Leadership of academic units, in the guise of headship of departments, is crucial for the ongoing well-being of academic life and yet it remains a contested role. This paper argues for the role of heads of department (HODs) as academic leaders, with the managerial side of the role occupying an important but subsidiary place in its overall focus. It is argued that HODs should have a mandate to articulate and implement the vision of the institution, whether research-intensive or operating principally within a teaching and scholarship paradigm. The demands on HODs are articulated by considering the characteristics required of leaders if they are to respond creatively to the many ongoing changes within universities, the dictates of government policy and the drive for external funding. These developments pose substantial challenges to the value systems of HODs, and to the manner in which they focus on relationships and on the diversity of contributions within the academic community.