will explore the emotional realities of leading change – beyond frameworks and checklists – giving you a space to reflect free from judgment.
The Outcome: A personalised leadership roadmap with clear coaching goals to guide your decision-making.
Stage 2
Authentic Leadership Presence
The Challenge: When your own role feels uncertain, it’s hard to lead your team through uncertainty. Fear creeps in, confidence wavers, and self-doubt starts to erode the clarity and presence your team needs from you most.
Our Focus: We’ll identify what grounds and guides you, strengthen your leadership identity and challenge the self-doubt that clouds your presence.
The Outcome: A clear, authentic leadership presence rooted in your strengths and values.
Stage 3
Creating Balance and Boundaries
The Challenge: You’re feeling overwhelmed and running on empty, yet the demands keep coming. You are worried about how long you can keep going.
Our Focus: We’ll create sustainable leadership practices that protect your wellbeing without compromising your impact.
The Outcome: A personalised resilience plan that sustains your energy and protects your focus.
Stage 4
Communicatingwith Impact
The Challenge: You’re finding it difficult to articulate a compelling vision and bring others with you – right when the stakes are highest, when navigating tough decisions like redundancies, rationalising subject areas, closing research centres, and merging departments.
Our Focus: We’ll enhance your ability to deliver clear, values-led messages that resonate, build trust and alignment.
The Outcome: A strategic communication approach that strengthens connection, even in difficult conversations.
Stage 5
Building Team Resilience and Motivation
The Challenge: Your team needs to adapt quickly, but pressure is mounting, and you fear pushing too hard will cause things to fall apart.
Our Focus: We’ll explore practical ways to inspire confidence, adaptability, and team cohesion during uncertainty.
The Outcome: A team culture that embraces change with clarity, trust and resilience.
Stage 6
Stakeholder Engagement Mastery
The Challenge: You’re dreading stakeholder interactions and struggling to manage resistance without defensiveness. You want to enhance your ability to read the room, deal with angry stakeholders and manage adversarial conversations with greater ease.
Our Focus: We’ll develop techniques to anticipate concerns, navigate pushback and build lasting engagement.
The Outcome: A structured engagement strategy that turns tension into collaboration and commitment.
By the End of the Programme You Will
⚪ Have a structured, repeatable approach to leading strategic and cultural change – even when the context is ambiguous or exhausting.
⚪ Communicate with greater clarity and confidence, even in moments of tension or uncertainty.
⚪ Feel stronger, more centred, and equipped to lead with impact – without burning out or losing your sense of self.
⚪ Build a team culture rooted in trust, adaptability and shared purpose.
How We’ll Work Together
We’ll work one-to-one over a 3-month period focusing on the 6 stages. The structure includes:
A 90-minute on-boarding session to define your goals and set direction - via Zoom or in person pending availability (London based).
5 x 60-minute coaching sessions - via Zoom.
Personalised support between sessions – because change doesn’t only happen in the hour we meet.
Use of self-awareness tools (Strengths Analysis, Wheel of Life, Zone of Genius) to deepen your insight.
Why Work With Me?
By investing in this program, you will have a safe space and personal support to talk about what you are going through. You will improve your ability to lead change, manage during difficult times and you will fundamentally transform how both you and your team experience change.
Over 25 years of change leadership: bringing knowledge, insights and communications planning
I bring first-hand leadership experience forged in complexity - most notably as Chief of Staff to the Vice Chancellor at Griffith University during the height of the COVID-19 crisis. I know what it means to lead under pressure: to make critical decisions with limited certainty, to rally exhausted teams, and to redesign operations in real time while the ground shifts beneath you.
Across four global universities in Australia and the UK, I’ve led, designed, and delivered large-scale, university-wide change in highly devolved, complex environments. My roles - as Chief of Staff, Business Transformation Lead, Head of Organising Services and College Manager- have given me deep insight into what really works when it comes to leading strategic and cultural change in higher education.
