“Leadership is always momentary – a dazzling, brief chance to contribute.” – Professor Glyn Davis AC, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne.

Earlier this month, I attended the University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor’s Annual Dinner for Victorian Principals, hosted by Professor Glyn Davis AC. This was the final dinner occasion with Professor Davis who will conclude his reign after 13 years at the University this October.

Professor Davis is credited with the development of the Melbourne Model, whereby some 96 bachelors programs were rolled into just six liberal arts degrees, and all professional degree programs taught at graduate level. In establishing the University as now one of the world’s finest, Professor Davis also set out to raise what was considered an ‘eye-watering goal’ of $500 million (unheard of across Australian universities). The campaign has successfully raised around $811 million. Undoubtedly, Professor Davis has reshaped the educational landscape in Victoria.

During his address at the Principals’ Dinner, Professor Davis shared his final five observations of leadership drawn from his time as vice-chancellor. I deemed his observations to be perceptive, insightful and relevant to all working in a leadership capacity across a range of professions. His observations are also sage advice for our incoming Year 11 student leaders, announced at Assembly this week, and in particular, point number four, “Never listen to praise or gossip”. This is especially pertinent to teenagers facing the challenges of everyday life.

1. They do not need you

The professors at the University of Melbourne fought off suggestions of a professional full-time vice-chancellor for nearly 80 years. The issue came to a head when the last part-time vice-chancellor – Sir John Monash no less – quit in frustration, famously declaring that he found it easier to organise an army on the Western Front than to run a university. Of course, much vice-chancellorial work is external and therefore largely invisible to the professors – representing the university to government and business, enthusing the alumni, touching donors for money.

But one responsibility matters for everyone within the university: strategy. Guiding the priorities that mean we do some things but not others, that we ensure the university articulates, and lives by, its aspirations. Strategy requires a full armoury of skills – values, vision, clarity, communication, an implementation plan, evaluation, reporting back. It means sharing with colleagues a sense of purpose, why this place matters.

2. Government is not salvation

Strategy is made more challenging by frequently changing Commonwealth policy. When policy shifts it reveals that our organisational decisions do not rest on reliable foundations. Government can, at times, be our friend but it is never our salvation. Keeping our distance, maintaining independence, is always wise. I tried to count the higher education ministers during my 17 years as a vice-chancellor. It is surprisingly hard to do. The portfolio name changes often, as research or science or employment slide in and out of the frame.

Staying with just primary higher education responsibilities, I served with ministers Brendan Nelson, Julie Bishop, Julia Gillard, Chris Evans, Craig Emerson, Simon Crean, Chris Bowen, Bill Shorten, Christopher Pyne, Simon Birmingham and now Dan Tehan – 11 in all, each with their own priorities, serving on average 18 months in the portfolio.

3. It is not personal

Much we do as a vice-chancellor is not personal but necessary for the life of the institution. This can be harmless, like sitting wordless in splendid gowns at long graduation ceremonies. It can be aggravating, when abuse directed against the university is made personal. It means the vice-chancellor earns praise she does not deserve, and criticism that is misdirected and unfair. You can even end up, as I did, a character in a stage musical put on by students to mock the administration.

Flattering or annoying, tedious or engrossing, you must remember it is not personal. You are, for a time, the figurehead. Someone has to be, and someone will be again when you go.

4. Never listen to praise or gossip

Which brings us to the key piece of personal advice I would share. Praise is kryptonite. Gossip is equally undermining. Both must be avoided. When a colleague tells you there is some rumour about yourself you really need to know, the only acceptable answer is “no I do not really need to know. Do not tell me.”

There is a whole narrative out there about every one of us. You cannot influence it. You cannot answer whatever wild inaccuracies people say about you. So make it your business never to know. Rather, you have reached that point in a career when your job is to encourage and praise others, to ensure credit falls where it belongs, to recognise and celebrate the work of colleagues. You are there for everyone else, not for yourself.

5. It does not last long – treasure, enjoy (and leave)

These jobs are fun. They provide an opportunity to work with the best minds, to experiment, to argue a case. To be a vice-chancellor, anywhere, is to be part of a place that matters. Through skill and hard work you might even make it better. To be a vice-chancellor is to stand as one in a long chain of scholarly leaders who cherish ideas, love education, who are passionate about this university, keen to walk it toward a bright future.

For every frustration of the job there are a hundred boundless moments of pleasure. Launching a new literary review, winning a medical school, watching talented colleagues develop a new undergraduate curriculum, pitching an ambitious idea to an American donor, acquiring a new engineering campus so researchers can work alongside industry.

Clarity in setting a vision. Humility about the role. Invisibility once gone. Leadership is always momentary – a dazzling, brief chance to contribute.

Only a single sentence survives from Sophocles’ lost play, The Loves of Achilles. This speaks of happiness as an icicle held in the fist of a child, brilliant but fleeting. A pleasure that lasts but an instant.

So too leadership. It is all we have. But it is more than enough.”

As Term 3 draws to a close, I wish our families a restful and enjoyable spring holiday.

Please note the following key dates for Term 4:

• Sunday 14 October, Year 12 Valedictory Dinner, Leonda
• Thursday 25 October, Biennial Combined Past Parents’ Function, Cranlana
• Friday 23 November, Years 7-12 Speech Night, Melbourne Recital Centre
• Thursday 29 November, Junior School Music Concert
• Friday 30 November, St Catherine’s School Christmas Fair, Senior School
• Monday 3 December, PFA and Auxiliaries End of Year ‘Thank You’ Function
• Monday 11 December, Senior School House Arts Performances.