Ask anyone and you will hear just how much Linda Buckley means to Henley Africa. Loved by staff, faculty, students and clients alike, Linda’s life work from her early days as a teacher to her executive role at Henley Business school is about believing in people and helping them succeed. We say mission accomplished! Read her story in her own words:
From my earliest days as a teacher, I’ve been obsessed by a single question: how do you make learning stick? Not just for an exam, but for life. I remember teaching biology and maths, trying to figure out how to present the subject so it genuinely excited people. It’s when you’re truly interested in something, when you find it relevant, that you really learn. I did some crazy stuff like turn the whole classroom into a ‘living’ cell. This was long before the days of the internet and we had to craft all our own tools. I still have letters from students from back then, one now a professor, another a physio, telling me that my class was what first sparked their interest in their careers. So that is really gratifying.
The core of my research and work today is about this same challenge: how to make learning simpler, more accessible, and more transformative. I’m currently doing my PhD through the University of Reading and it’s exploring critical questions like - how can we lower the barrier to entry for learning, not in terms of standards, but in terms of accessibility and safety? I believe the onus is on us as a school, with our faculty, to create psychological safety for our students and delegates from day one. By the second hour of a programme, our delegates must feel they are in a space where they won't be judged, because only then can the real process of adult learning commence.
My greatest fear is that we bring a student on board who doesn’t succeed because we haven’t done enough to help them. That someone gets missed. Not everyone arrives with the same level of experience of what it takes to succeed in a learning environment. It’s why our teams are structured with layers of support, to ensure the learning experience is the best it can be. That’s what gets me up in the morning, and it’s what keeps me up at night! Ultimately, my energy and resilience come from watching others succeed.
I have operated in the higher education space for upwards of 20 years since I left teaching. First I was at UCT’s Graduate School of Business where I headed up departments that worked with key clients across a variety of sectors. I joined Henley Africa as Executive Education Director in 2014, and I have never looked back. Being promoted to becoming Head of Learning Experience in 2021 and now Pro Dean: Teaching and Learning and Student Experience earlier this year was an extraordinarily proud moment for me.
I have been extremely fortunate in my work and career to have had some powerful mentors and teachers. For many years, I didn’t believe in my own ability. It was mentors – people like Chris Breen, Tom Ryan, Mandy Lebides, Bev Shrand, Linda Ronnie, Ailsa Stewart-Smith, and Jon Foster-Pedley – who pushed me forward. It’s often when you see yourself through the eyes of others that you realise there’s more to you than you would give yourself credit for. That’s a lesson I try to pass on.
A seminal figure in shaping my outlook and philosophy, was Archbishop Desmond Tutu. My father was an Anglican minister, so I had the immense privilege of assisting the Arch during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission period when his office was swamped, and for some time afterwards. He taught me, through his actions, that everybody matters. I would watch him in his offices on Adderley Street, greeting every single person by name, from the security guard to the cleaner. He would famously make world leaders wait while he finished a conversation with someone on his staff.
The Arch showed me what empathy truly was – he wasn't afraid to be moved to tears by the atrocities he heard. But he was also tough, he knew the importance of boundaries. He taught me to strip away the patronising attitudes we can have towards people not at our “station”. That lesson has stayed with me my whole life. Taking the time to ask people their stories is remarkable. I hope this insight has shaped my own leadership style. I believe my teams know that I truly believe in them. That deep-seated belief that people don’t come to work to do a bad job, that everyone has potential, is something I learned from the Arch.
Family means everything to me and marrying my professional drive with being a mother has been the great, hard, beautiful juggle of my life. I always knew I wanted to be a mom and my proudest achievements in life are my daughter, Amy, and my son, Justin. Together with my husband, James, we are a tight-knit foursome and while the children are both young adults now, spending time together is a high priority. One of our great passions as a family is the bush, and we try to visit Kruger (at least) once a year, where I get to exercise my passion for bird watching and wildlife photography and enjoying our incredible country in the company of my special people.
When I went into teaching, I thought the holidays would make it easier to raise a family, but I was soon disabused of that notion! As a parent, you’re always trying to balance being the best you can be at work and at home, and you often beat yourself up. You feel like you’ve sacrificed something. The lesson I’ve learned is that what you are hankering after for your children is often not what they actually need. You can miss the nuances. In leadership, we call it “reading the room”; in parenthood, it’s about letting your family tell you what they need and not assuming they will be the same as you. As long as your children know they are loved, that is the most important thing.
I see myself as an African, and this is where I will always want to be, because the potential on this continent is just mind blowing. The impetus for my PhD, for everything I do, is to change the narrative about the poor leadership that can bedevil our continent. Ultimately, my energy and resilience come from watching others succeed. It’s seeing the student who was battling to pass, get their certificate, or watching our clients cheering their delegates on that spur me on. It’s about allowing others to be more confident in themselves because they know more, and empowering them to use that knowledge for good.