As a trusted advisor to Vice-Chancellors and executive teams, I’ve worked across the full breadth of organisational portfolios - from academic strategy to professional services - navigating nuanced challenges and co-creating practical, people-centred solutions.
I’m passionate about helping leaders navigate uncertainty with clarity and confidence - bringing a grounded, relational approach to change that balances pace with care, and vision with pragmatism.
Qualifications, certifications and training
⚪ ICF Certified Coach with an Associate Coaching Diploma (triple-accredited by the ICF, AC and EMCC).
⚪ Prosci Certified Change Practitioner - the global leader in Change Management solutions – bringing a deep understanding of best practice in change management.
⚪ DISC certification in understanding behavioural preferences.
⚪ MBA and Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Director’s Programme.
Your Investment in Capacity and Clarity
The programme investment is £1,650 including all sessions, tools and personalised support.
The real investment? Giving yourself the space to think, breathe, and lead more effectively - without carrying the weight alone.
We’ll work one-to-one over a 3-month period covering six key stages of sustainable, people-first change leadership:
Create a protected space to step back from the noise and think clearly about what matters most.
Strengthen how you hold complex decisions under pressure — without feeling like you’re carrying it alone.
Build practical tools to lead change in ways that feel sustainable and aligned with your values.
Develop clear, purposeful communication that brings people with you — even through tough conversations.
Equip yourself to manage resistance, motivate tired teams, and maintain momentum through uncertainty.
There’s no obligation — book a call to explore if this is the right next step for you and find the best path forward together.
Investment: £1650.00
WHY WORK WITH ME
With over 25 years of experience leading large-scale, complex change in global universities — from crisis response to strategic transformation — I know first-hand what it takes to lead well when the ground keeps shifting.
Stay steady under pressure — gain practical tools and a safe space to think clearly and lead with integrity, even when stakes are high.
Translate strategy into action — move from overwhelm to purposeful steps that align people, priorities and values.
Communicate with credibility — build trust and connection through honest, values-led communication — even in difficult moments.
Client Feedback
“Calm, thoughtful and useful advice and insight from real-world experience”
Professor Carolyn Evans, Vice Chancellor, Griffith University
Client Testimonials
What people say about working with me.....
“Warm, engaging, thoughtful and just the right level of challenging”
As a result of our coaching sessions, Hannah left feeling “more resilient and equipped to handle some of the leadership pressures” she was dealing with.
If you are considering working with Caroline I would say go for it. She is warm, engaging, thoughtful and just the right level of challenging. I really enjoyed our sessions and discussions and would 100% recommend Caroline as a coach.
Hannah Rundle, Executive Director, Faculty Operations, University of Manchester
“I felt I could open up to you and trust you to listen and work with me without judgement but also in complete confidence.”
Coaching sessions have enabled me to not jump to conclusions - often initially the wrong ones, to think about how issues and challenges make me feel before I instinctively respond to them - often in the wrong way and also to take a step back before I too harshly judge myself.
Sarah Shaw, Education Practice Lead, Odgers Interim
“The fixer, the motivator, the innovator, the diplomat and, when needed, the consoler”
Caroline was not only the glue that held everything together, she was also the fixer, the motivator, the innovator, the diplomat and, when needed, the consoler. She was able to get the best out of individuals and as a results the teams were able to be more than the sum of their parts.
Professor Joanne Wright, Deputy-Vice Chancellor (Education), The University of Sydney
“A distinctive strength is her ability to listen carefully and identify the heart of complex leadership issues”
Caroline brought deep and wide-ranging experience – internationally – to bear on the transformation effort. She was highly effective in applying her knowledge of organizational change to shape the programme, coach senior academic and professional leaders.
Dr Michael Hollewand, Director, Principal Management Consultant (A former McKinsey consultant and Chief Strategist for the BG Group
Let's Talk
If any of this resonates and you’d like to explore how this programme could support you, I’d love to connect.
Book a no-pressure free discovery call or contact me to start a conversation.
Together, we’ll explore what’s going on for you right now, what leadership feels like in your world and map out a path forward.
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© CAROLINE DUNNE, 2025. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED