¶ Leadership in Higher Education Career Development
The Northern Power Women .
Podcast for your career and your life , no matter what business you're in . Hello and welcome to the Northern Power Women Podcast .
My name is Simone and you are most welcome at this week's episode , and we are in our winners episode at the moment our whole series where I get the chance to speak to some of those amazing , inspirational , remarkable individuals who use their power for good with the aim of reaching this more equal and diverse and inclusive world that we are all striving for .
And this week I am chatting to the famous Isabel Panton , who won the Northern Power Women Judges Special Award for Leveling Up Leader at this year's Northern Powering Awards . Izzy , you just get on LinkedIn . You can find all that about . I don't think I could describe it .
We're going to get into it in a minute but Izzy , amongst other things , is the Director of Student Recruitment and International at University Academy 92 . Izzy or Isabel , what's your preference ?
Izzy Isabel , when I'm in trouble . So today hopefully , Izzy .
Okay , well , we'll start with Izzy and we'll see if Izabel has to come into play .
Welcome , so much to the podcast , and it was so amazing to see you up on that stage last year getting that special award from the judges , because it was something for those of you who have been judges know out there what a kind of a minefield it is when we're kind of going through all of these different things .
But it is always up to the judge to say you know what actually we want to recognise and that was something our judges were adamant , that they wanted to shine a light on you and the amazing work that you've been doing around leveling up . So congratulations , thank you , I still .
it's like pride and joy in my lounge , like still one of my proudest moments . So it's going to take a lot to beat that over the next few years .
Oh , now tell me about the role , tell me about UA 92 . U92 is an organisation that I'm really , really passionate about , but tell us , tell us about UA 92 and about your role , specifically because this is an organisation and institution that's really developed and grown .
So University Academy 92 was co-founded by Lancaster University , the class of 92 , which people will see as like a really unique partnership that they've probably never heard up before , and the intention was to create a really deliberately different , disruptive approach to higher education .
That meant that people's post codes are upbringing wasn't a limiting factor to them progressing and getting a university degree .
So Lancaster University award our degrees and the cost of 92 are our co founders and help drive the ethos , the values , the mission and the vision of the institution and we deliver courses across undergraduate degrees in business , sports , media and digital , in the apprenticeship space and digital again , and also boot camps and short courses too .
So we've got a wide range of portfolio . My role , which is I absolutely love and I was just thinking today it's my three year anniversary this week and I've still not had somebody's scary as well . Not one bit of wounded red I've ever had in this role , which is a privilege my role is director of student recruitment .
So domestically and internationally , I'm responsible for recruiting students onto those courses I just mentioned .
I do that in a multiple , multiple ways via our traditional student recruitment team in schools and colleges and via our nationally unique community engagement team and youth zones , mosques , boxing clubs , the church , the barbershop , the chicken shop , you name it wherever the young people are . That's where we're interfacing with them . So it's a really rewarding job .
It's a really rewarding mission . It's cliche , but I say that I've managed to make giving back my day job and found something where I can apply some of my commercial skillset to something that I think is like really rewarding . To Manchester , I absolutely love it ?
Well , clearly you do . I'm really proud that we've done quite a bit with UA92 , with our power-up speed mentoring . That we did . We did a session over the summer . We did a session where we had quite a few of the boot camp came out to an event we did at Barclays Tech Campus the other week . So for us it's a joy to work with you guys .
I'm already thinking you took this role because it was about broadening the wider to enhance the already existing skillset that you had . Am I right in thinking that or did I dream that it was a ?
bit of both . So I'm really passionate about the notion that we will all have multi-hyphen careers now .
It's very rare that we're staying one industry or in one company for our entire trajectory and I wanted something where I could apply like my sales skills and a gift of the gab to something that was not just about profit , not just about you know the bottom line , and more centered around impact and influencing Greater Manchester , a city that I am so proud to be
a part of Berry Girl Born and Bread . So it was a challenge in that I've never , ever , had any exposure to higher education before . It's a very complex industry . It's a thought industry , a knowledge industry . So it was a challenge in that regard .
But a lot of it is just building on the creativity and the commerciality that I've sort of demonstrated throughout my career so far . And that gift of the gab I love that phrase . It's always got a lot of supportation there , isn't it ? But I quite like the gift of the gab . Look , we both got it .
We're doing all right , Absolutely , Absolutely . So how did you ? Because you sort of transitioned through the ranks as well , didn't you ? So how was that to sort of go , you were , you know , a director now amazing . And how was that transition from you to go from sort of team member to a lead yourself ?
Yeah , I think after credit the board , particularly Marnie Millard , our chair of the board , who at the time sort of took an interim CEO position you know Marnie well and sort of taking a chance on someone like me , because I suppose in the interview process on paper you know I wasn't that typical hire .
I broke that mould because most people in higher education have had that exposure in higher education before . So I was grateful for the risk they took and I was determined to make good on that and so I joined as head of student recruitment and admissions three years ago .
This week and about 18 months in , I was promoted to director of student recruitment and international . That level up has been important for me in that it's required me to I hate the word mature , but it's required me to sort of elevate my style of leadership , elevate the ways in which I delegate work and the things that I keep protective of .
So maybe in my role as head of I would do too much operationally and I needed to understand how . This was a step change so that my role was more strategic and less about the day to day delivery . It's been a massive learning curve for me because I really like to get involved .
I just love to be involved in like every single bit , but I talk about it as removing myself from the day to day thinking in black and white into a space where I can think in colour and be creative and look objectively at the business whilst working on the business .
So it's been a learning curve and I'm still trying to master it , but I've got a great team team working with me now and a great management team underneath me who you know have really come into the room . They've all got different experiences and different , different qualities .
It makes us a great team and you talked about Marnie . Dr Marnie Millard OBE , no less . You know she's been a big fan of Marnie . You know has been a massive supporter of everything we've done over the years . So when you talk about leadership , what do you think a great leader should look like and what other qualities that leader should have ?
Did a LinkedIn post just recently about that , because I think what we do is as leaders and as industry leaders . We sometimes overcomplicate the notion of leadership and it becomes quite off putting to the young people who who perceive themselves as great future leaders , because they think , oh my goodness , there's so much to it .
And I decided that if he was to really simplify leadership to his bare bones , it was the ability to to be sound , be good , be approachable , be , be friendly and be organised . So the ability to organise others , the ability to organise yourself , to organise your thoughts , to organise your organisation those are the two core fundamentals of leadership .
Everything that's laid on top of that , whether that's a knowledge , technical knowledge in an area , or , or , or the ability to have difficult conversations you know those are all incredibly important facets , but the two fundamentals for me are the ability to be a good , sound person and to be organised , in that everything else I really believe can can be learnt and
delivered and and supported on .
That's interesting because you talk a lot about you know , we talk about a lot about leadership and we talk about empathy , vulnerability , curiosity , listening , but organised . That's something I don't think I've really heard at the front of that . So that's , that's massive that you should say that .
Do you know why ? Because you can . You can be the most inspiring voice in the room into as a leader . But if you can't , if you can't help your team execute your , your inspiration , you thought provocation , then what's the point ? You , just you're a leader without direction , and leaders have to have direction .
So maybe the worst direction , as opposed to organisation , but for me it's the ability to , to pull the moving pieces together , to , to push on .
You talk about yourself as being a cultural super connector . Now , that feels like it's in a crest . It's got a cape . I feel like it's a . It's superhero qualities , isn't it ? But talk to me about the your cultural super connector skills , do you ?
know what it was . I've always undervalued myself as like a sales girl . There's nothing wrong with that . Our sales and industry is a huge stigma attached to it and it's something that's incredibly important . It makes the world go around .
But I've always devalued my actual contribution to to my sales on a commercial , commercial skills , and what I've realized is it's a lot more than that . I used to say to my friends and I still do it what am I good at ? Tell me what I would like . Help me understand what I'm good at .
And I think you know being good at conversation or being good at connecting people , as you are . You know knowing how to introduce people to networks , like that's never had a term attached to it , but that's essentially what I'm doing in my role .
Whether it's , you know , a young Bain community from Mosside or the C suite from one of the big four accountancy firms , I'm able to connect those dots all the time . So I decided that I needed to embody something that was more heroic , more more impressive , as opposed to just seeing it as this lower level role .
So cultural super connector came about in a way that would help me articulate and coin all the little bits and pieces that I do for for a living on the weekend , on an evening . So yeah , I don't know if that's appropriate . People keep asking me about it , so it must be working .
No , I love it . Do you know what ? When I first set up my business pre northern power and if you like , my business card just simply said connector , collaborator , curator . That's , that's what it said . I'm complicated .
Yeah , but it's that whole .
There's something in that you know why , why set , why have all manner of different titles when actually this really explains what you do .
You know whether you're , like you say , hanging around a chicken shop , which you know , talking about your way 92 , or whether you're talking , you know , you know on one of your platforms about the great work that you do , and I know role models is really important to you , as it is to us .
I feel like role models and mentoring and support and sponsorship is all in our DNA , and you post regularly on LinkedIn . Love following your journey , your stories . I think you're very , very authentic and honest out there , but tell , talk to me about role models and why they're so powerful .
I think role models are so powerful ? Because , if you look at change , everybody sees global change as something that's unobtainable unless you work for , like the UN , or in policy . We perceive that as being really out of reach , and so a lot of people just give up in trying to make a difference because they feel as though there's too much stuff to change .
And look at the news today , you know I feel I feel like I could be making a bigger impact all the time , but instead of focus on how I could influence as a role model myself because that's a local change that has global impacts . And what more ?
People need to realize that we all have the ability and the capacity to be role models , whether it's in our industry , in our community , in the school that we used to go to , in our , you know , the our cousins friendship group . It doesn't matter where it is , but we all have the ability , I think , and the responsibility to be a role model .
And the way I see myself as one is that I'm role modeling to young people what you can achieve when you look and you sound like me , but at the same time , I'm role modeling to organizations what they can achieve if they take a risk on someone that looks and sounds like me .
So for me , I think , being a role model is twofold I want to inspire the next generation , but I also want to to book the status quo all the time and demonstrate what can happen if you take a risk on diverse talent which you know , as , again , you and I too did for me .
And so how do you convince Because this is something I've talked about for years when you know , when I've either spoken to you know sort of young you know young professionals or speaking to you know different , irrespective of a speaking event recently and now I ask the question how many of you think you're role models ?
You know , in a room of 40 , one hand you know and I can have that . Ask that same question whether it be a room of younger people or more professional people . There's still that reluctance . How do you convince somebody you know I'm with you Is he like everyone needs to take the responsibility as a role model ?
Seriously , everyone is a role model to someone , but how do you encourage that person to step into that role model list , if that's ?
¶ Unlocking Confidence, Culture, and Community
a word . I think it's three things . I think it's confidence , culture and community . So , first , I think there's a confidence crisis . I think it's across everyone and I think you have to enable people to have the confidence to find what their strengths are . So what are your strengths ? How can you role model based on what you know ?
Most people don't realise what they know until you ask them questions like that you're doing . That it makes them realise what they're actually good at . So there's a confidence piece , I think , with role modelling , that we have to unlock . The second is culture .
So recognising , you know how you can influence culturally the cultures that you're interested in cultures such a broad term is bounded around so frequently , but what culture do you identify with and who within that culture can you influence ? So knowing your audience as a role model is really important , because you can't .
You know I might not be able to be a role model to you , and I'm okay with that , but can I be a role model to some of the northern power women that come through your organization ? Yeah , so , picking your battles to an extent , knowing your culture , knowing your boundaries and , lastly , communities .
So we're all part of a community and I think there's a loneliness pandemic as well as a confidence crisis . But a lot of us don't understand what communities we're a part of . So , a very trivial level , my , the street that I live on , we have a great chat . That's my , that's my community , my neighbours at my community .
On a bigger level , my colleagues and the young people we interface with every day them , they're my community . I also have an online community . I have online team . I also have a very small private Instagram account with , like my close friends . So recognizing where we're interfacing with people that we can role model to and be inspired by is really important .
So I think it's helping people unlock those three things which everyone has within them and not over complicating it and I know I might have just done that with my answer , but being a role model is literally me and you go for a cup of tea and me asking you how you got to where you have today with your business , and you give them the time of day .
That's the top and bottom of it . It's not an all one thing .
Yeah , time isn't it . I always think time is one of the most precious gifts that we can give and we can gain . So who are your role models , or who've been your role models ?
So many and I really don't like to blow smoke because I'm not a big football fan , but Gary Neville , for me over the last three years so he's one of our co founders has really role model , what it is to be .
What I said to you earlier about being sound and being sort of organized and disciplined so disciplined , so people will never understand the level of understanding he has across his entire businesses . People might perceive him to have , you know , an advisor each business and I guess he does but he knows it in and out of his business . He knows his team's cultures .
He knows his , his , his staff . He greets everyone the same way . He makes time for everyone and so he him , him for me is someone that is incredibly busy but still makes people feel like they're incredibly important and that's a real .
That's been a big role model in my in my last three years because of who I want to , who I want to epitomize and how I want to articulate myself . I want to articulate myself as as he does . So I'd say at the moment he's probably one of my biggest role models , but I'd never admit that to him face to face .
It's all right . This is a private , private podcast . You know he won't listen , I'm sure . Oh , I'm sorry , is he ? Honestly , it's amazing talking to you . You know this . You know this cultural super connector . What is next for you ? You know , I love this whole community building . I love the way you've broken it down .
You know your private Instagram , but what's next for you in your cultural super connector journey ? I ?
think doing more of the same . I think I put a lot of pressure on myself as a sort of high performance , anxiety , anxiety ridden gal to be like what's next , what's next , but more of the same . And repetition and perfecting what I'm good at , I think is my focus for the next 12 months in terms of continuing my speaking engagements , continuing my panel hosted .
I absolutely love doing those things . It's I don't know about you , but it gives me a dreadling rush that I can't get out of anything else .
So , continuing the exposure that I need by my personal brand , sort of in the thought leadership space around leadership and diversity , I really want to cement myself as someone that's not just commenting on it in the moment . That comes synonymous with those subject areas . So that's it for me .
Growing the team , growing the university We've just opened our second campus at the business school in Greater Manchester , manchester City Centre , sorry , so it's all growth . I'm tired of just thinking about it .
But it's amazing . I want you know I mean kind of just total respect to you you know what you're trying to do and achieve and what you are doing and achieving , shall I say you know you really are levelling up . You are . It's not just a phrase for the media , is it ? You're levelling up across all of the different areas , is he ?
That's why you won the award . I'm so glad that you gave us the time today to share . Keep being awesome . We didn't have to . You know , you've not intro bald , you've not been Isabelle , still is he . But thank you , I'm not some model
¶ Appreciation for Role Models and Connectivity
yet . Listen , thank you so much for joining us today . I really appreciate you take the time . I love it when we can open the lid on these fantastic role models , and role models are for sure within your DNA cultural super connect , is he ? Thank you so much and thank you to all of you for listening .
Thank you for joining us every week on these weekly episodes . Please do subscribe so you don't miss an episode , and drop us an old school email if you fancy podcast at northernpowerwomencom .
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My name is Simone . This is the Northern Power Women podcast and what goes on ? Media production .