Abstract
This chapter begins with an invitation to the reader to participate in a deliberative conversation with the authors, its point of departure being that leading higher education as, and for, public good requires proactive leadership in the context of the super-complexity that characterises 21st century universities. Drawing on the evidence and argument of earlier chapters in the book, this chapter contends that in order for academic developers to build teaching and learning capacity in their institutions, it is necessary for the entire enterprise to be characterised by deliberative leadership, exercised by all members of the community. Deliberative leadership needs to characterise the entire institution to maximse the brokering capacities of all employees, not just academic developers, recognising that there needs to be acknowledgement of the various webs of commitments in which individual members of the community are invested, while seeking out, through deliberative communication, legitimate compromises between the competing and sometimes conflicting orientations of the institution. Central to the argument advanced is that deliberative leadership praxis, while not a panacea, has considerable potential to mitigate against the more negative manifestations of managerialism and leaderism, building sustainable leadership.