CYGNA: The many shapes and forms of service & leadership

Reports on our 67th CYGNA meeting - where we shared our experiences with a wide range of leadership and service roles

Anne-Wil Harzing - Wed 19 Nov 2025 08:31 (updated Fri 31 Oct 2025 11:57)

Our 67th meeting was organised and hosted by Ciara O'Higgins, who convened a brilliant panel of nine very engaging CYGNA members from six different countries with a combined experience in a variety of service and leadership roles (see bios at the end of the post): Athina Dilmperi, Maria Elo, Susy Menis, Tina Miedtank, Stefanie Reissner, Olga Ryazanova, Betina Szkudlarek, Tatyana Tsukanova, and Natalie Wilmot.

We had no less than 31 participants coming from all over the world, 30 of which can be found in the above picture. Some joined at 6am in the USA or stayed until 11pm in Australia. The chat was overflowing; it ran to 11 pages with more than 200 thumbs ups hearts and hugs.

It was clear the meeting topic was of great interest to our CYGNA members. As always in our CYGNA meetings, the time flew by and we could easily have filled another hour. I loved how one new member described the session: "Many thanks for the session so far - such a tonic after a busy week!"

Session outline

Ciara started the session with a brief overview of what’s to come in CYGNA during the 2025-2026 academic year. Our 12th year of the network is again packed with opportunities to engage. You can download Ciara's slides here to learn more. We then moved on to the two panels which we had split up into roles within and outside your own institution.

Panel 1: Service & leadership roles in your own institution

What roles should I consider taking on at what stage in your career?
How much service/leadership should I take on and why?
When & how to say no, when and how to step down?
Creating opportunities and the challenges of service & leadership in my own institution

Panellists: Athina Dilmperi, Susy Menis, Tina Miedtank, Stefanie Reissner, Natalie Wilmot

Panel 2: (Non)traditional service & leadership in the broader academic community or society

What traditional and non-traditional service or leadership roles exist outside my institution that I might I consider?
Why take on roles outside my institution?
What recognition can I expect for different types of roles? Why is this important?
Opportunities and pitfalls to watch out for when volunteering for service or leadership roles outside of academia (e.g. business associations, NGOs…)?

Panellists: Maria Elo, Olga Ryazanova, Betina Szkudlarek, Tatyana Tsukanova

White paper with three times seven questions & tips

It is impossible to do full justice to the wealth of experience that was shared in the session. You really had to be there. However, Ciara and I have written up a white paper that captures some of the general lessons as well as our own experiences. You can read the full white paper here: Everything you need to know before taking on an academic leadership or service role.

Panellist bios (in alphabetical order)

If you'd like to connect with any of the panellists you can find their bios here:

Athina Dilmperi, Associate Professor and Head of Department of Marketing, Enterprise & Tourism, Middlesex University London, UK

Athina is an interdisciplinary academic leader with a background in Economics, Arts Management and Consumer Psychology. As HoD, she champions inclusive leadership, strategic innovation, and well-being in business education. Her research explores the intersections of music, culture, and marketing, and she is deeply engaged in rethinking what academic leadership can mean — especially for women.

Maria Elo, Professor of International Business and Entrepreneurship, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

Maria holds diverse international positions, she is a member of the Central Gender Equality Committee at SDU, WOMEIBA and Talents4aa ambassador. Her research focuses on international business, entrepreneurship, and migration, with particular expertise in internationalization, skilled migrants and returnees, migrant and diaspora entrepreneurship, transnational and family businesses, and diaspora networks, investment, and remittances with specific interest on women and diverse sub-groups.

Susy Menis, Senior Lecturer in Law, Birkbeck London University, Faculty of Business and Law, School of Law, UK

Dr Susanna Menis (Susy) is a Lecturer in Law and has been teaching in higher education since 2009. She joined the School of Law at Birkbeck as a PhD student in 2006; since then, she has taught several law and criminology modules as an associate lecturer. In 2018, she was appointed a lecturer and has served as the Programme Director for the Certificate HE Legal Studies. In 2024, Susy took on the role of PGR Lead and is a member of the steering committee for the BBK Centre for the Study of Law and the Humanities. Susy’s research is ‘inter’ and ‘cross’ disciplinary. She experiments with different theoretical and methodological frameworks taken mainly from the critical legal tradition and social history. Her research sits at the intersection of English criminal law, criminal justice (and criminology), and socio-cultural practices. Susy is also interested in the relationship between history and policy and has written on the historical policy development of women’s prisons in England and the historical development of university legal education.

Tina Miedtank, Assistant Professor, Radboud University, the Netherlands

Tina is an Assistant Professor in Strategic HRM at Radboud University. She is part of the curriculum development implementation team for the bachelor program and coordinating the Personal and Professional Development learning line. As part of the curriculum revision team, she helps shape an inclusive and innovative education environment. These topics connect with her research stream on improvisation theater and leadership development.

Stefanie Reissner, Full Professor of Organizational Studies, Durham University, UK

Stefanie has held a range of leadership roles both within her organization and externally. Following a series of teaching-focused roles at previous institutions (Senior Tutor, Programme Director, Chair of the Board of Examiners, Chair of the Board of Studies), Stefanie is currently serving as Director of Research for a 120-strong department. She has championed female academics, early career researchers and colleagues from underrepresented backgrounds through formal development opportunities and mentoring.

Olga Ryazanova, Associate Dean for Strategy and Governance, Faculty of Social Sciences, Maynooth University, Ireland

Associate Editor of Academy of Management Learning & Education (since 2020), member of the Editorial Review Board for British Journal of Management (Knowledge and Learning section). Served as a Secretary and Research Coordinator of the Management Education and Development (MED) division of the Academy of Management.

Betina Szkudlarek, Professor of Management, University of Sydney, Australia

Betina is Professor of International Management and a consultant with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. Throughout her career, she has held a number of senior leadership roles, including Program Director, PRME School Lead, Associate Dean (Research Education), and Deputy Dean (Research). Her research is driven by a strong commitment to creating tangible societal and organizational impact, and she chooses her professional roles with similar principles in mind.

Tatyana Tsukanova, Assistant Professor, EHL Hospitality Business School, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western, Switzerland

Tatyana is an Assistant Professor in Lausanne, having transitioned into a faculty role from a managerial position. Her research explores how entrepreneurs act under uncertainty, with a focus on tech, wellbeing, and ecosystems. She draws on practical experience in her research and mentorship, keeping both grounded and relevant.

Natalie Wilmot, Reader in International Business, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK

Natalie has been teaching international business since 2012 and was a IB practitioner before this. She specialises in cross-cultural management, which she has taught at all levels from undergraduate to doctoral, in addition to delivery to corporate clients on executive education programmes. Her research focuses on language diversity in international business, which she is currently exploring from a social justice perspective. She has previously held a variety of senior academic roles, including Deputy Dean and Dean at business school level.

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Anne-Wil Harzing is Emerita Professor of International Management at Middlesex University, London. She is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business, a select group of distinguished AIB members who are recognized for their outstanding contributions to the scholarly development of the field of international business. In addition to her academic duties, she also maintains the Journal Quality List and is the driving force behind the popular Publish or Perish software program.

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