Postdocs to group leaders and institutes: This is how you cultivate the next generation of research leaders

Structured peer groups, group leaders distributing leadership responsibilities and institutions focusing on leadership competences in the recruitment are among the advice from six postdoc fellows at the Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND Program LEAD at BRIC that can easily be implemented to strengthen research leadership.

“Leadership in science is not only to manage a project but also to manage people and facilitate them working together to define visions collectively for the future research directions. Building up those management capabilities you can push the field in a certain direction,” says one of the authors James Bryson, postdoctoral fellow at BRIC.

The fellows call for a new approach to leadership in science by suggesting four actions that can easily be carried out. These are listed at the end of the article. Find the full article here.

Talented individuals working by themselves do good work, but if you can get them to work collectively effectively, they can do brilliant work.

Win-win situations

Being a talented researcher with high impact publications on the résumé does not equal being a talented leader, according to the authors.

“One of the biggest stumbling blocks that happens to especially new group leaders is that they are very successful as postdocs; they manage securing a lot of money for hiring people, but they may not have developed key skills in terms of emotional intelligence or ability to manage a project, and that adds to a toxic culture,” says James Bryson, establishing why professional leadership is crucial also in academia.

One suggestion from the LEAD-fellows is for the group leaders to distribute some of their administrative tasks to more junior group members. By participating in committee-work and supervising students the postdocs will build up management skills at an early stage before becoming group leaders. And the suggestion has an added value:

“The group leaders face an enormous amount of administrative work and responsibilities. Distributing some of these free up time for other tasks, it is a win-win situation,” says James Bryson underlining that the win-win effect goes for all their suggestions.

Better leaders lead to better science

Asked why a focus on leadership skills is important for academia, the authors bust the myth of the visionary genius:

“It is a complete misrepresentation that science should be done by one talented individual. Talented individuals working by themselves do good work, but if you can get them to work collectively effectively, they can do brilliant work,” says James Bryson.

Collectively was also how the publication was born: At the monthly LEAD-fellow peer meetings, which is which is one of the activities that the authors recommend for leadership skill building.

The authors suggest:

1. Postdocs:
   Our main advice to postdocs is to become part of intentional peer groups, these can provide real-time advice on the new, shared challenges faced amongst your peers!
2. Group leaders:
   Group Leaders can play a huge role in training the next generation, but this doesn’t have to be solely altruistic! We propose win-win scenarios by steadily sharing leadership responsibilities (ideation, supervision, organization) and otherwise encourage career development plans to align future aspirations.
3. Institutes:
   It’s not just more money and logistical resources; institutes can actually train leadership by flattening organizational structures, encouraging postdocs to run committees. Alongside this, catalyzing the formation of peer groups amongst new postdocs can be an easy win!
4. Selecting for leadership:
   Alongside enticing ideas, leadership selection should prioritize those who engage with management/leadership programs and show evidence of serious reflection around their leadership approach. Finally, given the highly international nature of academia, evidence of cross-cultural interactions should be valued.

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