Leading with Resilience: Professor Hugh Brady 

This week’s quote comes from last week’s Leadership Lab interview with Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial College London, where he discussed the importance of changing course when things go wrong: 

A Pioneer in Widening Access and Participation 

Professor Hugh Brady became President of Imperial College London in 2022, following his tenure as President of University College Dublin and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol. Notably, at Bristol, he launched the Bristol Scholars Programme, an initiative designed to identify and support high-potential students from disadvantaged areas of Bristol. The programme has been highly successful, with its Scholars matching or outperforming their peers.  

Professor Brady's leadership philosophy is grounded in the belief that the key qualities of great leaders include a“combination of teamwork, determination and resilience and the flexibility and humility to change course if it looks like that’s the right thing to do”.

Leadership Grounded in Flexibility and Humility 

President Brady's quote notes that rather than steadfastly following one path, it is important not to fear changing your path if it's clear that it's not working. The most important thing is to be confident in what you are trying to achieve. Professor Brady's quote highlights a crucial aspect of leadership: rather than being prideful and sticking to the decisions or actions you have taken in the past, take the best course of action and stick to your beliefs instead. 

This perspective resonates strongly with the Oxford Character Project Leadership Virtues of Collaboration, Humility, and Courage. Collaboration means prioritising the importance of teamwork. Humility means acknowledging that sometimes change is necessary and rethinking previous actions. Courage means being resilient and withstanding challenges. 

A Call to Reflect

As we consider Professor Brady's leadership approach, take a moment to ask yourself: When was a time you had to change course in pursuit of a goal, and what did you learn from it?