“There’s an extremely capable, talented bunch of people who are just swimming so hard. Managing themselves, and the expectations they put on themselves, is probably the hardest thing – and they think everyone else is doing better.”
(Senior leader, international education)
We ‘see’ senior figures in international education a lot. They’re in photos with smiling dignitaries or neatly positioned on the staff page of the website, their post-nominals and responsibilities carefully arranged underneath. They author opinion pieces, sit on conference panels, and sign partnership agreements, dashing off to the next appointment with effortless professionalism.
Take another look, though. Did you spot the 855 notes on their phone, reminding them of the jobs they haven’t done yet? Did you know about the parent with dementia or their daily care for a chronically sick partner whose medication must be sorted before they even glance at an email? Did you notice how their mood shifts when their youngest child has separation anxiety at drop-off, or how they disappear at dinner time, then show up online at 8pm to approve expense claims and make sure their teams in other time zones have what they need for the next 10 hours?
You might not read about them in the leadership literature, but these unseen moments matter. These moments matter because they show senior leaders in context, helping us understand what influences, supports, and interrupts the practices of leading at a particular point in time. These practices matter now because the pressures are extraordinary for international education leaders, not only in Australia, but in education hubs around the world.
The sector has been resilient, but it feels different now. There’s something in the current pace of change, the absence of control and the material impact when it’s not just about one or two shifts, but all of them: policy and migration, unstable economies, changing geopolitics, social licence, stronger regional competitors, the simultaneous threat and promise of AI. It’s everything, everywhere, all at once.
These practices matter if you’re a senior leader and looking for affirmation that you’re not the only one who feels this way right now, or that you’re on the right track, more or less. These practices matter if you’re an emerging leader too, hoping to move into senior leadership and looking for ideas about skills, capabilities and practices of your own to develop and refine.
If you’re looking for productivity hacks or business book recommendations, this is not the place. This report reflects practices of senior leaders in the Australian international education sector in 2026, seen through their own narratives of a single day in their working lives. I hope it’s useful, and helps you see leaders, yourself, and the sector as whole just a little differently.