Effective self-leadership comes from taking time to review the factors that have contributed to your identity and your career highs and lows. Noticing and naming these factors helps you to be more intentional and assertive in making better-informed decisions, requests, and in prioritising for the future.
Sketching out the highs and lows of your career journey can be a powerful exercise, particularly for those of you who are well established in your careers. Ask yourself:
- What experiences have shaped how I see myself as a leader?
- When have I been responsible for setting the standards of how the work is done?
- What personal or ethical challenges have I had to navigate?
- What decisions am I most proud of, and what values underpinned these?
Use the template in page 36 of this leadership booklet for research leaders to sketch out your career timeline over the last five or ten years and then reflect on the circumstances that contributed to the highs and the lows.
This reflective blog is one example of where the authors have considered how their multiple identities shape their leadership mindset and growth.
What will you take forward?
One thing to consider: Looking back at your career highs and lows, what one thing can you point to as an important condition in which you do your best work?
Related Resouces
See all Established Researcher resources
Stand in the future and look back
Use future-focused reflection to clarify what you’re working towards and how you might realistically get there.
From always volunteering to choosing deliberately: learning that saying no can protect both progression and wellbeing.
Values based decision making and prioritising – can you identify and name your values?
Make decisions that align with what truly matters to you, not just what feels urgent or expected.
Consciously choose your approach to research-practice translation
Understand different models of boundary spanning and choose approaches intentionally.
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