The transition from smart technical expert or leading scientist, into inspirational, charismatic leader is no mean feat. There’s a whole new world of skills and behaviours needed, to feel confident and balanced setting the vision and direction, and communicating that across a team.
No longer do the measures of accuracy, fact and data work, once we’re leading people. Nothing that we measured ourselves upon, throughout our early academic career, is relevant now, as we step up into the strategic and people-focused roles.
Leaders we’ve worked with describe a dip in confidence and a disconcerting loss of certainty, as they move out of their academic speciality and into people leadership. Finding their place at the top table; Having the difficult feedback conversations; Dealing with different personalities and their interactions all day every day; leaving their own science speciality behind; managing the pace – can all be overwhelming at first.
Some describe a sense of confusion; Others tell us they’re struggling to establish their own sense of true, heart-led leadership in a world full of fluff and “personal branding” jargon.
Accessing great leadership development can be transformational for bright STEM leaders. Smart, focused individuals are often the quickest to understand and adopt new behaviours, giving obvious and rapid return on your investment.
Imagine if you equip your best scientists and technical experts with leadership confidence as early as possible in their career. Help them find their voice, lead their teams, communicate their vision with ease. Enabling your own leaders to develop their own leadership style, gather feedback and raise their self-awareness, will help you hold onto talented people, and help them develop the personal impact they seek.
Working with senior leaders in STEM, Biotech and Pharma is exactly our sweet spot, so get in touch and see how we can help.