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 …
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?
