In recent years, deanship in universities has become more complex and challenging. Deans in South African universities take up their positions without appropriate training and prior executive experience, and with no clear understanding of the ambiguity and complexity of their roles. This paper calls for appropriate leadership development interventions for deans and suggests a possible framework. It advances an approach to leadership development grounded in contextual realities, taking cognisance of individual capabilities and the need to provide relevant opportunities for improving individual and organisational performance. To this end, it demonstrates that: (i) the global and local context of universities has changed dramatically, with concomitant additional levels of complexity; (ii) this changing environment has implications for the conception and practice of leadership and management; and (iii) institutional contexts determine leadership and management behaviour, and provide the backdrop for leadership development for deans.