Great Teams Don't Happen by Trial & Error
They're built with intention

If you're like most of the researchers we've worked with in academia, you mostly figured it out on your own (so did we!). You may have passively learned from your mentors, picked up a few books on leadership, or attended a training or two.

But leading by trial & error or by repeating the stuff your mentors did is ineffective leadership...and inefficiency is costing you energy, time, and money.

Introducing the Research Leadership Mastery Program

This program is designed specifically for Principal Investigators who are ready to lead their research teams with intention, strategy, and systems that reduce stress and maximize productivity.

We provide a step-by-step approach to help you build and sustain high-performing teams that not only thrive but also excel in the demanding environment of academic research.

We help PIs to create & implement low-stress research leadership and mentoring systems.

Join Us

You want the best for your research team. But you're also ambitious, constantly strapped for time, and in need of results.

You want your team to be high-performing but not burned out.

You want to be an understanding and helpful mentor and you are respectful of people's life outside of work...but you also need to get research done.

There's the implicit expectation that you should effortlessly manage people, secure funding, and maintain productivity—all without professional support.

The role of a PI has become more demanding, and you've likely compensated by throwing in longer hours, sacrificing your health and happiness.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

There's a system to tapping the full potential of a high-performing team without working all the time and without burning yourself or your team out.

Apply now

5 Steps to Exceptional Team Leadership
So You Can Foster a Productive Team that Thrives in the Academic Research Environment

STEP 1

Define your vision and team culture.

Create a vision that focuses your effort on highly impactful and fulfilling work.
STEP 2

Strategically hire and grow your team.

Identify who you need to move your research forward while maximizing fun and minimizing drama and team quarrels.
STEP 3

Facilitate healthy team dynamics, independent decision making, and effective communication.

Enable your team members to make decisions independently so that you optimize your freedom to do your own creative work instead of closely overseeing your team for compliance.
STEP 4

Optimize productivity and team strategy for growth.

Start spending less time resolving misunderstandings and more time focusing on problem-solving and opportunities.
STEP 5

Become the leader you need to be in order to move your team and research forward.

You deserve to live and work at your full potential in a self-actualized, peaceful, and balanced way. No matter how stressed out you are right now, it’s possible for you to create a life that pairs balance with research excellence...even if you've tried other programs before.

Apply now

Leading from a Vision
If you want better team performance, you need to lead in a better way. A smarter way. A way that aligns your team to your vision.

You don't have to lead on the fly or figure it out on your own. You can accelerate your leadership growth and skip the years of guessing what works to create truly great teams in academia.

Inside Research Leadership Mastery, you'll learn to:

Define a powerful team purpose and mission so that you can focus your effort on highly impactful and fulfilling work, rather than misleading metrics, e.g. the number of publications on your CV.
Strategically hire and build your team so that your team is able to produce high-quality work and foster a positive, collaborative culture.
Facilitate effective team communication so that you spend less time resolving misunderstandings and more time focused on academic problem-solving.
Cultivate team values and independence to enable team members to make decisions, freeing you from micromanagement
Develop support and feedback systems to stay informed about your team’s work while minimizing supervision.
Maximize team growth and retention by fostering professional development, reducing stress, and creating a motivating environment.

Research Leadership Mastery is designed specifically for new and seasoned faculty and advanced postdocs.

The Research Leadership Mastery program is centered around trainings in conjunction with small group coaching so you can get real-time feedback as you implement what you're learning with your research team.

Apply now

Proven Impact, Powerful Words

Discover how our program made a difference

Initially, I was worried about both spending the time and money on my leadership development, but the biweekly calls coupled with the content and workbook activities have proved priceless.

The workbooks allow you to think through the techniques and ideas on paper in a way that is specific to your own experiences. I also like the idea that my goals and perception of my work will change over time, so having these resources available to re-examine and interrogate again and again will be valuable for my future growth.

I had been looking for something that would give me specific strategies with examples and then walk me through the personal work that I needed to do to become a better leader and top performer, and TLIR has more than served this purpose.

In addition, the calls which connect me to this community of like-minded achievers have been essential to demonstrate some of the techniques described in the modules and workbooks. For instance, in real-time, Stefanie walked one of our TLIR colleagues through the process of handling a tough conversation she needed to have a with a postdoc; we were all able to witness how some of the strategies could play out in real-time. It was fantastic!"

Siobhan Craige

Assistant Professor Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise at Virginia Tech

Apply now

Stefanie is an amazing coach who has profoundly and positively impacted the way I work, think, and care for myself and others.

