Anonymous contributor Role: Professor of Biomechanics Discipline: Medical Engineering Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story I did my PhD, post doc and academic career up to Associate Professor at the University of Leeds between 2004 and 2022. I then moved institution to take up a professorial role at the University of Sheffield. The move, particularly as I was effectively being promoted to Professor, generated a lot of imposter syndrome. I was extremely anxious about leaving somewhere I was established and worried that people would not like me coming in at a senior level. I doubted myself more than I expected to. It turned out that those fears were not real. I genuinely feel that I joined my tribe when I moved. I have been very well supported and have had many opportunities. Looking back, I would tell myself not to judge my worth by other people’s interest in working with me and to try not to doubt myself so much. Within my new role, I have taken on responsibilities beyond my own research, including being PGR Lead within the School. The …
Building a 40 year academic career on my own terms, leading authentically, and redefining what progression looks like across institutions
Contributor role: Lecturer in Marketing (Teaching and Scholarship) and Chair of Marketing Dept Advisory Board Discipline: Marketing Institution: University of Leeds Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story I have been a lecturer for 40 years and have worked at various Business Schools in the UK. I began as a Lecturer in Business Policy at Plymouth on a three year contract before relocating north via Leeds Beckett, Manchester Metropolitan and eventually settling at Leeds in 2006. The northern universities have looked after me well, with permanent contracts and better terms for promotion. At Leeds Beckett, my strengths in marketing rather than business strategy were recognised and I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in Marketing. I led on various projects, from Dissertation Co ordinator to assessor for undergraduate European marketing students. A highlight was assessing my students in French at our partner institution in Caen. I also joined a team of psychologists as a Marketing Consultant to study consumer behaviour for a major UK retailer. At Manchester Metropolitan, I continued as Senior Lecturer and became Programme Lead for undergraduate Marketing and Brand Management …
Redefining success on my own terms, pushing back against imposed limits, and leading with passion rather than permission
Anonymous contributor Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story As a T&S member of staff at my institution, I found myself in a position where it was decided how my career would advance. The decision was made without my opinion and what was decided undermined my qualifications and experiences. From my point of view, there was clear prejudice but leaving my institution was not the answer (at this point I had encountered prejudice everywhere!). So I took myself out of this biased and condescending vision of my future that had been constructed for me and created my own. In pushing back against others’ views of you, there is a lot you need to keep in mind. Honesty is not always the best way forward, especially when EDI issues are involved. Instead, spend time learning from every injustice and pivoting from the lessons you identified. Doing this, I realised I needed to be connected to myself in a way that allowed me to work alone if I needed to and to be very picky about who I worked with – people …
Building long-term impact through international moves, field shifts and strategic patience
Contributor role: Research Fellow Discipline: Medical Physics Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story My career has involved moving between institutions, countries and research directions. After my PhD, I was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship in Japan, working in a field related but quite different from my doctoral work. Moving into a new language, culture and discipline at the same time was a significant professional reset. It felt, in many ways, like beginning again. The first phase required perseverance. Establishing methods, understanding a new research landscape and building collaborations took time. Publications did not appear immediately. However, later in the fellowship – and even after it had formally ended – the work began to bear fruit. A subsequent move to the US involved a similar shift in field and environment. Although the language was familiar, the professional transition still required rebuilding systems and approaches. Again, it took time to get experiments working and establish momentum. The outputs followed later. Looking back, those experiences reshaped how I think about career progression. Outputs do not always align neatly with effort in the short …
Becoming a Head of School and a father on the same day: rethinking research, leadership and asking for help.
