I stepped off the elevator with equal parts excitement and nervousness. It was my first day in an official leadership role supporting animal research compliance at a prestigious institution. Walking towards my new office, my mind raced as the unknown washed over me. Did I truly possess the experience and competency needed to excel in my new role?
While enthusiastic to get set up and start peeling back the layers of my new program, I was immediately met with an unexpected situation that would challenge my so-called leadership prowess. Within the first week, my supervisor shared that one of my new team members was being placed on a performance improvement plan—also known as a PIP—and I would be responsible for facilitating it, working to get my new team member on track with the goals established by their PIP.
Anyone who has experience with PIPs knows how time-consuming and challenging it can be to navigate them with team members. I had learned that this amazing human, whom I had just met, was struggling to keep up with an electronic protocol management system integration, and their work needed to improve. This was a person I thought very highly of, wanted the best for, and looked forward to working alongside in my new role.
Many questions immediately bubbled up:
- How might this individual, extremely competent in our field, feel at this moment in time?
- How might my other team members feel because of this?
- How would I build trust with my new team while working through this?
- How could I fully dive into my new program while investing a large amount of time into parsing the context of this PIP and getting the individual back on track in a supportive and positive way?
- How can I help dissipate any existing tension?
- How can I seem supportive and not like a micromanager from the start?
- How do I help alleviate any workload burden that the team might feel because of this?
I wish I had known then what I now understand about leadership, managing these programs, and supporting team members through challenging times. To be honest, I was not prepared for that situation through my prior management experience alone. Still, I am grateful for how much I learned from the experience, including a newfound passion for leadership and what it means to move from a manager to a leader.
Management vs Leadership
For as long as I can remember, I have been curious about leadership. What exactly is leadership, and what actions and skills make a leader great? Why do some leaders treat others poorly or tend to micromanage their direct reports? How do leaders build inclusive environments and high-performing teams?
These questions and more filled my journal—I am, after all, an avid questioner and always have been—and due to some early negative experiences with leadership, I wanted to find the answers to ensure that I could become an effective leader. I therefore embarked on my own self-study journey by way of a Master’s in Organizational Leadership.
After spending thousands of hours researching pedagogy and all things related to leadership, one common theme stood out: there is a very real gap that exists between Manager and Leader.
When examining this trend and reviewing some of the downstream implications from not working towards the leader role before we end up in management positions, we find that there are very real consequences that result from failing to bridge the gap between manager and leader. To help ease your own leadership journey, I’ve collected some of my most significant findings below:
Individual-centric vs. human-centric: Leadership is human-centric and focuses on people, while management is individual-centric and focuses on the work. Without making the leap to a human-centric mentality, you run the risk of creating environments where team members do not feel supported or valued.
Working “in” the program vs working “on” the program: Managers often hyper-focus on working “in” their program instead of “on” their program. This can perpetuate a lack of program growth and evolution and keep managers in an “I am too busy” mindset.
Individualist vs systems thinking: Research leaders need to weigh seeing their programs through an individual lens vs a systemic lens. These programs are complex and interconnected, and when we lose sight of that or are only used to operating from managing individual components of our program, we can set ourselves up for non-compliance and or negative downstream effects as a result of taking action and not considering potential ripple effects of those actions. Depending on what side of the “shop” you are on, this could also negatively impact animal welfare.
Limiting mindset vs abundance mindset: Continuing to take action from a limited or fear-based mindset can lead to stagnant programs and stagnant development on both team and individual levels. This ultimately perpetuates biases and non-inclusive environments. Great leaders cultivate a lens of possibility and opportunity and know that challenges are gifts in disguise and work to elevate all voices in the process.
High attrition vs high retention: Data shows that leadership styles, along with a leader’s competency level, directly affect the amount of time an employee stays in a position. If we overlook the difference in moving from manager to leader and what that means, we also run the risk of creating environments with higher rates of attrition.
Three tips for bridging the gap
Once we honor and acknowledge the differences between managing and leading, we can begin to make real strides in our leadership journey. With this in mind, here are my three tips to support you in bridging the gap from manager to leader:
- Reflection: Reflection is an essential skill for great leaders. Embodying the practice of reflection promotes self-development, team development, inclusive environments, process improvements, greater innovation, self and team-wellbeing, and more.
There are many practical ways we can incorporate reflection into our working rhythm. Schedule time in your calendar to reflect. Keep a workplace journal where you can write down anything that might come up for you. Create a new habit! From the examples below, you can see how profound the simple practice of reflection can be:- Why did that IACUC meeting feel so contentious today?
- Does my team feel supported with this new system transition?
- How can we improve our semiannual inspection process?
- What went well vs not during this latest AAALACi Site Visit?
- What are the ways in which this team member’s role transition will affect our program and my other team members?
- How will this new regulatory change affect our overall program?
- Have I created a supportive and trusting work environment?
- Why am I looking for new jobs?
- Grace: Great leaders cultivate a sense of grace. This requires developed emotional intelligence, compassion, and empathy. This is extremely important because it leads to employees feeling valued. After all, monetary incentives are not the only way to show employees that they are appreciated.
If, for example, a team member comes to you for bereavement leave and expresses they have lost a loved one, the only correct answer in that moment is to have empathy and compassion for them as a human being. The work can wait, and it does not need to be referenced immediately.
If a team member shares that their child’s school was delayed by a couple of hours, grace could also mean rescheduling the meeting to a time when they can be available, or letting them know you understand and that you hope they have some fun in the snow with the kids.
Whatever the scenario, grace involves meeting people where they are at as human beings and holding space for the moments that call for it. - Leader Growth Mindset: Great leaders never stop working on themselves and their leadership competency. It goes without saying that lived experience is one of the best ways to bridge the gap between manager and leader. Sometimes, when being called on when we least expect it, or within a first-time leadership role, we gain valuable lessons through experiencing what it means to have team members under our charge.
Learning to grow, however, isn’t just about gaining experience on the job. It also means reading leadership books, attending conferences and webinars, working with coaches or mentors, and continuing to study yourself as an individual.
Conclusions
The path of becoming a great leader is a continuous journey filled with ups and downs, twists and turns. Most of those in the field of research administration start at manager-level positions before moving to higher-level positions where they lead teams and programs.
However, there is a very clear distinction between managing and leading. If we do not bridge the gap, we leave our programs exposed to unintended consequences. Focusing on the three tips provided here will help you evolve from manager to leader; your program, team, and the animals will thank you!
Eugene Matullo is an accomplished leader of IACUC programs and has over a decade of experience managing research compliance programs in different capacities. He supports the IACUC professional community through EM3 by way of the ARC Seminar Series, Leadership Consulting, and contract IACUC Administrative Program support. To learn more about Eugene and the services provided through EM3, visit EM3.consulting.
