Leadership is always a matter of focus for both scholars, private and public institutions, especially nowadays when the whole planet is suffering from a worldwide financial crisis, which has lead to an international uncertainty. The present drastic changes of the social environment forced higher education institutions to respond and this conducted to the appearance of the leadership change issue. Current times can be considered as very difficult ones for educational leaders, especially since they are continuously faced with shifting environments, new provocations, new stakes and in the same time, new threats. In order to remain competitive in the global market and also in order to become prepared for the changing international environment, academic leaders must change. The present financial crisis is shaped by a sense of urgency and reality. Due to the fact that it affects plenty of people and various countries, it is also characterized by transboundary effects. Taking into consideration these circumstances, the necessity for quick crisis solution occurs. Accordingly, the aim of this project is to investigate the leadership problem in the academic education area during the present financial crisis. The researcher found it appealing to study the effects of external circumstances on higher education leadership. The conducted analysis discusses possible guidelines for a higher education leader to use especially in crisis situations as nowadays. The researcher plans to answer the following question: what must be analyzed when developing a model or method that can be used as guidance when leading in crisis times?