10 tips to land leadership positions in academia
Photo by Yan Krukau
What does it take to become a dean, a provost, or simply a leader in academia? Many aspire to acquire leadership positions in academics but don’t know what skills they should develop. While leadership entails similar skills and capabilities across all sectors, those for the educational sector differ slightly. This article explains what qualities employers look for in future leaders, especially in the academic sphere.
Learn all about different methods to hone your skills as an academic leader and become successful in this sector.
How to become an academic leader?
Academic leaders can enhance the quality of learning offered to students and reshape the curriculum to ensure it reflects the needs of a 21st-century job market. They can realign the field of education with modern-day technological requirements, such as EdTech.
However, the change begins with you landing a leadership position first. What sort of leadership positions are available? Besides a few mentioned above, you can become a college president, a department chairperson, or even a chief academic officer (CAO). It all depends on how acutely you can follow the recommendations in this article. So, here are some simple ways to land a leadership position in academia successfully:
1. Build academic credentials
Getting the necessary educational credentials is important for landing leadership positions in academia. That’s why candidates must pursue educational leadership courses to boost their eligibility for career advancement opportunities. These courses teach how to integrate theory with practice for better academic outcomes while developing the knowledge necessary to acquire a high-level position in the industry.
Building your credentials, therefore, should be a priority.
2. Hone soft skills
Don’t forget to work on your “soft skills” while strengthening your credentials. These skills make you more eligible for high-level academic positions than your colleagues. For instance, critical thinking, problem-solving, and conflict resolution are crucial skills to develop to become worthy of leadership positions in the industry. Moreover, another “soft skill” involves boosting your communication capabilities.
In short, don’t focus on honing your professional/hard skills only.
3. Learn to communicate
Effective communication is the most important skill future leaders should develop. Attaining promotion in the learning sector only becomes a reality after improving your verbal and nonverbal communication capabilities. That’s how you express your desire to assume more duties in the organization and show your leadership potential effectively to your superiors.
4. Become more data-driven
Educational leaders shouldn’t lose touch with the modern world that has become more data-driven. Academic leaders should always opt for a data-driven approach while planning future projects. Data-savviness can help you become a better decision-maker, boosting your chances of landing a leadership position.
But why is data-centricity crucial in academia? Leaders can evaluate data to make lesson plans effective for students and hone educators’ retention rates.
5. Tolerate grayness sometimes
A data-driven method shows that things aren’t always black or white, and there’s always a gray area. Academic leaders must embrace this grayness and tolerate it because of the lack of data to improve their decision-making process. This quality makes them more eligible for future leadership positions.
In other words, this grayness makes it easier for academic leaders to adapt to changes. Besides, individuals capable of adapting are always preferred for high-level positions in the education sector.
6. Take on challenges
Academic leaders are always faced with unprecedented challenges they must tackle head-on, and candidates for these positions are expected to be prepared for the same fate. Never back away from a challenge and aim to resolve the conflicts and challenges of modern-day academia. Here are some common problems facing the learning sector in the USA:
- Maintaining the quality of learning
- Teachers being overworked and underpaid
- A declining retention rate among educators
- Managing monetary resources in education properly
- Inadequately-trained academic leaders (i.e., lacking proper credentials)
7. Develop strong connections
Establishing powerful industry connections is a must-have for high-level positions in academia. Your chances of landing leadership positions will drastically increase if you have networked smartly. So, connect with people to build your reputation, and well-reputed individuals are more likely to get promoted to policymaking positions.
You can create these connections by working on your online presence, tweaking your LinkedIn profile, and attending educational seminars in your state.
8. Get a mentor
Mentorship may significantly improve your chances of landing a high-level academic position today. Your mentor will teach you the necessary skills and capabilities to survive in this profession.
A mentor can be anyone from the industry with enough experience working in academia. You can also shadow someone and learn from them. This mentorship-cum-shadowing tenure will help you bolster your eligibility for senior roles easily.
9. Adhere to policies
Landing leadership positions isn’t possible without first being a follower. Learn to follow the leaders in your industry and pick up some crucial leadership skills by shadowing them.
Know that effective leaders aren’t “lone wolves”; instead, they frequently collaborate with their colleagues, pupils, and stakeholders. Learn to follow the rules, adhere to policies, and respect the hierarchy. That’s how you make your name known as an ideal candidate for any upcoming leadership position.
10. Develop your style
What sort of leadership style do you possess? It’s important to determine what kind of a leader you are to become eligible for high-level academic positions. Most importantly, consider reviewing and modifying your leadership style. Let’s go over some common styles of leadership:
- Transformational: Focuses more on teamwork
- Authoritative: You make everyone follow policies strictly
- Strategic: Works better when you have long-term goals in mind
- Emotional: Requires you to have high levels of emotional intelligence
- Instructional: Ideal for those willing to land academic leadership positions
Conclusion
Landing a leadership position in the academic sphere isn’t easy, but with sheer dedication, it’s possible to secure higher roles. Enhance your academic credentials to become eligible for any upcoming leadership opportunities. Bolster your “soft skills,” establish strong industry connections, and learn to either base decisions on data or tolerate gray areas. Assume more responsibilities (that’s what a leader does eventually), hone your communication capabilities, and look for mentorship opportunities in your institution. And most importantly, identify your leadership style to show people you’re ready for the big league.