I first met Stefanie shortly after getting tenure and feeling conflicted about what I truly wanted to do next in my life and career. I was proud of having attained tenure, but I had created a life where I kept putting off fun until I had reached major milestones. This created a lot of stress, low energy and loss of confidence in my own abilities to keep up.

In just 6 months of working with her, I feel confident in my abilities—not because I know exactly how to handle every challenge, but because I know I’m capable of overcoming them thanks to all the ideas/tools she has shared with me.

For the first time in my career, I feel confident, independent, and the leader that I always wanted to be."

Tanya Garcia

Associate Professor of Biostatistics,

UNC Chapel Hill

The Research Leadership Mastery
Program

Course + High-Achieving Community + Weekly Coaching

Get the most out of your experience with tailored feedback on the work you do individually and with your team based on the training modules. You are who you surround yourself with. This can be a challenge if your peers are not interested in growth or have strong outdated opinions on leadership. The Research Leadership Mastery community is a group of hand-selected, high-reaching wholehearted researchers who want it all: success and fulfillment. Your growth will be accelerated when you are surrounded by people with similar goals.

Program starts September 25, 2024

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You'll get:

Full access to the course for at least 1 year
Step-by-step processes to go through with your team
Downloadable worksheets
Weekly coaching calls in a small group setting . This is what creates the most value! You'll get feedback from a coach and create connections with other high-achieving people pursuing leadership in academia.
Case studies to illustrate best approaches to difficult situations

BONUS: 60-minute kickoff 1:1 session to create a custom plan for your team interactions based on who you are as a leader and the leader you’ll grow into (Hint. Not everyone wants weekly lab meetings…).
BONUS: Workbook with training exercises

Our program is by application only to ensure it's the right fit for you and your goals.

To learn more and see if this program aligns with your needs, you can hit the "Apply to ..." button and schedule a free, no-obligation 20-minute strategy session.

It’s a casual conversation—no pressure, just a chance to explore your next steps in leadership.

Tuition $5,750*

$1,000 early-bird discount available for tuition of

$4,750 until Aug 31, 2024

*Trainee or low fund availability stipends available – just ask if this applies to you.

Funding may be available to you through your institution with startup funds,

indirects, departmental funding, training grants, private funds, or a combination.

Apply to Join Research Leadership Mastery

Led by Those Who’ve Walked the Path

Your trainers are seasoned researchers leading teams in academia

Dr. Stefanie Robel

Stefanie grew up in Berlin, Germany...

... and completed a Ph.D. in Neuroscience in Munich before she permanently relocated to the US.

She became a personal development and leadership nerd during her postdoctoral training, initially to increase her competitiveness and later because she realized that she could use these strategies and tools to create a happier, balanced life AND increase her levels of success.

She started her independent research program in 2016, built a thriving research team, and brought in more than $6M in funding during her first two years on the tenure track. She meanwhile earned tenure and moved institutions to take her research and institutional leadership to the next level.

Stefanie started Team Leadership In Research in 2019 leveraging her life coaching skills and the experience she had gained as head coach in another business. Team Leadership In Research systematizes leadership knowledge and management approaches specifically for research teams to help team leaders achieve success and fulfillment.

Her big mission is to change the academic culture from negativity and chronic stress to one where people express their unique brilliance AND live a fun, joyful, happy life by bringing leadership training along with positivity to her community.

Dr. Kendra Sewall

Kendra grew up in rural Maine and always excelled in academics…

… and pleasing other people. She completed a Ph.D. in animal behavior at UC Davis and secured fellowships to complete postdoctoral training at UNC Chapel Hill and Duke Universities. She also optimized herself as a person, completing marathons and triathlons in parallel with research. She developed her growth mindset and built an integrative research program in ecology, behavior, and neuroendocrinology.

She started her independent research program while coping with a significant health and happiness challenge in 2013. After securing an NSF Career Award during her second pregnancy in her pre-tenure period, she realized her approach wasn’t sustainable. In fact, she wasn’t sure what her true motivation was, anymore. Applying an evidence-based approach and research skills to the new problem of redefining how to be an academic, she learned about leadership and management through reading and trainings, "culminating in taking all of Stefanie's Team Leadership In Research courses. This initiated a desire in coaching other academics and help them gain more confidence and control of their careers and lives.

Principles and Strategies from the Best in Leadership Literature

Proven in Academic Practice

The course includes principles and strategies from the best in leadership literature (across a variety of disciplines), coaching tools that you'll learn to use on yourself and with your team, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) tools for more effectively communicating and reframing.