Hugo Dobson Role: Professor and Faculty Director of One University Strategy Delivery (Arts and Humanities) Discipline: International Relations and East Asian StudiesInstitution: University of Sheffield Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story I was interviewed for and offered the position of Head of School on the same day I found out I was going to become a dad. Either of these events would have required me to rethink my approach to research. Both at once made this rethink an absolute necessity. Looking back, I would tell myself: ask others for help, at work and at home, and do not suffer in silence. I assumed at one point that leadership roles are lonely. They can feel that way, but they do not have to be. One of the practical changes I made was to stop trying to do everything alone in my research. I actively decided to seek out co-authors and invest more in collaborative projects rather than working in isolation. I also became much more intentional about quality. Instead of trying to produce as much as possible, I focused on producing fewer, higher-quality outputs. …
Stepping into senior leadership and learning to think more deliberately about the balance between institutional responsibility and personal research.
John Flint Role: Deputy Vice President – Research Discipline: Urban StudiesInstitution: University of Sheffield Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story Over the course of my career, I have transitioned into senior leadership roles within my institution, initially as Head of School, then as a Faculty Director and currently as Deputy Vice President for Research. Looking back, I would advise my younger self to be more deliberate and clear about the extent to which I wished to balance senior leadership with research and teaching. I do not regret the direction my career has taken. However, I think I could have thought more carefully about the longer term consequences of that balance. There are examples of colleagues who effectively combine senior leadership with continuing excellent research and innovation or impact. It can be done. I would also say that some colleagues assume they would not enjoy or be effective in senior leadership roles. In many cases, that will be the right judgement for them. However, there are also individuals who, despite initial doubts, find that they enjoy these roles and derive real …
From flood engineer to boundary-spanning impact fellow: designing a career at the intersection of science, policy and lived experience.
Martina Egedusevic Role: Impact FellowDiscipline: Nature based solutionsInstitution: University of Exeter Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story My career sits at the intersection of engineering, environmental science and public decision-making. I trained as a hydraulic engineer in Serbia and spent seven years working on flood protection and river basin management across the Danube, Sava and Morava catchments. The 2014 Balkan floods were a turning point for me personally and professionally. My family home was affected, and I experienced first-hand the gap between emergency response and long-term risk reduction. That experience led me to pursue a PhD in Natural Flood Management in Scotland, focusing on how land use change and woodland creation influence flood risk. Since then, my work has increasingly moved across sectors: academia, consultancy, government, NGOs and communities. I have worked on nature-based solutions, disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation in the UK and internationally. I am currently an Impact Fellow at the University of Exeter, working closely with policymakers, practitioners and communities to translate research into real-world change. Looking back, I would tell myself that impact does not come from doing …
From over-extension to intentional focus: redefining progression while balancing leadership, maternity leave, and long-term impact.
Jiao Ji Role: Lecturer in FinanceDiscipline: Accounting and FinanceInstitution: University of Sheffield Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story Over the past several years, I have balanced a full academic workload with two periods of maternity leave, returning each time to a demanding teaching and leadership environment while maintaining an active research agenda. Alongside my role as Programme Director, I have taken on significant EDI and pastoral responsibilities, particularly supporting early-career colleagues and academic parents, while working toward long-term progression to Senior Lecturer and Professor. Earlier in my career, I equated visibility with progress. I said yes frequently, took on service roles, and absorbed expectations without always questioning whether they aligned with my longer-term goals. Over time, and particularly after maternity leave, I realised that sustainability and focus mattered more than constant availability. If I could advise my younger self, I would tell myself to be more selective earlier – about projects, service, and expectations – and to trust that focus matters more than visibility. I would advise myself not to internalise structural barriers as personal shortcomings, and to align effort with long-term goals rather than short-term reassurance. Most importantly, I would remind myself that sustainability is not a …
From always volunteering to choosing deliberately: learning that saying no can protect both progression and wellbeing.
