The Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership (ALCRL) at the University of Pretoria (UP) will be entering its 10^th year in 2021 with a new name and fresh mandate.

Located in the Department of Business Management in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS), the centre has been responsible for the development of tomorrow’s leaders through its activities in research, teaching and academic citizenship.

From next year, it will be called the Albert Luthuli Leadership Institute (ALLI), which will allow it to participate fully in all activities related to the development of leadership and teaching at UP, according to its director, Professor Derick de Jongh.

“The renaming and repositioning from a centre to an institute will assist us in unlocking value that would imply a more dedicated inter- and trans-disciplinary approach that spans faculty borders and academic disciplines,” he says.

Over the past 10 years, the ALCRL has established itself as a primary leadership research and teaching centre in Africa, with research by its staff members and associates having been accepted in leading international journals. It has also built a strong PhD pipeline, and staff members are currently supervising 14 PhD students.

The newly formed institute will place the following strategic workstreams at its core:

•           Leadership in context focuses on expanding theory on responsible leadership and leadership in collaboration.

•           Leadership in development will integrate the ALLI’s existing work on leadership and the Sustainable Development Goals through the South African SDG Hub, which is hosted by the ALLI.

•           Leadership in accountability will focus on the role of leadership in shaping alternative accounting principles in support of social and environmental justice.

The need for closer cooperation and collaboration on leadership initiatives within the University was identified following an extensive consultative process with stakeholders within the University, the nine faculties and the Gordon Institute for Business Science.

“A Leadership CoLab hosted by the ALLI could ensure that UP maximises its impact on leadership research and teaching,” says Prof De Jongh. “Faculty representatives were tasked by the various deans to provide inputs into such a “platform” to unlock the comprehensive value that UP already has in the broader field of leadership research and education. The attendees were all in agreement that repositioning the ALCRL as an institute with dedicated objectives to span leadership work across academic disciplinary boundaries is the strategic way forward.”

Dean of the EMS Faculty Prof Elsabé Loots said she is excited to see the institute grow from strength to strength.

“The Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership has for the past 10 years cemented its place as the leader of leadership development initiatives at the University. This change from centre to institute is not just a name change but an enhancement of the work that the institute is already doing, and it is a delight to see it growing from strength to strength.”