The developments of organizational patterns of university governance over the past few decades has led to significant changes in the role and expectations of the academic profession and the organization and governance of higher education institutions, and is reflected in stronger managerialism within the universities (Leišytė and Dee, Higher education: Handbook of theory and research, Springer, 2012; Aarrevaara et al., Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia 46:43–53, 2021; Teichler, Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia 46:13–28, 2021). In this chapter we studied the correlation between the academics’ views on whether their top-level management provided competent leadership in relation to their views on their influence, the management style within their institutions, and the effectiveness of leadership communication addressed within the two surveys on the academic profession that took place between 2007 (CAP) and 2018 (APIKS). The results indicate that the self-reported academic influence is generally highest at the departmental level, compared to the faculty and institutional levels. Notable differences exist among the analysed countries, particularly at the faculty level and across the surveyed data sets. Academics who perceive higher levels of influence in helping to shape key academic policies also tend to agree more strongly that their top-level management demonstrates competent leadership. The most influential factor regarding the academics’ views on the competence s of their top-level management, was related to the perception of effective communication between management and academics.