Candice Majewski Role: Senior Lecturer Discipline: Engineering Institution: University of Sheffield Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story For many years, I have been someone who always volunteers for things and always tries to help out when needed. Being that person has generally made me feel content in my academic role. I value being a good team player and contributing to the Department in a variety of ways. However, it has also meant that I have not progressed as well as I could or perhaps should have in other areas, particularly research, which is a key and absolute requirement for career progression. Looking back, I would tell myself this: it is important to be a good team player, but that does not mean it always has to be you doing all the things. One myth I have had to unlearn is that saying no will make people think I am no longer a helpful or good member of the team. That has not been true. In reality, most people understand, and in many cases respect, clearer boundaries. For those who don’t, I’m not necessarily the one in the wrong… Over time, I have become more selective about what I say yes to …
Be strategic with your time investment – set triaging criteria
This video from the Academic’s Success Guide, explains how using ‘triaging’ can help you to filter out the most meaningful opportunities, prioritise your work and be clear about what you say yes or no to in both the long and short term. It also helps you to find constructive language when saying yes and no to colleagues (or yourself!). “Initially I wanted to agree to all research projects. But I have diverse interests and my group started to feel incoherent and fragmented. Through a training session I was encouraged to give my lab a “vision” and “mission”. I also explicitly classified the projects into subgroups. I try not to take on any work that cannot fit into the vision/mission or groups. This has helped bring all lab members toward a common goal and helped define what I do to external parties.” Benjamin Lichman, Senior Research Fellow / Senior Lecturer, University of York. Read more from Benjamin. What will you take forward? One thing to try: What simple triaging criteria could you use to decide more confidently what to say yes to, no to, or not now, the next time an opportunity comes your way?
Be mindful of your capacity – use the Ferris wheel test
A simple metaphor for time and capacity management. As an established researcher, the challenge is rarely a lack of opportunity. It is managing too many meaningful, worthwhile requests within finite time and energy. Advice to “just say no” often feels unrealistic given the relational, reputational, and leadership dimensions of academic work. The Ferris wheel offers a practical way to think about capacity. Imagine yourself as the Ferris wheel operator. You are responsible for a ride with a fixed number of carriages. Each carriage has a clear capacity. Once they are full, adding more people isn’t generous or helpful. It’s unsafe, uncomfortable, and leads to a poor experience for everyone already on board. Overfilled Ferris wheels are often the result of saying yes to things you genuinely want to do: interesting projects, good collaborators, work that matters. This metaphor isn’t about disengagement. It’s about realism, including recognising that sometimes you have to say no even to opportunities you value. (This links closely to the idea of fishing sustainably from a river: you have to let some fish go). A good operator doesn’t overpromise when the wheel is full. They explain the risks of boarding and the wait time, allowing passengers to …
Be strategic with your time investment: Pay your future self
Many established researchers describe working in a constant state of response: dealing with urgent requests, keeping projects moving, and absorbing the needs of others. Over time, this can create a sense of firefighting, fatigue, and guilt about the work that never quite happens. This short exercise offers a way to step back and think more strategically about how you invest your time and attention. The Two-Account Idea: Most of us accept that in everyday life we need to manage both a current account to get by day to day and a pension account to look after our future self, and that neglecting either one eventually creates problems. Imagine your work time as being split between two accounts: If we only pay into the current account, we may cope in the short term but make life harder for our future self. A Short Reflection Without judging yourself, take a few minutes to consider: Now imagine a brief end-of-week review with your future self: One Small Shift: Rather than aiming for major change, consider one deliberate adjustment: A Prompt to Keep in Mind: At the end of a busy day or week, ask yourself:If my future self were reviewing this week, would …
Avoid overload: use digital wellbeing strategies
Researchers often work in digitally dense environments, characterised by high email volumes, overlapping meetings, multiple platforms, and frequent interruptions. The Digital Wellbeing Booklet explores how everyday digital practices can shape attention, workload, and perceived pressure at work. It introduces a set of practical, research-informed strategies that encourage readers to reflect on and experiment with their own digital habits. These include approaches to: In particular, take a look at the ‘Email Charter’ on page 24, to improve the way emails are used and the impact they have. Taken together, the booklet offers a structured way for established researchers to think critically about how digital tools are used in practice, and how small, intentional changes might support more sustainable and manageable working patterns alongside existing academic demands. What will you take forward? One thing to try: What digital habit causes the most disruption in your workday, and what simple change will you try to reduce its impact?
