Irene Tracey: Leadership As Self-Discovery
This week, we turn to Professor Irene Tracey, Vice Chancellor of @Oxford University and a neuroscientist known for her research on pain and perception. In her recent Leadership Lab conversation, Tracey offered a perspective that challenges the idea of a universal leadership formula:
Irene Tracey: "There's no one template for leadership. You have to find your own style. You can be inspired by people you admire, or by people you don't want to be like, but you still have to find your own identity and lead in a way that's authentic to who you are."
The Reluctant Leader Who Kept Stepping Forward
Tracey's spent much of her career being told she was a born leader while describing herself as reluctant to claim the title. She never pursued positions for their prestige. Instead, she stepped into roles when she believed she could create conditions for others to thrive. From captaining sports teams to directing research centres and now leading one of the world's oldest universities, her path reveals something crucial: authentic leadership emerges not from copying a model, but from repeatedly asking what you can offer that's genuinely yours to give.
What makes Tracey's approach particularly compelling is her insistence on staying close to the people her decisions affect. Leading Oxford means navigating a vast, decentralised institution, yet she's built real contact with students and staff into the fabric of her role. She does this because understanding how decisions land requires actually knowing the people they touch. When she speaks about access and inclusion, she rejects the idea that students should change who they are to fit Oxford. The responsibility, she argues, lies with the institution to listen better, remove barriers, and build a culture where excellence and inclusion strengthen each other.
Authenticity Under Pressure
Tracey's scientific research examined the gap between physical injury and how pain is perceived. She found that anxiety amplifies suffering while trust and environment can reduce it. The conditions we create, in other words, shape what people are capable of becoming. She brings this same understanding to leadership itself. In her conversation, she discusses the pressures facing universities today, from financial instability to debates around free speech and safety. Her response isn't to retreat into caution but to model what good debate looks like, to help students build resilience, and to foster a sense of responsibility for the impact of words, particularly in an age of social media and relentless scrutiny.
Tracey’s authenticity makes space for polish and strategy, while staying rooted in energy, directness and trust. She refuses to perform a version of leadership that doesn’t reflect who she actually is, even when convention might reward it. She speaks of learning as much from leaders she didn’t want to emulate as from those she admired, and that process shaped her identity through observation, reflection and choice.
Values in Focus
Tracey's message aligns with the Laidlaw value of being #Brave and the Oxford Character Project virtue of #Authenticity. Being brave means rejecting the safer route of imitating what's worked for others when it doesn't fit who you are. Authenticity requires the courage to lead in a way that might look different, that refuses polish over substance, and that grounds decisions in your own values and the real needs of those you serve.
A Call to Reflect
As you consider Irene Tracey's words, we invite you to reflect and share in the comments: Who are the leaders, admired or otherwise, who've shaped how you want to lead? What parts of your own identity have you brought fully into your leadership, and what parts have you held back? How might your leadership change if you led in a way that was more truly yours?
Listen to the full Leadership Lab conversation with Professor Irene Tracey here, where she explores staying grounded in complex institutions, why kindness is a form of strength, and how creating the right conditions allows people to become what they're capable of being.