Team Leadership in Research Info

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

You likely never formally learned how to tap the full potential of your research team members. If you're like most of the researchers I've worked with in academia, you mostly figured it out on your own. You may have passively learned from your mentors, picked up a few books on leadership, or attended a training or two.

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

Great teams don't happen by trial & error.
They are created with intention and systems.

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 is the implicit expectation that you somehow figure out how to lead people and manage people challenges, be strategic about the growth of your research program, attract funding, and also maintain consistent high levels of productivity (despite the lack of a professional workforce). Because you are intelligent and because others before you have done it too.

But few folks talk about the fact that the nature of our jobs as faculty has changed and that the expectations have increased.

Yet, you are not appropriately trained to step into the leader you need to be to meet those expectations. Most folks compensate by throwing more time on the problem, at the cost of their health, relationships, and happiness. This is what contributes to our current culture and mental health challenges in academia.

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.

You need hands-on, practical leadership training designed specifically for research teams.

Your research can help change the world. But you need better approaches to leading your team. We've spent years cultivating the skills to effectively lead and to coach others to lead. We've packed all that hard-earned knowledge into the Research Leadership Mastery program.

The Research Leadership Mastery program provides training and support to you as a team leader in an academic setting so you can exponentially improve the way you communicate and work together.

Your whole new
leadership strategy

starts here.

You may think that you should already know how to do this. You may think that some people are either born great leaders or not. But there are no born leaders. Leadership is an acquired skill. And if you haven’t learned it, you’ve been defaulting into the leadership you've experienced from key people in your life. People who also didn't have leadership training. This makes it likely that you are not consistently choosing the most effective approach.

There are five phases to tapping the full potential of your research team:

5

STEPS TO 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.

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 focusing your worry on 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.
Facilitate effective team communication so that you spend less time resolving misunderstandings and more time focused on academic problem-solving.
Foster positive team dynamics to create a safe work environment, reducing stress and anxiety and increasing motivation and teamwork.

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

The Research Leadership Mastery program is centered around 6-month 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.

Inside the course, we'll also cover how to:

Cultivate an intentional team culture so that you maximize fun and collaboration within the team while minimizing drama and team quarrels
Define team values that enable your team members to make decisions independently so that you maximize your freedom to do your own creative work instead of closely overseeing your team for compliance.
Design support and feedback systems that work for you and your team, so that you are in the loop about your team’s work but minimize your time spent supervising.
Develop a team strategy to maximize personal and professional growth, motivation, and fulfillment of all team members while maintaining high levels of productivity.
Coach your team to enable them to find purpose in their work and direction for their careers to facilitate professional growth. You will learn how to increase your team’s independence and ability to make decisions to create synergy in your work together rather than a hierarchy of oversight characterized by ineffective micromanagement.
Improve retention of highly productive team members to maximize your and their output.

You have a way out of being overwhelmed. You can go from merely managing the day to day...to truly leading from a place of vision.

Research Leadership Mastery is a 12-module leadership program delivered over the course of 6 months. It’s a hybrid model of course work with real-time implementation and coaching support. Recorded training sessions form the foundation of the program to cover all relevant areas of leadership as they apply to a research team in academia.

We designed this program as a shortcut for you so that you do not have to read books about leadership, communication, and coaching for 10 years.

As you already know, I cannot put the skills I teach into practice for you. The willingness to work on yourself first and to take full responsibility for all your results is the crucial linchpin to becoming a successful and fulfilled leader.

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.

About the course

Research Leadership Mastery is a 12-module
leadership course that helps you build a strong leadership foundation and then guides you through the process of intentionally cultivating an innovative team.

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

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.

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

How it works:

Learn.

>> Trainings will cover the relevant background, worksheets or homework to implement the principles by yourself and with your research team.

Implement.

>> Learning without implementation is pointless. The program duration and opportunities to work with our coaches, your peers in the program, and your team ensure that you integrate what you learn.

Transform.

>> Coaching and feedback is crucial for facilitating real change and even transformation for your team and in your leadership.

Meet the Trainers

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.

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.

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 biweekly 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

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

Leadership starts with a decision.
Take action today.

The data on mental health of academics are mind boggling. . . so many people in academia are suffering. I know, because I used to be one of them! But there's a better way available to you (that doesn't require leaving academia).

I know you're busy, but you can get ahead instead of living in a reactive, fire-fighting mode. If you're constantly pressed for time, you need training that's practical and fluff-free. (I don't have time for fluff either and besides, I'm German so I'm all about that no nonsense life.)

If you spend time dealing with drama and endless grant writing, you must make time for a program like this.

If you're thinking, "Okay, but I have to get funding first”, you might need to make a powerful shift in the way you approach investing. This program is an investment into yourself (for your entire life), your team and group productivity, and even your science.

And here's the truth, productive teams get funding more efficiently.

Research Leadership Mastery
Program Options

Research Leadership Mastery Course + High-Achieving Community + Bi-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.

$5797, early-bird discount and trainee or low fund availability stipends available–just ask if this applies to you.

Full access to the course for at least 1 year
Step-by-step processes to go through with your team
Downloadable worksheets
Zoom coaching calls in a small group setting (twice/ month). 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: Wrap up 1:1 session at the end of 6 months to chart your leadership path moving forward
BONUS: Workbook with training exercises

Apply to Join Research Leadership Mastery

Funding may be available to you through your institution with startup funds, indirects, departmental funding, training grants, private funds, or a combination.

Are you the right fit for
Research Leadership Mastery?

The program is 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...)

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 every other week 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. While we may offer in-person events in the future, they will be optional.
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, we cannot guarantee that there is another round in 2022. This is entirely dependent on the availability of our trainers who also have jobs in academia.
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: 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 2023) --> TLIR3 (2023).

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.

LIVE INTERACTION AND SUPPORT

Support is an important aspect of training and will be provided during monthly Zoom group Q&A and discussion sessions with all Inner Circle participants. I lead each support call and address questions that arose after you worked to implement the course content individually and with your team.

During the calls, we will compare notes about your homework and interactions with your team, as well as discuss case studies that illustrate how to best handle difficult situations. These sessions are done in a group setting to provide you with insight into other participant’s experiences.

All students will have access to a private Facebook group for support. This group will support researchers, academics, group leaders, scientists, students, and postdocs who want to know how to raise their productivity, drive results, minimize conflict and attract excellent team members so that they can be part of a research team that is successful, well-funded, excellent, has work-life balance, fun and is acknowledged for their work.

The focus of this group is to enhance leadership skills that evolve around inclusiveness, creativity, community, and communication.

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

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 course or Inner Circle Coaching? 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.

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