Five practical ways to save time on email using AI
Be careful not to share confidential information and adhere to any institutional guidance, such as on the choice of AI platforms. Finally, it’s not an AI solution, but a related resource is the ‘Email Charter’ on page 24 of the Digital Wellbeing Booklet. It lays out ten approaches to improve the way emails are used and the impact they have. What will you take forward? One thing to try: Which AI tool, if implemented immediately, would save you the most time or effort when managing your emails?
Carers and Careers in Academia: real life stories
A short (12 min), research-based film, based on research led by Professor Marie-Pierre Moreau, that surfaces the challenges faced by academics with caring responsibilities whilst trying to sustain their careers. It draws on lived experience to highlight enabling practices and common pitfalls. Topics include: This is not a “how-to” video, but it highlights what helps and what hinders academics with caring responsibilities, offering insight that can inform decisions, conversations, and leadership practice. What will you take forward? One thing to consider: What challenges were surfaced in this video that helped you to feel more seen or less isolated? Is there anyone you know that would benefit from learning about it?
Managing flexible working and caring responsibilities
At exactly the time in life that you are an established researcher, it is likely that you will also be juggling childcare, eldercare and other caring responsibilities, alongside one of the busiest periods in your professional life. You may also have many other reasons to want to work flexibly or part time. Even if you are not navigating these things yourself, it is possible that you will be managing people in your team who are. The Academic’s Success Guide has a section on managing flexible working and caring responsibilities that shares reflections from researchers on managing life and work, and advice from Kirstie Sneyd, an organisational psychologist and parent coach who specialises in supporting people to work flexibly and to manage work alongside family and caring responsibilities. In the guide you will find: What will you take forward? One thing to consider: How clearly are expectations about availability and priorities communicated in your team, including by you?
‘Carenting’ – tips for anyone juggling life with caring for their elderly parents
Carenting is a practical, judgement-free resource for professionals juggling demanding roles alongside caring for older relatives. If you’re short on time, it offers clear explanations of what support exists, how to navigate complex care systems, and what to think about before you reach crisis point. You’ll find straightforward guidance, lived experience, and signposting that can save hours of searching and second-guessing. It’s particularly valuable for senior academics who are managing invisible caring responsibilities alongside leadership, research, and institutional demands, and want reliable information they can dip into as needed rather than another thing to “keep up with”. What will you take forward? One thing to try: What support or information referenced on the Carents website was most helpful? Who else would benefit from hearing about it if you passed it on?
Returning Well – A guide for working parents and their managers
Book recommendation: Sneyd, K. (2024). Returning Well: How to Make the Most of Your Parental Leave and Return to Work. Berlin: De Gruyter. ISBN: 978-3-11-161827-2. Returning Well focuses on the often-overlooked transition back to work after parental leave. Whilst not written for academics, it is highly relevant to academic contexts where roles are complex, workloads are porous, and expectations are rarely reset automatically. For anyone taking parental leave, the book offers practical guidance on preparing for leave, managing identity shifts, and returning in a way that is sustainable rather than driven by guilt or unrealistic productivity expectations. For those managing or leading others, it provides a clear lens on what makes returns successful in practice, including pacing, expectation-setting, psychological safety, and the role of everyday managerial behaviours. Its strength lies in treating parental leave not as a disruption to be “managed around,” but as a normal career transition that benefits from thoughtful planning, compassionate leadership, and realistic reintegration. What will you take forward? One thing to consider: What would a sustainable return look like for you or someone you manage, rather than a fast one?
Ten quick time management tips, from academics, for academics
This download from Imperial explains 10 time management tips that have been suggested or used by academics and researchers. What will you take forward? One thing to try: Which one small change from these tips would make the biggest difference if you tried it this month?
