Three Keys to Give Yourself Grace at Work

Provide yourself the patience, kindness, compassion, and encouragement you give to staff

byScott D. Hanton, PhD

| 2 min read

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As leaders, we often support our staff with kindness, compassion, encouragement, and patience. We help people deal with the complexity of the science and the ups and downs inherent in lab work.

But how often do we provide the same level of understanding to ourselves? Managing a lab is hard. Dealing with the people issues, budgets, safety and quality programs, and being accountable to key stakeholders can take its toll on anyone. In order to support our people, we must also give ourselves the gift of grace. Here are three tips to help lab managers be kind and supportive to themselves:

#1 – Practice self-compassion

Lab managers are people, too. Make a deliberate effort to treat yourself with the same kindness, compassion, encouragement, and patience that you extend to your staff. You have a lot of decisions on your plate, and some of them won’t work out the way you hoped. Not only is that OK, it’s expected. No one is perfect. So, examine your self-talk. Make sure you say nice things along with the self-critiques, celebrate successes, and be patient with problems. Being as supportive of yourself as you are of everyone else around the lab will enable you to be more resilient to all your accountabilities in the role.

#2 – Embrace vulnerability

Learning to be more vulnerable can be very freeing. Asking for help and suggestions will allow you to share some of the burden of leadership. Others in your lab and network will play an active role in helping you make the best decisions for the lab. In his book The Culture Code, Daniel Coyle makes the argument that highly successful groups share vulnerability. They receive and use the ideas, observations, and feedback the group has to offer. Being vulnerable will allow you to get better input, make better decisions, and be more approachable to your staff. You won’t have to be the sole source of ideas and options anymore.

#3 – Set realistic expectations

Most lab managers are promoted from within, evolving from high-performing scientists. Many high performers are driven by their own high expectations of themselves. As the lab manager, you are expected to know, understand, be proficient in, and execute a huge variety of different things, from people leadership to budget execution. Sometimes the goals of the work are counterproductive, or you must lead through ambiguity, and you never seem to have enough time or information to do it right. Recognize your limits and avoid setting unachievable goals. Use effective prioritization with the help of systems like the Eisenhower Matrix to ensure the most important things get the best of your attention, delegating other tasks as needed.

Treating yourself as well as you treat your staff will help you have the energy and drive to continue making a difference for your lab.

About the Author

Scott D. Hanton, PhD

Scott Hanton is the editorial director of Lab Manager. He spent 30 years as a research chemist, lab manager, and business leader at Air Products and Intertek. He earned a BS in chemistry from Michigan State University and a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Scott is an active member of ACS, ASMS, and ALMA. Scott married his high school sweetheart, and they have one son. Scott is motivated by excellence, happiness, and kindness. He most enjoys helping people and solving problems. Away from work Scott enjoys working outside in the yard, playing strategy games, and coaching youth sports. He can be reached at shanton@labmanager.com.