The Dean of a business school is many things: An educator. An academic (usually). A leader.

Often overlooked, however, is the Dean’s role as an extension of the institution’s brand. Alongside many other duties, these individuals – as the heads of their schools – have a responsibility to represent their organisations via engagement with both internal and external stakeholders.

In essence, the Dean must be (to an extent) the business school’s brand incarnate. But, in order to further the business school’s brand, attention must be afforded to nurturing the personal brand of the Dean.

And that’s where communications experts, like us, come in. It’s our responsibility to provide our colleagues from the Dean’s Office with the opportunity to cultivate and strengthen their personal brand and, in turn, that of the institutions they lead.

But that can be difficult. Deans are often pressed for time, no longer actively researching or teaching, and are motivated to discuss topics/themes that, while pertinent to the business school and the sector as a whole, aren’t necessarily conducive for collaborating with fast-working news correspondents.

So, what is out there for the Dean? What platforms/formats can we leverage to cultivate the Dean’s personal brand?

Op-eds

An op-ed (short for ‘opposite the editorial page’) is, at its core, an opinion piece. In an average of 700-800 words, an op-ed offers the reader a focused viewpoint on a particular subject.

Media coverage in this format is, traditionally, among the most highly-prized because, while the opportunity to pen an op-ed comes with defined remits and conditions set by the editor/title you’re liaising with, the author is afforded a degree of freedom to explore a subject important to them that a traditional interview typically won’t accommodate.

And, further to that point, while the publication you’re seeking to offer an op-ed draft to may make a number of edits prior to agreeing to publish, the accepted draft will run as agreed upon by all parties involved. Meanwhile, in a traditional interview (or a written interview for that matter), your Dean could offer extensive commentary, only to be quoted for the equivalent of two lines’ worth of words.

While, at times, more difficult to secure, an op-ed – once accepted by the editor – offers a degree of certainty and clarity to the Dean that other formats won’t. This, alongside the prospect of 800 words, uninterrupted, to share their thoughts on an issue important to your institution, makes an op-ed, published by a respected media title, a reliable platform for promoting the personal brand of your Dean.

LinkedIn-/Substack-based thought leadership 

Underpinned by a similar rationale, platforms like LinkedIn and Substack have exploded in popularity as go-to media for longform thought leadership among the higher and business education community.

Offering an avenue for blog-style opinion pieces, but with more creative freedom afforded to contributors than that available when writing for traditional media outlets, these platforms (especially the likes of Substack) have a huge reach, and can enable thought leaders to draft content more frequently.

And – turning specifically to the likes of LinkedIn – with such a relevant userbase, your Dean’s thought leadership will reach an invested audience, which could then serve to support broader marketing/recruitment efforts.

Traditionally, Deans and senior leaders have sought out the likes of Forbes as avenue to explore thought leadership at length. But landing an interview with a contributor has become increasingly difficult. With platforms like Substack, your Dean will feel like a Forbes contributor.

Podcasts

So far, this blog has extolled the virtues of longform written content, all to the detriment of the traditional media interview. It’s true – rarely do old school interviews with news writers or beat-based journalists afford individuals the scope they’re after to explore the subjects they’re interested in at length.

Enter the podcast. It’s late 2025 – we all know what a podcast is. So, I’ll dispense with the explainer and will cut to the chase:

Podcasts are an excellent way to build the personal brand of any individual, because if there’s one thing a podcast is good for, its scope. Interviewees are invited to talk at length about their ideas, their expertise and their story. The podcaster, while likely armed with some kind of skeleton question pack (to inject a broad sense of direction to the conversation), often – broadly speaking – approaches the interview in much the same way that people approach regular conversations: with genuine curiosity, not a rigid, formulaic questionnaire.

It’s this authenticity, paired with that aforementioned broadness/scope, that makes a podcast such a powerful medium when building your personal brand.

So, when exploring alternative formats to the tried-and-tested op-ed route, a respected business and/or education related podcast can serve as ultimate platform upon which your Dean can cultivate their brand recognition.

--

These are just three examples of platforms available to your Dean when looking to promote their personal brand. But there are other avenues. To learn more about what your institution can do to support your Dean’s personal brand, contact BlueSky Education today.

Author: Jonny Stone

Jonny delivers impactful PR results using an evolving network of essential media contacts, from national newspapers like Forbes, The Guardian, the Financial Times and The Telegraph, to specific trade editors such as PIE News, QS Top Universities, We Are The City and University World News. He is committed to helping more ambitious institutions reach international media goals.