20
reinventing. This required metropolitan collaboration across a
large number of key players - Little reckons 200 for economic
strategy alone. He is one of a group of trusted civic leaders who
work with 2,000 employers, eight councils, three universities, two
colleges, a Regional College Board, and a range of government
departments. Together, they deliver a £1 billion 'City Deal'. He
refers to 'Team Glasgow', a group of passionate leaders who
know and trust each other to act for the benefit of the city and
the wider city region, and who share a common altruism. This
approach does not preclude self-interest, but it is self-interest
sustained by a sense of the greater common weal. Little calls it
'trust'. In practical terms, maintaining Team Glasgow requires the
skills of a convenor and enabler: not confined to one individual,
but to a network of collaborative practice. This is sustained hard
work, requiring both time and resources. Little delivered real 'skin
in the game' with the pioneering and internationally acclaimed20
£228 million super campus for 40,000 students in the heart of
the city centre. The rejuvenated college emerged as an innovative
anchor institution for local regeneration. Little is a member of the
Glasgow Economic Leadership Group, the Glasgow partnership for
economic growth, Deputy President of the Glasgow Chamber of
Commerce (a powerful force in Scotland), Member of the historic
Merchants House and Member of the Trades (Guild) House City
Centre Strategy Board, plus several Scottish and national roles.
He maintains close contact with the Scottish Government and
the Holyrood Parliament and has, in effect, become, one of the
'city fathers'. He finds the interchange useful, if relentless. What
he describes as 'upstream leadership' gives weight to his authority
to make the required changes internally at the college. The
influence of his leadership, networking across economic hubs, is
clearly exhibited in the micro-economy. His interaction with the
Chamber of Commerce, a powerful group in Glaswegian political
life, helps maintain a collaborative tradition in Glasgow and a
sense of joined-up mercantile pride where political, civic and
economic aspirations align.
20 Little, P. 2018. New Frontiers in College Education, in New Frontiers for College
Education: International Perspectives, Routledge.