Are You Really A Mini-CEO?
So, you are working in higher ed and when people ask you what you do, you say, “I’m a professor.”
But, let’s pause there for a sec.
Are you actually a mini-CEO?
If any part of your job description includes running a research lab/group, then the answer is yes, a hundred times yes. You are a mini-CEO.
Allow me to explain.
When you think of a CEO, what do you picture as their job definition?
I know, I know, being in academia can make us feel detached from the rest of the standard working world, and we can develop little interest in even thinking about it, but humor me here.
In a quick broad sense, a CEO provides vision and direction for their company and then manages the people and everything else within the company to help make that vision happen.
Their success is often defined by how much money they brought in that year for the company.
Sound familiar?
Did you have to decide your research focus of your lab?
Do you mentor undergraduate students, graduate students, and/or postdocs and ensure their research and publications move along?
Do you keep track of a budget and decide which purchases to make that will support your lab/group?
Do you have a ton of pressure to bring in grants?
If you answered yes to running a research lab/group, these are actually rhetorical questions, and we can jump ahead to the conclusion:
A professor is a mini-CEO.
So why am I saying professors are mini-CEOs and not just saying CEOs?
For two reasons:
In my experience, many academics shun the business world and don’t want anything to do with it. Adding the word “mini” makes it sound fun and cute so that professors keep reading this.
Clearly, there is the academic institution, of which your lab is just a part. But at the end of the day, a CEO still answers to someone (typically a board). But here is the interesting thing that universities do. They hire a ton of professors and allow them all to envision and create research labs/groups and start bringing in grants. So, universities in the end are just institutions filled with mini-CEOs.
Okay, so you are a mini-CEO. Now what?
Accepting this reality means you need to start doing the things that great CEOs do.
Below are the top items that apply to professors, extracted from business jargon and translated into academia for you.
These 6 actions will turn you into a great mini-CEO (a.k.a., a great professor).
1. Help your research group be a community
We’ve all heard about workplaces that have ping pong tables or free snacks out all the time.
These are intentional decisions and CEOs support these ideas for a reason.
Because, in the end, these kinds of actions matter and have impact on the success of their company.
The same thing goes for your research.
Recognize that you are in charge of creating the academic version of “a positive work culture” for your research group.
There are lots of ways to do this, and you don’t have to do all of them, but here are some things to consider:
Have weekly lab group meetings. This might be obvious to some, but it’s worth making sure we are all on the same page. These could be biweekly, but weekly will facilitate community faster.
Have some check in time at the start of your weekly lab group meetings, just chatting and hearing how life is going for everyone.
Do something a little different during lab group meeting on occasion. Take a meeting to just have people share how they got into the field. Or maybe play an icebreaker. Awkward? Maybe. Does doing something ridiculous bring people together? Yep, often.
Have off-campus get-togethers. These can be anything—hikes, pizza party, game night, etc.
Facilitate peer-to-peer mentorship, match students up when it is clear one student could help another student.
2. Make sure expectations are clear
Lack of clarity is one of the biggest frustrations people have with bad bosses.
It’s no different when it comes to your research team.
A growing trend in lab groups is to provide a contract that clearly states the expectations of being a part of your lab group (both that you will have of the student/postdoc and that they can have of you).
While that might seem overly formal to some, you know what it is?
Super clear.
As you work with your team, make sure your research team has specific goals/outcomes with a timeline.
Provide guidance on breaking bigger tasks into smaller steps with due dates.
Know what each student is working on each week, check in on their timeline regularly, and hold them accountable.
3. Be fair
Seriously.
Nothing tears a research group apart faster, breaking down collaborating and productivity, than perceived unfairness and favoritism.
Objectively examine your actions and decisions for possible unconscious favoritism and recognize when you are at risk for it.
Actively keep it in check by starting with a strong mental commitment to fairness.
4. Promote work-life balance
Oh, the indignity of trying to foster work-life balance for others when you don’t even know how to do it for yourself.
But, people, we have to break the cycle of the overworked academic somewhere.
And we know people with good work-life balance are more productive and do better quality work than those without it.
So be cognizant of the workload you are putting on your research team and make sure it is doable.
Avoid giving weekend work. Openly discuss the importance of work-life balance.
Be aware of what time you are emailing your research team. If you are sending an email after regular work hours, make it clear that replying during regular working hours is okay.
5. Give recognition when due
Left to their own devices, professors can sometimes err a bit too heavily on giving feedback to their research team of how to be better.
I mean, after all, you are trying to provide mentorship.
But make sure you are regularly actively looking for moments that you can acknowledge as a success.
Celebrating success makes your team feel good about their work, which makes them want to do it more.
Celebrate by acknowledging the win during a one-on-one meeting or email, or give a shout out during lab meeting. For larger moments, consider sharing with your department or university.
It takes extra effort but think of moments when it was done for you and how it made you feel.
It was good, right? Take the time to give it back.
6. Get coaching
Obviously, as a faculty advancement coach, I’m partial here.
But for real.
In the business world, it is the norm for a CEO to hire an executive coach.
You know why?
Because being a CEO is ridiculously hard.
And it’s the best way to ensure they are being the best CEO they can be, while also communicating to their board that they care about being the best CEO.
You know what else is ridiculously hard?
Being a professor.
Can you grit your teeth and power through?
Sure, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
You’ll be more productive, be a better leader, and have better work-life balance with coaching.
CEOs know this already.
So, get the coaching you need.
Basebridge Coaching is an excellent option, but if it’s not the right fit for you, find something that is.
Some universities have started to provide this service, so you can check if yours does. There are also online resources and books that can be helpful.
As more faculty are engaging in coaching, there’s a growing gap in performance between those that get it and those that don’t, so it’s important to start acting on this sooner rather than later.
Have any thoughts, feedback, questions?
Send us a message! We love hearing from our Basebridge Coaching community.