Are you being efficient? Notice how you use time and energy in your day
This time management video introduces the ‘rocks of time’ idea that will help you to recognise how you spend packages of time throughout the day and to reflect on whether you are viewing and ordering your tasks in the most efficient and strategic way. What will you take forward? One thing to consider: Which big rock deserves more protected time in your diary than it currently receives?
Using AI to ease pain points and time sinks: starting points
Be careful not to share confidential information and adhere to any institutional guidance, such as on the choice of AI platforms. AI can be most useful to established researchers when it helps reduce friction in everyday leadership and management work rather than adding another capability to master. The examples below link common leadership pain points to light-touch, practical ways AI is already being used by senior academics and professional leaders to save time and mental energy. This is not about replacing academic expertise, automating judgement, or outsourcing intellectual work. It is not about using AI to write research papers, assess students, or bypass institutional responsibilities. Instead, it focuses on small, ethical, time-saving uses of AI that support clarity, reflection, and effectiveness in leadership and management roles, while keeping academic judgement, accountability, and integrity firmly with the individual. Common academic/ research leadership pain points and how AI can help: Where to explore further What will you take forward? One thing to try: Which everyday task that currently drains disproportionate time or energy, will you safely ease with AI support?
Be strategic with your time investment – apply the 80/20 rule
The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, states that roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. Although the principle came from observations of unequal wealth distribution, it has also been applied to think about use of resources for maximum productivity and might help you think about where to best target your effort. This blog on the Pareto Principle, written by an academic with a keen interest in productivity, shares examples of applying the principle to identify the 20% in your teaching, research and service that really makes a difference, in order to focus your efforts on that, and worry less about polishing the 80%. How might you apply this in some of the work you are engaged with at the moment? How will you identify the thing that really matters and ring-fence time to focus on that aspect, rather than on the noise? What will you take forward? One thing to consider: Where might 20% of your effort be generating most of your impact, and how could you protect more time for that?
Strategies for saying no effectively to allow for more deep work
Cal Newport is an author and computer science professor who is known for his work on productivity, digital minimalism, and the impact of technology on society. His writing on ‘deep work’ resonates with academics because it uses and gives examples from academia and research and, in this podcast on The Art of Saying No, he shares several strategies for saying no effectively, including: The “art of no” discussion is in the Deep Dive section of the podcast between 07:06 and 23:45. All of Cal Newport’s resources are available on his The Deep Life website. What will you take forward? One thing to consider: What kind of deep work do you most want to protect, and what would it feel like to make significant progress with it?
A reflection on nine months of saying no
In this blog, Prof Sue Fletcher-Watson (Professor of Developmental Psychology) shares progress on a ‘year of radical nos’. Read about what ended up being politely declined, what made the greatest difference to her time and what she found it more difficult to say no to. What will you take forward? One thing to consider: Learn from a senior academic’s lived experiment in saying no, including what made the biggest difference.
