The Pentland Centre is hosting a series of sessions designed for our Professional Services members, and open to Professional Services colleagues across the University, as well as academic colleagues who may not have expertise in the topic. The sessions are designed to present research expertise in straightforward language, making it easier for non-academic staff to engage with the speaker's work. The first session of the series will explore the concept of stewardship, emphasising its roles as a practice and essential foundation for leadership.

Marian's work explores different understandings of 'stewardship', a term with connotations of holding in trust for others and particularly for future generations. This session will examine the tensions between these different understandings, and their implications for leadership. Marian proposes 'leadership-as-stewardship' as a new idea for providing practical guidance to leaders navigating the challenges and trade-offs of the 21st century. Research into leadership has recently moved away from practical inquiry into how to do leadership better and towards a range of aspirational leadership approaches, including authentic, sustainable, responsible and ethical leadership, that don’t always say much about how to implement them. Marian proposes stewardship as an alternative to these aspirational forms of leadership and challenges the ability of Western, Enlightenment-based thinking to solve global issues created by that same thinking.

NB: The seminar runs from 14:00-14:50 in COM - County Main SR 3 and on Teams. Please note that this session will be recorded.

Lancaster University staff welcome - registration required.

Please register below - registrations close Fri 7 February 2025. Please contact pentlandcentre@lancaster.ac.uk for queries re booking after that date.

Photo at top of page by Andreas Vonlanthen (Unsplash).

Marian Iszatt-White is a Senior Lecturer in Leadership at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) and a member of the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business. She entered academia after a successful career in financial risk management, having also worked in the specialist engineering and hospitality industries. Her research interests revolve around the ‘aspirational’ forms of leadership (such as authentic, responsible and sustainable leadership) and the challenges they present for practicing leaders. Her most recent work centres on ideas of stewardship across various research domains and as a potential successor to our hopes and aspirations for the leadership construct. She has published in journals such as Leadership, Management Learning, Organization Studies and Journal of Business Ethics, and has published five books, including a post-graduate leadership textbook (now in its third edition). Her most recent book – Leadership-as-stewardship: Honouring our past while ensuring our future – was published in 2024.

Health & Safety and access information

• In order to safeguard everyone's health, if you test positive for Covid-19 before the event, or are feeling unwell in any way, please don't attend (and please let us know).
• You are encouraged to wear face coverings during the event, unless eating and drinking.
• Please maintain good hand hygiene, washing your hands regularly/before eating or drinking, and making use of hand sanitiser.
• The room is on the ground, flat, wheelchair accessible and has an induction loop. There is a wheelchair accessible toilet nearby.
• The nearest disabled parking spot is on North Dr or County Avenue.

Find out more about the Pentland Centre on our website