Management consultants and other professionals often recommend prioritizing the least certain (i.e., highest possibility of unexpected results) and highest leverage (i.e., delivering the highest return on investment upon completion) activities when designing the work plan for a major undertaking or, more generally, one’s career-related goals or obligations. In this newsletter, we’ll explore the second of these attributes – leverage.

“Leverage,” derived from the lever of Archimedes, is today used in a variety of contexts, including finance, production and management. We are not here attempting an authoritative definition of its meaning or the contexts in which it is used but instead want to briefly explore its relevance to PIs.

For high leverage, you want to devote your energy to activities that deliver, over time, high output relative to the associated investment. Below are some of the major approaches to high-leverage activities worthy of consideration in a researcher’s career:

“One and done”: Here, you do the work once and it keeps paying dividends. Examples include a well-developed LinkedIn profile or website, your well-appointed and functional workspace, or resources that are often re-used --  like standard operating procedures or having professional-looking headshots taken. Many of these investments of your time and resources are the low-hanging fruit that I nearly always encourage PIs to pursue.

Leveraged communications: When you create something, it may be shared with only one or just a few people. In contrast, a post on social media will often be seen by thousands. While an email may be read by only one person, when you give a talk, you’re reaching a roomful of people. You can make this even higher-leverage if you give the same talk multiple times.

You’ll get even greater leverage if you can record that talk and share it on YouTube. Further, are there classes you have taught that you may be allowed to record and share on the Internet? Consider speaking to your leadership to learn if this in some form is or can be permitted. Audiences across the globe can be learning from your materials as you sleep!

Software and automation: You regularly use software, perhaps writing it yourself, to improve your research efficiency. Why perform a task repetitively when it can be done much more quickly and with less room for human error using automation? Think beyond your research to consider if there are daily tasks related to email, teaching or your personal life that can be automated and or successfully packaged, like routines for sourcing frequently used products, supplies or services.

Acquiring broad training: High-leverage skills are ones that can be applied across your career. What you learn in a technical short course, while perhaps necessary for specific research-related skills, will probably be only narrowly applied otherwise. In contrast, knowledge of leadership, communication, or project management can benefit many aspects of your life and career — investments that pay off in multiple ways.

Of course, there are many activities that are not high-leverage in the sense of these examples but still have value. Nothing here is intended to imply that those are less valuable; indeed, they may be imperative. Our point is to ask if you are neglecting potentially rewarding high-leverage activities because, if so, you might benefit from considering and exploiting their long-term value yourself.

The importance of asking for what you want in your career

It sounds so easy to just ask for what we want, but we often don't do this.

First of all, there may be something we are hoping for, but we don't even think to ask for it. Or, if we do think to ask, we can be held back if we anticipate that the asking could be awkward. Also, we can be held back by a bigger fear of rejection.

The thing is, there's a very good possibility that when you do make the ask, you will be solving a problem for the person you make that ask from. This happened for me just the other day when a salesperson called me and offered to get the ball rolling on something that had been on my to-do list for some time.

In this video, I offer some ways to think about asking directly for what you want.

When you are ready, here’s how we can help

Need to get your research funded, this year? Check out our 10-week program to get you there.

Ready to book a call to discuss our program or to have Dr. Barzyk provide training at your institution? Let’s chat!