Find your leader

"We live our life forgetting that we are all potentially charismatic people."

Today I attended two meetings because we are meeting up with our new head of the school to have discussions of the various issues surrounding us in teaching and research. Just as I believe the main purpose of the meeting for our BIG BOSS to know us, our concerns, issues, etc, I didn't expect that the anyone would come to some sorts of solution if any were ever needed.

One of the main issues facing the groups are about research and the retirement of senior members of staff. This seems to be the situation in most UK Universities at the moment, and not sure if the situation will be made worst by the cut in the government's budget recently. Our institution seems to be doing fine with good surplus over the year and the cut is expected to have the least impact on us. Anyway, the main thing about retirement is really about the lost of good leadership in the research field. There has to be some form of lead figures in anywhere one works. In research, it is more subtle than most, in term of the how things might turn out, and the more one should be aware of the consequences arising from the lost of a lead figure.

Academia is a trade that people are highly regarded by their knowledge level. For someone like me who is mostly regarded like a junior researcher, I would mostly "need a leader" or a mentor, so that I can grow, develop and become better. I don't want to think I am being disrespectful to my senior colleague, the truth is we all have a style and my style is such that, I want to spend time looking for a good and suitable leader to work with. That, however, does not mean I cannot do research independently. Having said that, I cannot guarantee that my research will "stand the test of time", unless I published in good quality 4* journal, then that will be highly regarded. At the moment, as I see the way I go, I maybe will do research in a way that contribute to providing incremental knowledge. I do what I like, believe in them, get them done and published, it will be a bonus to have a leader around. This is, however, something you cannot beg for it and the more you have to work independently or find a leader to work with, which is not a problem, so long you know what you want and what you are doing. :D