Illustration: Maribel Sierra, MPH
Dear friends,
We’ve made it through one more pandemic month, and hopefully you are feeling a spark of optimism as I am. Recently a junior faculty member asked if I would meet with her to help her craft a pitch for a leadership role in her division. I’ve previously failed and succeeded in pitching roles to various leaders at UCSF, and here are some lessons.
If you are pitching a new role, whether it’s a new organization of existing activities (e.g., taking the 9 scattered lectures on related subjects and making them a cohesive curriculum with a director) or whether you’re proposing new activities, like developing an anti-racism plan for the division, you must be able to articulate the need for this work and your qualifications to lead it. Let’s call that your draft pitch.
1. Know yourself. In academia, there is so much emphasis on making it to the next step that it can feel reflexive to seek a leadership opportunity. Resist that automatic thinking, grab a notebook and pen, and write down why you want to be a leader. Remember that leadership in academia is a sideways step- it is not a way to make progress towards your scientific/ intellectual contribution to your field. Many amazing thinkers spend their careers generating and disseminating new knowledge, and that’s more than enough. So why do you want to do this thing, whatever it is? For bonus points, run your rationale by a peer and listen carefully to their reaction. I’m not here to judge your reasons, but I have not seen anyone obtain a leadership role when their primary reason is to support their salary. You’re more likely to be successful in getting a role if it aligns with your skills and your career trajectory.
2. Know the work. Write your ideal job description. What does the day-to-day (or week-to-week, if it’s not a big role) look like? What does success look like? Now, take a hard look at your CV and the job description. I know that you are qualified to do this work, but do you have relevant experience? Are you doing this work on a volunteer basis already? Take the time to delineate your qualifications, experience, and current efforts towards this proposed role.
3. Cultivate stakeholders. Now that you have a hypothetical job description, show it to trusted colleagues who can give you feedback. They should clearly see the need for this role and exhibit incredible enthusiasm. If they don’t, it’s not ready. Not everyone is comfortable criticizing, but a lukewarm reaction is telling. You won’t succeed unless the people in your group think it’s a great idea.
4. Know your audience. Have you ever pitched a role to your chair/ chief/ whoever the decider is? What do they value? Have they created leadership roles before? Do you have peers or senior colleagues who have successfully negotiated for a leadership role? Investigate! Now, who is in your decider’s inner circle? Is there a senior faculty member, or divisional staff leader, who your decider listens to? Get some informal input from an insider. Now go back to your initial pitch. Put yourself in your decider’s shoes. Taking into account the internal dynamics of the division or department, external conditions, and your decider’s values, what is the best possible outcome for them if they create the role and give you resources? What are the consequences of not having this role? It bears repeating that you need to write all of this out and vet it with peers who know the local landscape.
Now you’re ready! Remember you can follow steps 1-4 perfectly and it can still fall on deaf ears. Much of this is timing and luck, but if you persist, you will land in a position that fits you.
Thank you for reading! Stay well, and please send me good news. I love to amplify your successes!
Warmly,
Urmimala