Academic leadership and leadership challenges of the Vice Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)

Abstract

Prof Dr Faisal smiled and occasionally nodded while listening to the briefing by the team of researchers. They were telling him the purpose of the interview: to examine his vision and approach to leadership as a new Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). They would like to get a detailed account of the organisational, financial, and other initiatives, which may contribute to the University's increased responsiveness to excellence in academia, research and ranking. In short, their focus was not so much on the tasks but on the process in which the challenges were positioned. Apart from that, they wanted to know his perceptions, approaches and the actions that ensued. Before revealing the challenges, Prof Dr Faisal shared his life journey prior to joining USM. The interviewers listened attentively, made some notes, and turned them into a brief biography.