Jasjit Singh Role: Pro Dean International, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and CulturesDiscipline: Sociology of ReligionInstitution: 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 My career has developed through a series of academic, leadership and communityfacing roles, leading to my current position as Pro Dean International in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures. Throughout this journey, I’ve been driven by a commitment to connecting academic research with realworld challenges and ensuring it has tangible impact beyond the university. If I could speak to my younger self, I would say this: even when you feel constantly busy, strategically developing and taking opportunities — especially the daunting ones — is worth it. The experiences that seemed overwhelming at the time have shaped my trajectory in unexpected and rewarding ways. One myth I have had to unlearn is that everyone else has everything figured out. They don’t. Leadership develops in real time, through listening, adapting and learning as you go. I believe I make the most meaningful impact through deep listening, because it creates the foundations for innovation, insight and collaboration. My approach to …
From over-ambitious projects to clear lab vision: learning patience, focus and the power of hiring the right people.
Benjamin Lichman Role: Senior Research Fellow / Senior LecturerDiscipline: BiochemistryInstitution: University of York 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 In the early stages of running my lab, I wanted to embark on all research projects available to me: new projects for collaborative work and new projects for each new idea that I had. I have diverse interests, and that felt exciting. Over time, however, my group started to feel incoherent and fragmented. There was energy, but not enough shared direction. Through a training session, I was encouraged to give my lab a clear “vision” and “mission”. I explicitly classified projects into subgroups and began to ask whether new work genuinely fitted that vision. I now try not to take on work that cannot sit clearly within those themes. This has helped bring lab members towards a common goal and has clarified what we do to external parties. Patience has also been a key lesson. Be patient with the publications, they will come and the best can take many years to materialise. Methods and experiments that worked before will not necessarily work the …
Explore tailored research leadership resources
Established researchers express a wide range of leadership and management needs such as recruitment, performance conversations, delegation, effective meetings, coaching and mentoring skills etc. There is an overwhelming amount of advice out there: some relevant to established researchers, some less so. Rather than re-create it all here, we recommend and connect you directly to open access resources that are tailored to research and academic leaders: What will you take forward? One thing to consider: What is one leadership challenge you’re dealing with at the moment? Which single external resource could you engage with this week to move forward?