Leading Australia's Biggest University Merger | Nicola Phillips on People, Power & Self-Doubt

What does it really take to lead at the very highest levels - and do you ever stop questioning whether you're good enough?

In this episode, Sav sits down with Professor Nicola Phillips, Vice-Chancellor and President of Adelaide University - one of Australia's newest and most ambitious universities, formed by the merger of the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia. With 30 years of experience across the UK and Australia, Nicola brings a rare mix of academic rigour and hard-won leadership experience to one of the most significant roles in Australian higher education.

Nicola and Sav go deep on the questions that matter most to women in leadership: the non-linear path to the top, the impostor feelings that persist even at Vice-Chancellor level, how to make clear decisions when the buck truly stops with you, and why the human element of leadership isn't a soft skill - it's the whole game. They also talk about what it's like to lead an institution of tens of thousands of people through a once-in-a-generation transformation, and what the future of Adelaide University looks like from the inside.

If you've been waiting for someone at the very top to admit that self-doubt doesn't disappear with seniority - this is that conversation.