You'll receive immediate access to the course and retain access to the course materials for at least once year from enrollment.
Trainings cover the relevant background, worksheets or homework to implement the principles by yourself and with your research team.
Trainings are initially released biweekly to provide you with the flexibility to catch up your skills fast. Yet, you will want to anticipate that implementation with your team will take more time.
You can download the audio files and worksheets to keep forever.

Core sessions (Module 1 – Module 12) will be released weekly.

Build practical skills. Learn at your own pace. Implement with your team.

Apply to Join Research Leadership Mastery

Module 1: The one that helps you find your spark.

Module 2: The one where you define your niche for impactful work.

Module 3: The one that gets strategic about building your team.

Module 4: The one that is crucial to defining your team values.

Module 5: The one on leadership styles.

Module 6: The one about your team vision, mission, and purpose.

Module 7: The one on growing your influence with your team and decision-makers.

Module 8: The one on illuminating relationship dynamics within your team.

Module 9: The one about creating a team culture aligned with your values.

Module 10: The one about project management.

Module 11: The one on aligned leadership styles.

Module 12: The one clearing up motivation blocks for your team members.

Are You the Right Fit for
Research Leadership Mastery?

Designed for Faculty and Advanced Postdocs who Want to Create Truly Great Teams within Academia.

This is for:

✅ Those who tend to identify as "go getters"; transformational leadership takes work.
✅ Those willing to look deeply at themselves.
✅ Those driven by curiosity and a willingness to take an active approach to leadership.
✅ Those with realistic expectations and a desire to work with their team. This is not a 6-month quick fix magic bullet.
✅ Those ready to IMPLEMENT (and not just acquire more knowledge). You already have your degree (or three...). It’s time to implement. Applied knowledge is the key to success with leadership. That’s why I offer--and recommend--coaching.

This is NOT for:

❌ Those expecting to learn grant writing skills or hard persuasion techniques.
❌ Those who have discovered that they have a pattern of playing the victim. While this program could still potentially be a fit for you, have to commit to transforming your perception.
❌ Those looking for a quick fix or a magic bullet.
❌ Those who deny the reality of their job or who are struggling to deal.
❌ Those not willing to really dive into looking at themselves. (Hint. Leadership is an inside job...)

Apply to Join Research Leadership Mastery

Investment Takes Commitment!

You already know that you can’t be a great leader without investing in your skills and strategies.

You deserve to live and work at your full potential in a self-actualized, peaceful, and balanced way. No matter how stressed out you are right now, it’s possible for you to create a life that pairs balance with research excellence. Join us today so you can lead with vision.

WANT MORE INFORMATION?

Need more information before joining the program? You can download the course syllabus, watch my one-hour leadership training, and book a call with me below.

Get the Syllabus

Download a PDF of the course modules.

DOWNLOAD

Watch the Webinar

Get a sneak peek into my teaching style when you watch the 90-minute webinar: 5 Leadership Skills that Increase Research Team Performance.

WATCH NOW

Book a Call

If you're considering joining Research Leadership Mastery with the Inner Circle option, it's important that we're a good fit.

Click below to schedule a time to discuss your goals with the program.

SCHEDULE

Apply to Join Research Leadership Mastery

Frequently asked questions

Here are a few answers to our most common questions

Q: Do you have a payment plan?

A: Yes! You can pay in full or make monthly payments.
Q: How much time will I need for the program?

A: The course modules are dripped out weekly to help you pace yourself. You can expect to spend 1-2 hours for each lesson, plus an additional 30-60 minutes for your practical assignment. You can take as much time as you need in order to implement the content with your team. We encourage you to only apply if you are ready to commit at least 2-3h/ week to the program.
Q: Is there an in person component to the program?

A: The program is completely virtual except for the bonus retreat.
Q: How is this program different from others out there?

A: Your university may provide workshops or even a leadership or lab management course. We and some of our clients have taken a few of those. While those programs certainly don't hurt, they often do not provide support over a sufficient period of time to help you shift how you lead and manage. You simply do not get enough practice and feedback. Importantly, you need to look at the quality of information that you receive. Are these programs providing guidance based on experience, anecdotal evidence, and opinions? While this is certainly a better starting point than figuring it out without any input, the advice received in this way may not be the most adequate approach to getting your desired result. It may not be in alignment with your values or your authentic leadership style. We build our programs based on as much evidence for effectiveness as possible. We also draw from a wide variety of leadership and management frameworks to make sure you get systems in place that represent your authentic leadership and get you the results that you are after.
Q: Will there be a later course start?

