Professor Sir Ian Diamond is Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, an appointment he has held since 1 April 2010. He was previously Chief Executive of the Economic and Social Research Council. He was also Chair of the Research Councils UK Executive Group (2004-2009) the umbrella body that represents all seven UK Research Councils. This article contains the script of the 2015 lecture to the Association of University Administrators (AUA) delivered on Oct 15th 2015. The notion of UK universities stimulating positive action within their institutions by working collectively rather than competing with one another was discussed. Diamond spoke on institutions needing to remain true to themselves through robust governance systems in order to achieve their core strategic goals. This latest report builds on the earlier work presented at the 2011 Universities UK (UUK) efficiency and modernisation task group, which he chaired and which highlighted the significant contribution (amounting to £73 billion) that UK Higher Education Institutions make to the wider economy and society.