Avoid Overwhelm: Plan and review in waves
To prevent feeling overwhelmed, approach your planning in ‘waves’ or ‘horizons’, breaking down strategies and long-term activities into manageable phases. Planning too far ahead in intricate detail often leads to unrealistic expectations and potential setbacks and setting yourself up to feel a failure. An approach to consider: Rolling wave planning is used for projects where there are unknowns or risks, and so is very appropriate for research projects where all the data isn’t immediately available. You can learn more about the technique in the project management blog. This dynamic approach keeps your plans flexible, realistic, and aligned with evolving circumstances. ‘Stock-take’ to review progress Being strategic requires us to be honest with ourselves about where we are, what we have achieved, what’s working and what is getting in the way. In this video, you are guided through a structured process to review your career (have a pen and paper at the ready!). The same technique can also be used to review progress of a project, a relationship or collaboration, or a PhD student you are supervising. You can also download a Stock take – progress review (pdf) worksheet to use separately from the video or share with colleagues, students or collaborators. What …
Reframe unhelpful beliefs about saying no
When new opportunities arise that you genuinely don’t have time or capacity for, they often trigger a familiar stream of shoulds and oughts. For many established researchers, this is accompanied by a strong inner critic warning that saying no makes you unhelpful, uncollegiate, or even professionally risky. You may notice worries about letting others down, damaging relationships, or missing out on future opportunities. It can be helpful to pause and notice these beliefs rather than taking them at face value. Guilt and fear of missing out are powerful signals, but they are not always reliable guides. In some situations, saying no may actually create space for others to step up, redistribute work more fairly, or protect the quality of the commitments you have already made. Try writing down the beliefs you hold about being someone who says no. Then gently test them. Are they always true? What evidence supports them, and what evidence contradicts them? What might be another, equally valid way of looking at the situation? Think of a role model or excellent mentor that you know well. How might they reframe it? “I’ll feel guilty when someone else has to take this on.” → Saying no allows work …
Develop a new habit: use structures and scripts
Requests are rarely the problem. How we respond to them, often in the moment and under pressure, is. This resource offers practical structures and ready-to-use language to help you respond to requests with clarity and confidence, without relying on willpower in the heat of the moment or damaging important relationships. As an established researcher, you can probably predict the types of requests you encounter, even if you can’t predict when they will arise or who they will come from. When caught off guard, it’s easy to default to saying yes. Do you recognise the pattern of agreeing quickly, then later feeling regret, pressure, or guilt? Saying no can feel awkward, and many of us were never taught how to do it well. That’s no reason not to learn. It’s a skill like any other, and one that can be developed deliberately. One way to do this is to use structures and scripts as stabilisers while you’re learning, like support wheels on a bike or a trellis that helps a young plant grow upright until it can stand on its own. A short planning activity Write a list of activities or responsibilities that you’ve taken on in the past and then …
Let things go: you’re fishing from a river, not a pond
As an established researcher, it is important to accept that you will let some things go, including opportunities you would have enjoyed, gained recognition from, or that have served you well in the past. A helpful phrase to hold in mind is: “What got you here won’t get you there.” Many of the activities you do well, that others value, and that you may genuinely enjoy, will have helped you to become established in your career. Over time, however, these same activities can begin to crowd out space for the next phase of your development. Habits that were useful earlier on like saying yes and taking on admin roles can quietly become constraints. Think of your early career as fishing from a pond of opportunities. The pond was relatively contained, and with effort and enthusiasm it was possible to try a wide range of things and catch almost everything. Saying yes helped you build skills, raise your profile, test career directions, and gain credibility. Catching all the fish was hard work, but achievable. As an established researcher, that pond has become a flowing river (or raging torrent!). Opportunities are now abundant and continuously arriving. It is no longer possible, or …
Step out of the ‘Waiting Room’ for the mythical quiet periods
Stop postponing your plans, waiting for things to “calm down” or expecting your diary to magically clear after a certain date. That horizon you envision is elusive – no matter how close you get, it will always fill up with new commitments. We often have an overly optimistic view of how much time our future selves will have, but this is rarely accurate. Take some time to review your calendar from the past year or so. Identify recurring themes and activities and reflect on how long these tasks actually took in reality, not just how long you think they took now that time has passed. Consider examples such as: Using these insights, pre-populate your diary for the next two years with realistic estimates of these generic activities. Your diary will soon fill. If, in the end, some of these commitments don’t materialise, you’ll find yourself with bonus free time to enjoy or reallocate. What will you take forward? One thing to try: What are you currently postponing for a mythical quiet period, and what would be the worst that could happen if you started anyway?
Values based decision making and prioritising – can you identify and name your values?
