The paper explores the emerging, and different, approaches to leadership in higher education, especially how these approaches have shaped organisational change strategies at South African higher education institutions. These issues are examined within the context of the changes that followed the promulgation of the new higher education policy framework, as well as the emerging challenges of globalisation. The focus of the analysis is on the changing role of leadership in higher education, with a specific emphasis on the role of Vice-Chancellors in institutional transformation.