Leadership in Academia
“I learned that good leadership is not necessarily about working harder, but rather about engaging others to work well collectively, sharing responsibilities.”
Er wordt veel meer van leidinggevenden verwacht dan een aantal jaar geleden. Hen wordt gevraagd mee te denken over strategie en de rol van de universiteit in de wereld. Daarnaast zijn zij ook verantwoordelijk voor het organiseren van soepele interne en externe samenwerking. Niet onbelangrijk: aandacht voor een gezond werkklimaat. Allemaal onderwerpen waar wetenschappers soms weinig ervaring mee hebben en vaak niet voor zijn opgeleid.
Wij ontwerpen leiderschapsprogramma’s vanuit de volgende drie gedachten:
Stay evaluative towards yourself
Scientists are intrinsically highly driven to give their best in research, teaching, and patient care – and so are their professional colleagues in supporting staff. But good intentions may have unintended effects.
Self-reflection, feedback, collegial consultation, and open exchanges with other leaders help to stay critical of yourself and carefully consider your interventions.
With your hands tied
Scientists love solving problems. Fundamental and applied problems and everything in between. At some point, you are required to take on coordinating tasks. Subconsciously most rely on the same skills as they do in science: quickly analysing a problem, finding the best possible solution, and deciding how to go ahead.
As a leader, the key issue is empowering and activating others. This requires a different set of (soft) skills than analysing, teaching, and researching.
Your Colleague Is Your Best Advisor
In the daily practice of academic leadership, openly acknowledging doubts or uncertainties often invokes a feeling of incompetence. You might think you are the only one with these issues and feel isolated.
In our programs, participants quickly realize that others struggle with the exact same questions. This creates trust and encourages to be explicit about the real difficulties participants experience. The collective know-how and often implicit knowledge and experience are optimally utilized in advising others how to proceed.