A day in the life: CEO
Diana is Chief Executive of London Higher.
Formerly she was Head of Government Affairs at the University of Warwick, advisor to universities and science ministers Sam Gyimah, Chris Skidmore, and Jo Johnson, in the Department for Education, and Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI). She is also an independent governor at the University of Worcester.
What is your CEO role?
Since mid-October last year, I’ve been Chief Executive Officer of London Higher. That’s the umbrella body for over 40 universities and higher education colleges across Greater London. Naturally, our membership is extremely diverse – ranging from large, research-intensive universities to small, specialist arts conservatoires or scientific research institutes – so it can sometimes be quite a demanding job to find the issues that unite our members and put forward a unified “London voice”!
What was your professional journey to becoming a CEO?
I never thought I’d become a CEO! I actually started out life as an academic, getting a PhD from Cambridge and then three subsequent post-doctoral research positions at universities in Canada, Germany and then back in the UK. But I quickly became drawn to higher education and science policy and the potential to make improvements to the system. So, I spent much of the past decade pursuing a portfolio career of different short-term research and policy roles to transition out of academia and build up experience in industry, including taking on relevant Board appointments such as becoming a Governor at the University of Worcester. I’ll always credit my work at a think tank, the Higher Education Policy Institute, for giving me my ‘big break’ and, from there, I was lucky enough to be spotted by the then Universities Minister, Sam Gyimah, who asked me to become his Policy Advisor on higher education. I ended up working for his two successors as well (namely Chris Skidmore and Jo Johnson), before taking up a position at the University of Warwick to ensure I had real-life ‘on the ground’ experience in the sector. I think all of this varied experience, seeing the policymaking process from different angles, from both inside and outside government, is what led me to my CEO role today.
Did you face any challenges on this journey particularly due to being a woman?
It’s really great to see a clutch of excellent women being promoted to leadership positions in the higher education policy world recently, so I hope that encourages other women to aim high too. But it hasn’t always been an easy journey for me personally and I have been in plenty meetings – particularly in the science and innovation policy space – where I have been the only woman at the table. So it’s important not to let this knock your confidence and know you have as much right to be there as everyone else.
Did you experience imposter syndrome and how did you deal with it?
All the time! I still question how I got here or why people think me worthy of a keynote speaking slot, etc. Sometimes I wonder if I just got lucky and if there is someone more deserving to be in my place. One of the tactics I have in place is evaluating the “rules” we think we are supposed to follow as leaders. If I need to ask for help at times, I push myself to ask for it, while also re-framing “failures”. If I get something wrong, I am learning not to let that make me feel I'm unworthy of being a leader, but it’s something to learn from and ultimately part of my success. I will also view some feelings of “imposter syndrome” as a positive because, as a leader, it’s important to demonstrate humility and modesty.
What’s your advice to women who want to step up to a CEO role?
Although being a CEO is a rewarding job, it can often be lonely at the top. So take time to build your networks of other senior leaders and find role models with whom you can share experiences and challenges. Having people to talk to outside your organisation is key to maintaining a healthy state of mind.
How do you think organisations should attract people from more diverse backgrounds to senior roles?
A lot of this has to do with the culture of your organisation and its external reputation. As a CEO, it’s your job to make your company somewhere others want to work. That means bringing down barriers to entry and progression – such as removing biased language and inaccessible jargon from websites and job ads – and offering workplace flexibility to ensure you are widening your talent pool and not excluding people with specific needs or commitments.