Becoming a Dean is a rewarding experience but it can also be a challenge; think of those challenges that faced you in the early days of your deanship. How did you deal with them, what helped you in terms of experience, skills and attributes to effectively manage these? Such reflections were the core of the discussions at ADEE 2016 Barcelona that led to the development of the FEHDD/ADEE consensus document "Development of a competency framework for aspiring deans and heads of dental schools".