Charlotte Rutter, Glasgow Caledonian University, shares her leadership journey through Aurora and Senior Women’s Leadership Development.

For Charlotte Rutter, leadership development was never about fitting into a predefined model of leadership. Instead, it was about finding the space, confidence and support to better understand her own leadership identity and how she could make a meaningful contribution within her organisation. 

Now Associate Professor in Educational Leadership and Innovation, and Assistant Head of Academic Operations, at Glasgow Caledonian University London’s campus, Charlotte is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE, an Aurora alumna and Aurora Champion committed to supporting the next generation of leaders. 

Charlotte first participated in Aurora, Advance HE’s leadership development initiative for women in higher education, then progressed to Advance HE’s Senior Women’s Leadership Development Programme (SWLDP) while serving as Deputy Director at a previous university. 

Reflecting on that time, she recalls that both programmes came at a particularly significant point in her career. 

“It was really during a period of personal change, but also institutional change,” she explains. “Both Aurora and SWLDP gave me the space to lead through it, to be more strategic, and to understand my own terms and conditions within that.” 

Leadership development as a time for reflection 

Rather than focusing solely on leadership skills, Charlotte found that Aurora and SWLDP provided an opportunity for reflection and self-discovery. The programmes helped her step back from day-to-day challenges, consider her values and strengths, and think more strategically about her role and future direction. 

Importantly, she believes leadership development should not be seen as an attempt to create a particular type of leader. 

“I don’t want to empower the activist element of female leadership,” she says. “I just want to empower leadership within an organisation. And part of that is being part of such a strong community of women leaders.” 

The power of community and support 

That sense of community proved to be one of the most valuable aspects of both programmes. Through Aurora and SWLDP, Charlotte connected with women across the sector who were navigating similar challenges, sharing experiences and learning from one another. 

She is also quick to acknowledge the support she received from those around her at the time. 

“I was very lucky when I was going through my journey on Aurora and SWLDP because I had a boss, a mentor, a line manager and a champion who encouraged me to give myself the time and permission to do that,” she says. “They could see that I was hungry for development, and they could see it was something that I would really embrace and enjoy.” 

Moving beyond tokenism  

Charlotte recognises, however, that not everyone feels able to take up leadership development opportunities. Conversations with colleagues have highlighted that barriers such as time pressures and uncertainty about the value of programmes can prevent people from applying. 

For her, this raises an important challenge for institutions. The success of leadership development is not simply about providing access to programmes, but about creating cultures that actively support participation and value the outcomes. 

“It is about making it not feel tokenistic,” she says.  

Charlotte believes institutions must think beyond simply offering development opportunities as standalone initiatives. Instead, they should consider how the learning, confidence and energy participants gain can be embedded into organisational life. 

She suggests that institutions can sometimes fall into the habit of treating development programmes as add-ons rather than integrating them into wider organisational strategies. 

“These programmes are fantastic,” she says. “But then what happens next? How do we embrace the learnings, the lessons, the enthusiasm, the excitement and the buzz that people have gained? How do we make that part of the design and implementation of the organisation?” 

Turning personal growth into organisational change 

This focus on systems thinking and organisational design has become central to Charlotte’s perspective on leadership. She believes institutions gain the greatest value when they create opportunities for participants to apply and share what they have learned, benefiting colleagues, students and the wider organisation. 

It was this belief that ultimately inspired her to become an Aurora Champion. 

“I wanted to see how I could bring that essence, that value and that experience back into the institution,” she explains. 

As an Aurora Champion, she continues to support and mentor colleagues, helping others access the same opportunities that shaped her own development journey. For Charlotte, leadership development should never be an isolated experience. Instead, it should create lasting impact by supporting individual growth while strengthening organisations as a whole. 

At the heart of her message is a belief that many women already possess the potential to lead. What they often need is not more instruction on leadership, but the opportunity to develop confidence in themselves and their own approach. 

“Most women don’t need leadership training,” she reflects. “They need the opportunity to find and understand themselves so that they can be confident, have courage, be part of their own leadership journey and bring their own thinking to it.”