Gwenin: Clarity by Design

Navigating the Arrival of a New VC

Leadership transitions in academic institutions are more than a title change. They’re living moments, felt through hallway whispers, meeting energy, renewed hopes, and quiet hesitations. When a new Vice Chancellor (VC) steps in, it’s a cultural and relational pivot. Everyone: students, staff, and faculty, has a part to play in how this moment unfolds.

This guide invites you to pause, notice, and participate. Not with performance, but with presence. It’s built for flexibility: you can use it as a conversation starter, a self-reflection tool, a foundation for inclusive team dialogue, or a gentle provocation to rethink how we meet change with care.

1. Start Where You Are

Begin not with vision statements, but with what’s true for you right now.

Understanding your own relationship to this change helps build empathy and awareness. Use the following check-in to ground yourself:

• What’s the emotional climate in your space or team?
  ☐ Energised
  ☐ Guarded optimism
  ☐ Uncertainty
  ☐ Quiet scepticism
  ☐ Other: _______________
• Personally:
  ✍ I’m noticing ____________________________
  ✍ I’m curious about ____________________________
  ✍ I’m holding back because ____________________________

🟦 Prompt: There’s no “correct” feeling about change. Naming our current reality makes it easier to navigate what’s next with clarity.

Team reflection idea: Share one phrase anonymously using these stems. Discuss the themes together, not to fix, but to understand.

2. Identify What Matters Most

In transitions, clarity about values is your compass.

While much is unknown, your core commitments can remain steady. This section helps surface shared values and align them with practices that matter, especially to those who are often left out of decision-making.

Value	Why It Matters in This Transition	Example in Practice
e.g. Inclusion	Ensures leadership hears a range of perspectives	Invite students & staff to onboarding events

✍ A value I want to centre is ____________________________ because ____________________________

🟦 Prompt: Ask yourself whose needs guide your thinking in this moment. Are you operating from default structures or deeper priorities?

Optional activity: Co-create this table in small groups. Then, compare what values resonate across roles? What surprises you?

3. Clarify Your Communication Ethos

What we say, and how we say it, sets the tone of this new chapter.

This moment is an opportunity to examine our personal and team communication styles. Are they inclusive? Grounded in listening? Do they build or erode trust?

Fill in these stems:

• “To contribute to a constructive culture, I will ____________________.”
• “One action I’ll take to reduce assumptions is ____________________.”
• “A tone I want to model in this transition is ____________________.”

✍ I often default to ____________________ when things feel uncertain, but I’d like to try ____________________ instead.

☑ Optional practices:
☐ Review team communication for tone and clarity
☐ Use inclusive language checks (e.g., plain language, gender-neutrality)
☐ Offer listening-first spaces before formal briefings

🟦 Prompt: Tone is not decoration; it communicates safety. Be intentional about what your words make possible for others.

4. Map Spaces for Connection and Dialogue

Formal announcements are only half the story; connection happens in the in-between.

Moments of informal conversation, shared vulnerability, and thoughtful curiosity can shift a culture more than strategy memos ever will. This section supports mapping where dialogue might be fostered.

✍ I’ve noticed that connection feels strongest when ____________________________.
✍ A space that could be more welcoming is ____________________________.

Current Practice or Space	Tension or Missed Opportunity	Micro-Shift to Try
Staff newsletter	Top-down tone, little community input	Add “Voices from across roles” section
Onboarding sessions	Focused only on policy and role definitions	Begin with shared values and storytelling

🟦 Prompt: You don’t need new structures. Small redesigns of familiar spaces often make the biggest difference.

5. Shape a Shared Narrative

Narrative isn’t just what’s said, it’s what’s felt, what’s repeated, and what we amplify.

When change arrives, people seek stories that help make sense of it. What story are you telling, even silently? This section invites narrative awareness and co-authorship.

“The story we want to talk about this transition is one where ________________, and people feel __________________.”

✍ I’m aware of a story circulating that ____________________________.
✍ I’d like to shift the narrative by ____________________________.

🟦 Prompt: What stories are being shared informally? Are they hopeful, suspicious, or energised? Consider inviting new storylines forward, based on care, not control.

6. Take the Long View with Care

Change is not a sprint. What rhythms could sustain care, trust, and momentum?

It’s easy to treat transitions like something to be “gotten through.” But the real work is cultural, not just procedural. This section supports long-term, humane thinking.

Reflection stems:

✍ I’m energised by ____________________________, and I want to protect it.
✍ I’m discouraged by ____________________________, and I want to understand it better.
✍ I’m beginning to imagine ____________________________.

☑ End-of-week checkpoint:
☐ I’ve named a sustaining value I want to protect
☐ I’ve committed to a relational practice, not just a deliverable
☐ I’ve noticed how my tone and presence impact others

🟦 Prompt: Consider care as infrastructure. How will you continue investing in it, well beyond the first 100 days?

Final Reflection: Leadership Is a Shared Practice

A new Vice Chancellor may bring vision, but the culture is carried every day by those who compose it. These tools, simple, human, and flexible, are designed to remind us that leadership is never just positional. It’s shared. Felt. Practiced. Lived into.

🟦 Prompt: ✍ One intentional action I’ll take this week, however small, is ____________________________.

You’re always welcome to view Gwenin for a selection of frameworks, or pop over to Spiralmore’s extended PDF collections. In addition, you’re always welcome to explore our more relaxed corner: the informal blog.