To showcase each of our course themes, we’re sitting down with our four course leaders to talk through the courses they deliver and who they’re for.
This week we spoke to Ruth Francis, Learning and Development Manager at UK ITSS, about the Leadership and Management theme.
About the course leader
I’m Ruth Francis, Learning and Development Manager at UK ITSS. I specialise in leadership development for technical professionals in higher education and research, combining practical development with coaching and positive psychology.
I work with people at every stage, from those considering their first leadership role through to established leaders running teams, services and complex technical environments. What interests me most is leadership identity, helping you understand who you are as a leader rather than handing you a list of behaviours to adopt.
The Leadership and Management courses I run are about developing technical leadership through greater self-awareness, confidence and practical capability.
Why is Leadership and Management training important for technicians?
Technical expertise and leadership capability are not the same thing. Moving into leadership involves a significant change in identity as well as responsibility, and one of the hardest parts is shifting from being the person who solves the problem to the person who enables others to solve it.
Technical professionals also tend to wear several hats at once, balancing technical work with people leadership, projects and service delivery. Leadership in higher education and research often means working across disciplinary and organisational boundaries, where influence and credibility matter more than formal authority.
On top of that, technical environments are going through significant change, so leaders are often supporting others without having all the answers themselves.
What will you gain from these courses?
Most people come away with a much clearer sense of their own leadership identity, and the confidence that comes with it. You’ll understand your strengths and how to use them more intentionally, rather than trying to lead the way you think you’re supposed to.
Delegation becomes easier. So does communicating with clarity, and influencing people without relying on positional authority.
And when things get difficult, whether that’s a conversation you’ve been avoiding or a period of real uncertainty, you’ll have practical approaches to fall back on rather than working it out as you go.
Why is Leadership and Management right for you?
These courses are for you if you’re considering your first leadership role, or you’ve recently stepped into one and are finding the move from colleague to leader harder than expected. They’re also for you if you’ve ended up leading because of your technical expertise, without much formal development along the way. And if you’re already established but want to understand your own style and impact more deeply, there’s something here too.
View all of our Learning and Development Academy courses here.