A values-based approach to decision making can help you clarify what matters most to you. When you are clear on your values, it becomes easier and more purposeful to say yes, no, or not now. Decisions feel less reactive and more intentional. It can also increase motivation. When a task genuinely aligns with your values, you are more likely to engage with it fully and sustain your effort over time. The difficulty is that many of us struggle to articulate our values clearly. Day to day pressures can pull us away from them, and without that connection we may find ourselves committing to activities without a compelling reason for doing so. Think about the decisions you’ve had to make about your commitments over the past week: a request to join a committee or review a paper, an invitation to lead a work-package on a grant, to act as external examiner. What truly aligns with your values and the things you want to feel proud of in your career and life? Whilst some of these activities might be non-negotiable, others might be for another time or could be adapted slightly to ensure they allow you to really live your values. For …
Create a Gantt Chart – even if it’s imperfect and you only do it once!
Gantt charts are divisive in the planning world – love them or hate them, they can save time and aid influence and negotiation. While often criticised for being created then ignored, they hold value even as a one-off exercise. Why? Even an imperfect Gantt chart can clarify milestones, highlight potential workload bottlenecks, and prompt decisions. Use them to suggest ideal deadlines, demonstrate periods of high pressure, and justify changes in priorities, rescheduling, or resource requests. Visual timelines make it easier to persuade others than simply claiming, “I won’t have capacity then.” Gantt charts also help identify lighter periods for progressing lower-priority tasks or scheduling breaks. They reveal task dependencies to encourage timely completions and highlight independent activities that can be tackled during quieter spells. Moreover, they foster realistic expectations about task durations and clarify mutual support timelines within teams. Not sure how to make a start? Learn more here in the Research Whisperers blog that gives a simple guide to creating a Gantt Chart. What will you take forward? One thing to consider: What would become easier to explain or negotiate if you could show your workload visually rather than holding it in your head?
Peer Discussion Guide: Working smarter with the time you have
This guide is designed for peer-facilitated discussion to help you get more from the established researcher resources. It curates a small selection of related resources and offers a light structure for reflection and conversation. They are not training sessions. They are structured opportunities to pause, think, and learn with others. There is no expert facilitator in the room. Everyone participates as an equal, taking shared responsibility for holding the structure, time, and quality of the conversation. Our Peer Discussion Guides Find out more about our Peer Discussion Guides and how you can use them to help you get more from our established researcher resources.
Peer Discussion Guide: Protecting your time (saying yes, no, and not now)
This guide is designed for peer-facilitated discussion to help you get more from the established researcher resources. It curates a small selection of related resources and offers a light structure for reflection and conversation. They are not training sessions. They are structured opportunities to pause, think, and learn with others. There is no expert facilitator in the room. Everyone participates as an equal, taking shared responsibility for holding the structure, time, and quality of the conversation. Our Peer Discussion Guides Find out more about our Peer Discussion Guides and how you can use them to help you get more from our established researcher resources.
Peer Discussion Guide: Being more strategic with your time and workload
This guide is designed for peer-facilitated discussion to help you get more from the established researcher resources. It curates a small selection of related resources and offers a light structure for reflection and conversation. They are not training sessions. They are structured opportunities to pause, think, and learn with others. There is no expert facilitator in the room. Everyone participates as an equal, taking shared responsibility for holding the structure, time, and quality of the conversation. Our Peer Discussion Guides Find out more about our Peer Discussion Guides and how you can use them to help you get more from our established researcher resources.
Reflect on and review your networks
Leaders need a range of types of people in their network. It’s important to periodically review and refresh how you are engaging with your networks. Is it up to date with your current plans and achievements? Are you making the most from your network and are they getting the most from you? Conduct the short mapping exercise in the Imperial Academic’s Success Guide to reflect on who is currently in your network, where you might want to strengthen existing ties (including updating them on what you’re doing now!) or seek out new connections. You may also be reminded of people who you are now in a good position to support or mentor. What will you take forward? One thing to try: Name one relationship in your network that would benefit from refreshing, deepening, or simply reconnecting without an agenda. When will you contact them?
