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Statisticians as Leaders

1 April 2016 2,712 views No Comment
Matthew J. Gurka and Vaneeta K. Grover

 

“Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.” –Vince Lombardi

The notion of leadership has been studied and discussed in detail, with countless books, journals, and websites devoted to the topic. Yet, leadership is often overlooked in the statistics profession. We as statisticians either do not see ourselves as “natural born” leaders or we simply do not have the desire to pursue leadership opportunities.

Speakers for 2016 JSM Course: Preparing Statisticians for Leadership

Jon Kettenring, RISE director at Drew University and 1997 ASA president
Christy Chuang-Stein, NISS, former vice president at Pfizer, and ASA Fellow
Nathaniel Schenker, deputy director at NCHS and 2014 ASA president

In recent years, the ASA has made attempts to elevate leadership in the statistics profession, spearheaded by a two-day course at JSM. Preparing Statisticians for Leadership: How to See the Big Picture and Have More Influence has been offered at the previous two Joint Statistical Meetings and will be offered again at JSM 2016 in Chicago.

It features known statistician-leaders and provides guidance on personal leadership development—not just as leaders in our statistical groups, but as leaders in larger organizations.

We were recent participants in this course and will be co-facilitating the upcoming course with Gary Sullivan, senior director of global statistical sciences at Eli Lilly & Company. Here, we reflect on our experiences and discuss the importance of leadership in our profession from the perspectives of both academia and industry, respectively.

MatthewGurka_statleaders_profile
Matthew Gurka
Professor and Associate Director, Institute for Child Health Policy, University of Florida

The term “accidental leader” is not a novel one, but it certainly applies to me. Shortly after I arrived at my previous institution (West Virginia University), a school of public health was formed, along with a need for a department of biostatistics. I found myself the founding chair of one of five new departments, charged with building degree programs and recruiting faculty and students. This opportunity came to me much earlier in my career than expected, and I quickly sought opportunities to learn about leadership.

The JSM leadership course was a unique chance to focus on leadership within the context of our statistics profession. What is leadership anyway? How does one lead those who report to you, but also how does one “lead up” and “manage” the people to whom we answer? These are the types of questions discussed in detail during this course, and it helped me tremendously.

Beyond practical skills and sharing of others’ experiences, however, the most important focus of this course is the notion that we, as statisticians, should think about leadership opportunities in our larger organization, not just within our statistics group(s). This had a profound impact on my career. I found myself taking on leadership roles in the school as a whole, not just isolating myself in my department. I have welcomed the opportunities to continue to do statistics, but also to help lead in the larger environments where I am located, which has now taken me to my new position at the University of Florida.

Vaneeta_Grover_statleaders_profile
Vaneeta Kaur Grover
Manager, Statistician, GlaxoSmithKline

I have played leadership roles in different capacities since I was in high school. However, translating [those experiences] into leader as a statistician was not that straightforward. The JSM leadership course helped me understand the importance of considering the bigger picture (strategy and business direction). It not only identified the ways in which we can get a “seat at the table” for discussion and “influence the business decisions” as statisticians, but also develop the skills required for negotiations, effective communication, and taking on the leadership role.

One of the strengths of the course is that it touches different learning styles—discussions, hands-on exercises, and listening to the experiences of what did and did not work from leadership speakers. This had a big impact on my career. It made me think about my role, my responsibilities and opportunities for future development. As a result, I recently made a career change from the chemical industry, being the sole statistician at Chemours, to a team of statisticians at GlaxoSmithKline with a greater opportunity for leadership. I was able to leverage my learning from the course during the interview and hiring process and expect to apply and grow other leadership concepts as I begin my new career at GlaxoSmithKline.

Not ‘Just a Statistician’

To summarize, this course had an incredible impact on two statistician’s career journeys. It not only introduced them to the general notion of leadership and all that goes with being a good leader, but it also made them reflect on leadership opportunities for them as statisticians. The skills they inherently have as statisticians—listening, patience, flexibility, integrity, the ability to communicate difficult concepts to others—are also the characteristics that make good leaders in general.

We need to abandon the phrase “I’m just the statistician” and actively think about opportunities in which our unique skill sets can contribute to our larger organization. We encourage you to consider leadership in your own career trajectories, and we hope to see you at the leadership course in Chicago!

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