You are a group leader, not a super-hero

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Going from a post-doc position to a group leader position is a big jump. For me, the biggest difference is to have people under my care. And I use the expression "under my care" on purpose: I feel responsible for them - at least to an extent. This puts pressure. However, what puts more pressure on me is the mentality of "now I am a group leader", i.e., I have a new identity and I have to live up to its expectations.

And what happens when group leaders feel that are not meeting their own standards? Group leaders may feel like hiding their own lack of knowledge and weaknesses. This is human, but also devastating. When leaders try to hide their vulnerabilities, they avoid situations of growth: asking questions, meeting people, starting discussions. Not only that, every situation is about "what does this say about me?" rather than being about the project, the people, the lesson. In the end, every situation becomes a potential threat - a threat to their identity, so they become defensive.

It is easy to understand how this attitude hinders growth - for the group leader and everyone around; - how this kills motivation; creates anxiety; fosters lack of self-confidence and low self-esteem; and, in the long run, - even if the group leader is brilliant to start with - it leads to mediocrity. 

I think a group leader must be authentic. But it is tough to face the fear that others may judge you, and probably this fear comes because you judge yourself. You judge yourself; it hurts; and you fear that others will judge you in the same way. So you hide the very things for which you judge yourself as if your life depended on it.

But let's get real: a group leader cannot know everything, cannot have time for everything, cannot always be super-motivated, cannot always be the smartest one. Many times it will happen that they will be supervising someone smarter than them. Well, if that happens to you, enjoy! Hooray! Less work and more learning (and the student will still need to learn from you, so do not be lax).

Focus on what you like, what keeps your drive, and the style of working and supervising that suits you best. Focus on your strengths - keep fostering them. Remember how precious is to be a group leader; how hard you worked to get there. You are living the dream. It is challenging, but that is also a good part of this job. It keeps always pushing you out of your comfort zone. You will keep growing and enjoying as long as you do not pretend that you do not need to grow anymore. 


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