Getting feedback from others and becoming more self-aware
Sometimes we are so busy getting on with things that we don’t realise we have grown in our role. Getting feedback from others can help you to identify your hidden strengths, in order to feel ready to apply for that more strategic leadership role. This feedback might be collected through a structured exercise, such as a 360 degree feedback questionnaire, if your institution offers this (often linked to a leadership programme or coaching). However, there are other ways to get feedback from those around you, such as asking people to describe you in three words, or (perhaps as part of an away day exercise) inviting people to give anonymous contributions on things they think you should start – stop – continue doing. Consider gradually incorporating feedback requests into your regular group, collaborative, or one-to-one meetings, so it becomes a natural habit. This normalises the practice, and your team and colleagues will gradually come to expect these requests and be prepared with responses. Initially, be aware that people may be caught off guard and respond with vague answers like, “No, everything is fine.” To encourage more constructive feedback, ask specific questions. For example, instead of asking, “Do you have any feedback …
Mapping contributions against institutional strategies
Your Institutional and departmental strategies impact your career in multiple ways. Make sure you are up to date on these, and clear about where you might need to adapt or respond. Current funding pressures in the sector mean that many institutions are restructuring and rationalising their focus areas. When was the last time you mapped your activity against your institutional or departmental strategies? Do you know what is different in these now, compared with the last time you looked at them? This resource from the UKRI Future Leaders Fellows Development Network on the UK research landscape offers some tools and definitions to help you think about your institution and departments unique ‘personality’, strengths, opportunities, and challenges. Take time to consider how each of these factors are impacting on you and on where you see things going in the future. Use these resources to identify any grey areas that you might be able to seek clarification on, or opportunities to discuss with a mentor. What will you take forward? One thing to try: Where does your work align strongly with institutional priorities? If you need clarity, who will you seek it from? when will you secure that clarification or negotiate better alignment?
Why and how to move into a senior leadership role in HE
Leadership in HE can take many forms. Hearing stories from others about their transitions into leadership roles can help you work out what is best for you. The Job Shadowing HE series shares authentic leadership stories from across the HE ecosystem. Hear from Vice-Chancellors (Bristol, Birmingham City, Buckinghamshire New University) on strategic vision, student experience, finances, and culture change. Meet Pro Vice-Chancellors, Heads of School, and other senior leaders discussing policy, values, change leadership, and balancing strategy with operations. Episodes feature sector CEOs, governance leaders, and executive search experts revealing insights on senior appointments and key skills. Ideal for established researchers eyeing senior roles, these podcasts offer real reflections on leadership paths, challenges, and essential capabilities. They could help you to gain insights into navigating complex institutions, build alliances, enhance your leadership identity, broaden your strategic view, and inform your career decisions. What will you take forward? One thing to consider: What kind of influence do you really want to have in your institution, and which leadership pathways might realistically support that?
Committing to committees: review the value you get from participation in committees
Participation in committees can feel meaningful and worthwhile. The committee work can align well with the work you’re doing at the moment, as well as where you might be able to make changes or develop your role in the future. Consider the committees and working groups that you are part of. What do each of these give to you (think about skills, experience, networks, opportunity to work on something that’s important to you, visibility, joy…). Consider the balance – are they also taking from you in terms of time and energy. This Inside Higher Ed article shares some further reflections on strategic committee choice and explains that whilst committee service can be strategic career capital, not all committee work is equal: Moving your career forward through service on committees (opinion) Reflect on your own committee participation: Take a few minutes of reflection time to ask yourself: This review can help you to make decisions about which committees are still serving you and which might be ones you need to move on from or renegotiate your involvement. It may also highlight some areas of confusion or unclear expectations: is there someone (perhaps a previous committee member or a member of professional …
Learn from your career timeline
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: 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?