{"id":1308,"date":"2025-11-20T14:23:51","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T14:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/doctoralstudies\/?p=1308"},"modified":"2025-11-20T14:23:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T14:23:51","slug":"leadership-skills-for-researchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/doctoralstudies\/2025\/11\/20\/leadership-skills-for-researchers\/","title":{"rendered":"Leadership Skills for Researchers: Why They Matter and How to Build Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By King\u2019s Careers & Employability, Careers Consultants for Researchers Team<\/em><\/p>\n

Leadership isn\u2019t just for people with \u201cmanager\u201d in their job title – it\u2019s a vital capability for anyone who wants to make their ideas a reality. For researchers, leadership is about influence, direction, and the ability to bring people and projects together to achieve impact, whether this is in or beyond academia. It also clearly demonstrates the ability to take the initiative, be innovative, take responsibility and influence others. At the end of this article we have provided a few opportunities to build your leadership skills at King\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Why develop leadership skills?<\/h3>\n

Research increasingly depends on collaboration, whether in interdisciplinary projects, supervising students, coordinating with industry or policy partners and to secure research funding. Strong leadership helps you motivate others, make sound decisions, and communicate a clear vision – qualities that shape not only successful research teams but also resilient, innovative careers more broadly.<\/p>\n

In many fellowship applications this is reflected in the narrative CV<\/a> under the heading that is usually something like \u2018Development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships\u2019 where you can demonstrate your research leadership capability through leading a team, collaborators, partnerships and\/or networks.<\/p>\n

Leadership is one of the most frequently mentioned skills in UK job adverts and came under the broader cluster of \u2018strategic management and governance\u2019 as found by research<\/a> led by Imperial that analysed over 65 million UK job adverts. The World Economic Forum<\/a> lists leadership and social influence<\/em> among the fastest-growing skills across all sectors which is no surprise when you consider that this is probably the most important skill for employees dealing with and supporting others with change. Whether you aim for a lectureship, a policy post, or an R&D role in industry, developing leadership skills makes you more adaptable and employable.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the benefit?<\/h3>\n

Leadership skills translate directly into effectiveness at work: you\u2019ll manage time and resources better, foster inclusive collaboration, and be able to guide teams through uncertainty – a daily reality in the current workplace. They also enhance your confidence in influencing upwards (for example, when negotiating project scope or impact) and sideways (when coordinating across disciplines or institutions).<\/p>\n

Crucially, leadership development supports wellbeing. Knowing how to delegate, give feedback, and handle conflict has been linked to reducing burnout and creating healthier research and work cultures.<\/p>\n

How can I develop leadership skills?<\/h3>\n