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Crossing to the Other Side

Julie Theriot
Stanford University

S

cientific research is usually a collaborative effort,

most successful and most fun when performed

by a team of individuals who complement each

others’ knowledge and talents. In academia, small lab-

oratories are generally directed by just one person, the

faculty member or principal investigator (the P.I.). The

success and happiness of the lab depends in large

measure on the ability of the P.I. to keep the team work-

ing together smoothly. The relevant people-manage-

ment skills are taught in business schools, but are not

generally part of Ph.D. or postdoctoral training.

In academic research, the transition from team mem-

ber to team director is usually sharp. Graduate stu-

dents and postdoctoral fellows often get the opportu-

nity to train more junior members of their lab, and

some even directly supervise the work of a technician,

but it is rare to gain experience in managing a whole

group at these stages. For most faculty members, the

start of the first appointment as an assistant professor

marks a time when the individual stops being one of

“us”, the team of postdoctoral fellows, students, and

technicians that do the bulk of the work, and suddenly

becomes one of “them”, the P.I.’s.

The sharpness and completeness of this transition

takes many new assistant professors by surprise, and

its artificiality makes scientists at this point in their

CHAPTER 5 • LEADERSHIP 53

The start of the first appointment as an

assistant professor marks a time when

the individual stops being one of

“us”... and suddenly becomes one of

“them,” the P.I.’s.