72 Days In: How Craig Hanlon-Smith Is Building Culture at London South Bank Technical College
What does culture look like when you're only 72 days into a brand-new principal role? In this episode of The Culture & Leadership Podcast, host Guy Walker meets Craig Hanlon-Smith, Principal of the London South Bank Technical College, part of Southbank Colleges and the wider London South Bank University (LSBU) Group. It's a refreshingly candid conversation — not from someone who has spent years shaping a culture, but from someone still finding their feet inside one, and reflecting honestly on what that feels like.
A 30-Year Journey From Performing Arts to the Principal's Office
Craig's route into further education wasn't planned. Almost 30 years ago, he was working as an actor when a fellow performer, unable to cover her own part-time teaching job, asked him to step in. He said yes — and loved it. What followed was a familiar FE story: short-term contracts, maternity cover, and gradually deeper involvement in the sector, long before he held a formal teaching qualification. He didn't complete his City & Guilds 7407 until several years in, and only gained his PGCE in 2007 after moving to City of Westminster College.
From there, his leadership path took him through middle management and director roles, six years as vice principal at Morley College London, and now — as of the beginning of September — his first role as principal, at the London South Bank Technical College's Nine Elms campus.
Speaking to Guy Walker, Craig reflects on what has kept him in further education for three decades: the privilege of being part of someone's life journey, and hearing years later how a student has gone on to succeed. He recalls being contacted out of the blue by a former student who credited him with shaping her path — she had recently been nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actress.
Busting the "Cinderella Sector" Myth
One of the episode's most memorable moments comes when Guy and Craig unpick the well-worn "Cinderella sector" label often attached to further education. Craig points out that the analogy doesn't even hold together: Cinderella ends up with the prince. If FE is being cast as a rags-to-riches story, he asks, what exactly is everyone implying about where it starts and ends?
For Craig, the real issue is that FE colleges are non-selective by design. Anyone, at any entry point, can walk through the door — which means the sector reflects the full, sometimes messy, reality of the world. That, he argues, is a strength rather than a flaw. His advice to anyone with industry experience considering a move into teaching is simple: give it a go. Colleges, he says, benefit enormously from bringing in professionals who are up to date and can tell students "this is what it's really like" — not just what's written in a textbook.
Proud Moments: Results, Regeneration and a Student's Big Break
Asked about his proudest achievements, Craig doesn't hesitate to mention the job itself — but he's equally proud of what's happening on the ground. Under his leadership team, the college's achievement results have improved by nearly 8% over two years, putting them on track for rates above 90%.
He also reflects on his previous role at the North Kensington Centre for Skills, part of Morley College London, which was rebuilt with government funding following the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Being part of that regeneration — living and working inside the building as it was renovated around the team — remains one of the moments he's most proud of.
72 Days In: Making Sense of a New Culture
Rather than following the usual format of unpicking how values were originally set, this episode does something different: it captures what it feels like to walk into an existing, established culture from the outside. Craig describes visiting the college before his interview and feeling an immediate sense of fit — helped, in part, by spending time with students and staff throughout the recruitment process, including delivering a presentation to a cross-section of the organisation before ever meeting the executive board.
That process, he says, works both ways. Just as the college was assessing whether he was the right fit, he was assessing whether the organisation matched his own values. He likens misplaced value to the pricing of bottled water — the same product costs different amounts depending on the environment it's sold in. If you don't feel valued somewhere, he suggests, you might simply be in the wrong environment.
Turning EPIC Values Into Everyday Behaviour
Southbank Colleges' values are built around the acronym EPIC — Excellence, Professionalism, Inclusivity and Creativity. But Craig is quick to point out that most staff and students wouldn't necessarily recite the acronym itself. What they can describe, in detail, is the experience: the sense of professionalism walking through a purpose-built, nine-storey technical college; the calm, almost therapeutic atmosphere in the construction workshops; the clear sense of progression from Level 1 through to Level 3 and beyond.
He's candid that this isn't the "Disney Way" — a rigidly scripted, badge-wearing form of culture. Instead, it's something staff and students absorb through daily experience: students adjusting their behaviour as they approach the building, senior leaders greeting them at the gate every morning, and a shared understanding that professionalism and care go hand in hand.
Seeing the Human Behind the Data
One of the conversation's sharpest insights concerns data. Craig is wary of how easily aggregated statistics — an 82% achievement rate, for example — can strip the humanity out of results. Behind every percentage point, he argues, is an individual student's experience and an individual member of staff's contribution. The real cultural question, he says, isn't "what's our number?" but "what am I doing today, with the people in front of me, to move that number forward?"
This extends to how staff and students are treated day to day. Craig shares a simple but effective piece of advice he's picked up from a colleague: when addressing a student about their behaviour, imagine their parent is standing beside them. It's a small mental shift, he suggests, but one that quietly raises the bar on respect and tone in every interaction.
Aligning Strategy, Culture and Behaviour
As Craig works through a cultural alignment exercise tied to a new strategic plan, he makes a point that will resonate with leaders across any sector: values written at the top of a strategic plan are meaningless without a behaviour framework that brings them to life — and that framework has to align directly with what the organisation is trying to achieve. Culture, values, behaviour and strategy, he argues, can't be treated as separate exercises. They have to be built together, deliberately, and revisited as the organisation grows.
Why People Choose to Work at London South Bank Technical College
Asked for his top three reasons someone should choose to work at the college, Craig doesn't hesitate:
- An employer-led curriculum. The college works directly with employers — including a recent staff CPD day built around an "employer brunch" — to make sure students graduate with skills that go well beyond the qualification itself.
- A genuinely supportive environment. Even as principal, Craig says he feels looked after — including by colleagues he wouldn't necessarily expect, such as learning development coaches checking in on how he's settling in.
- Real opportunities for career progression within the wider LSBU Group, including movement between sister colleges and campuses.
Leadership Lessons: Role Models, Coaching and the Books Shaping His Thinking
Craig credits much of his own path to Brian Roberts, a university tutor who took a chance on him after he narrowly missed the grades for his course — a decision Craig describes as life-changing. That experience, he says, is part of why he's so committed to giving others opportunities wherever possible.
Now newly appointed, Craig has taken on an executive coach and is working through The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins, alongside How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work by Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey — a book gifted to him and his fellow principals by his line manager. He's also drawing leadership lessons from unexpected places, including a podcast about the Apollo 13 mission, which reinforced a simple but powerful idea: get absolute clarity on your desired outcome, then take it one deliberate step at a time.
Advice for Aspiring FE Leaders
Craig's closing advice to anyone considering a leadership role in further education is rooted in that same idea: know exactly what you want to achieve, then focus on the very next step in front of you — whether that goal is one year or ten years away. And above all, stay curious. For Craig, curiosity isn't a soft skill; it's the thing that allows a leader to understand how every part of an organisation connects, so that when it's time to move forward, they know exactly how to get there.
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