Based on Be Human First, a Scientist Second by Alison Antes published in Nature, 29 November 2018
1. Schedule regular one-to-one meetings
- Meet team members individually and consistently.
- Understand their challenges, motivations and professional needs.
- Discuss research progress, career development and next steps.
- Recognise contributions and provide constructive feedback.
- Ask whether they need encouragement, guidance or support.
2. Encourage people to share concerns and achievements
- Create a safe environment where researchers can discuss problems.
- Invite team members to share both complaints and positive experiences.
- Identify difficulties early rather than allowing them to escalate.
- Demonstrate that you listen and take their concerns seriously.
3. Be visible and approachable
- Walk around the laboratory and interact with team members.
- Make yourself available for informal discussions.
- Encourage spontaneous brainstorming and problem-solving.
- Show genuine interest in their everyday research activities.
4. Model the behaviour you expect from your team
- Establish respectful communication during meetings.
- Encourage participation and ask for everyone’s opinions.
- Identify barriers to collaboration.
- Promote mutual support and shared responsibility.
- Explicitly communicate the importance of teamwork.
5. Organise informal social interactions
- Arrange occasional social gatherings outside routine research activities.
- Help colleagues develop personal connections.
- Consider individual circumstances, including family responsibilities, cultural or religious considerations and financial limitations.
- Build a sense of belonging within the research group.
6. Advocate for a healthy research culture
- Promote these practices beyond your own laboratory.
- Share successful approaches with colleagues and departmental leadership.
- Learn from effective research team leaders.
- Contribute to creating a healthier academic environment.
Important leadership lessons
The article highlights several important observations:
| Traditional approach | Better leadership approach |
|---|---|
| Prioritising publications over relationships | Balancing research productivity with people development |
| Focusing only on technical supervision | Providing personal and professional support |
| Maintaining distance as a leader | Being approachable and accessible |
| Avoiding difficult conversations | Addressing concerns respectfully and early |
| Expecting perfection | Demonstrating care, humility and consistency |
| Giving instructions | Encouraging participation and ownership |
| Managing individuals separately | Building a collaborative research culture |
Application to academic and research laboratories
For a Principal Investigator (PI), the responsibility extends beyond producing publications, securing grants and supervising experiments.
A good PI should:
- Develop people, not just research projects. Students and researchers should grow intellectually, professionally and personally.
- Build psychological safety. Team members should feel comfortable admitting mistakes, asking questions and expressing disagreement.
- Practise active listening. Understand the challenges behind a student’s performance rather than judging outcomes alone.
- Recognise individual contributions. Appreciation and constructive feedback strengthen motivation.
- Establish mutual respect. Seniority should not prevent open communication.
- Create a sustainable working environment. Research excellence should not come at the expense of people’s well-being.