A: While we plan to run the program again, there won't be another round until 2025. This is entirely dependent on the availability of our trainers who also have jobs in academia.
Q: I saw that there are other Team Leadership In Research trainings. Is there a specific order in which to do the programs?

A: There are a total of three programs currently. In chronological order of creation: 1. The "original" Research Leadership Mastery program (TLIR1), 2. Research Mentoring Roadmaps (TLIR2), and 3. Research Management Mastery (TLIR3). All programs are standalone, although it is recommended to take Research Leadership Mastery or Research Management Mastery before Mentoring Roadmaps. Research Leadership Mastery (TLIR1) is the program you are looking at right now. The program is dedicated to helping you dial into who you are as a leader, what you value, what your vision is. It also provides training in a variety of leadership skills and helps you develop your leadership point of view. TLIR3 or Research Management Mastery is focused on helping you become a badass manager and build lab and people management systems for your team. Mentoring Roadmaps or TLIR2 is a 75-hour coaching training for research team leaders that focuses on mentoring skills and one-on-one interactions with team members. It is next planned for spring 2022. Participants learn two frameworks and several coaching tools to mentor team members and address challenges. Because coaching others requires great self-awareness and self-regulation, this training is easier to digest after you gained clarity about who you are and where you're going as a leader and manager. Based on our program schedule, we suggest the following order: TLIR1 --> TLIR2 (spring 2025) --> TLIR3 (fall 2025).

Q: What's your refund policy?

A: When you commit to us, we fully commit to you. Because we are working in small cohorts, we can't find a replacement once you commit to joining. At this point, no refunds are available. We will discuss whether or not the program is the right fit for you before joining.
Q: Should I wait until I have a faculty position/ tenure?

A: While that's definitely up to you, I'd highly suggest that you start now, so you can create a rock solid foundation for your career moving forward.
Q: I'm very busy and worried about the time commitment. Will this program overcommit me even more?

A: If time is an ever-present struggle, it may be time to take a deeper look and ask yourself: Do my systems optimize my time? Or do they contribute to my struggles? If you are ready to not just treat the symptoms (e.g. say no to all things that would nurture and support you while saying yes to many external requests) but the real problem, we can support you in this. We will take a deep look at your time-eating activities and help you optimize. We also have experience of addressing the mindset challenges often at the root of feeling behind. It's not a quick fix, magic bullet type challenge. But one that can be addressed. That said, we encourage you to only apply if you are ready to commit at least 2-3h/ week to the program. We can only help if you show up.
Q: What funds can I use to pay for the program?

A: Most of our clients use institutional funds (start-up or departmental funds, training grants) to pay for the program. Occasionally, clients decide to invest in themselves using their personal funds. Payment plans are an option.
Q: I can ask any question on New/ Midcareer PI Slack or Twitter. Is this program going to give me any additional value?

A: New PI Slack, Midcareer PI Slack, Twitter and similar are certainly great resources to have access to for 1) getting questions answered, 2) getting examples and templates for all kinds of SOPs and 3) a sense of community. As with any responsible use of information retrieved from social media, ask yourself what the accuracy and strength of evidence for the suggested approach is. Aside from this, some people find the constant chatter on Twitter or Slack distracting or overwhelming or have a hard time figuring out which one of the suggested approaches to go with. On some of these channels, the messaging can feel negative and discouraging. Research Management Mastery is a small group program with not more than 15 participants focused on implementation of management strategies that are tailored to your needs. This is facilitated by trainers with in-depth knowledge of management tools and strategies. One lovely side effect of being part of a small group of people with aligned interests over the period of 6 months is that you will form a tightknit and supportive mastermind. It is not often during our busy adult lives that we get the opportunity to meet and build friendships with people outside of our immediate work environment. The Team Leadership In Research programs provide this opportunity.
Q: Is there a discount for future research team leaders?

A: There are limited trainee spots available at a discounted tuition for each cohort if instiututional funds are not available to pay. Please submit an application and inquire about availability
Q: Is there a bundle price for all three programs?

A: There is, just submit an application and let us know that you are interested in bundling two or three programs.

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Initially, I was worried about both spending the time and money on my leadership development, but the biweekly calls coupled with the content and workbook activities have proved priceless.

Stefanie is an amazing coach who has profoundly and positively impacted the way I work, think, and care for myself and others.

Program starts September 25, 2024

Dr. Stefanie Robel Stefanie grew up in Berlin, Germany...

Dr. Kendra Sewall Kendra grew up in rural Maine and always excelled in academics…

Dr. Stefanie Robel

Stefanie grew up in Berlin, Germany...

Dr. Kendra Sewall

Kendra grew up in rural Maine and always excelled in academics…