Playful leadership as a catalyst for transformation in higher education

Higher education in the UK and globally is under severe pressure; one could argue that it is in crisis (Cartland Citation2026). AI, financial challenges, changing student needs, and geopolitics have all created a perfect storm around the higher education system. To survive, we need radical change. Enter playful leadership. Playful practices inspire us to think differently, and playful leadership requires us to lead in a different way. It is based on engagement, inclusivity, creativity and autonomy; many of the characteristics we need in turbulent times. This article proposes a framework for playful leadership which uses the lens of crisis leadership to demonstrate how this approach can support the radical rethinking required to transform higher education (Moseley Citation2020; Walsh Citation2022). Examples are given as to how to create specific opportunities to enact playful leadership practice to foster the new thinking we need to reshape universities for a changed world.