A change in mindset while on the Herschel Programme propels Emma Black into Senior Technical Leadership
“Herschel was a pivotal moment for me. I will always be grateful for the boost it gave me.”
Emma Black had stepped up into an interim Senior Lab Manager role at the University of Leeds when she applied for the 2023 Herschel Programme. Prior to this, Emma had spent 22 years as a research technician within (European) research institutes and UK higher education, often working on fixed-term grant-funded research projects. Due to the lack of continuity of funding, Emma had been through several rounds of redeployment. While these regular moves across different institutions, faculties, and labs had enabled her to develop a broad and extensive technical skill base and network, undergoing redeployment processes impacted her confidence.
” Experiencing redeployments can be challenging, however it ultimately enabled me to secure an ongoing role”
Participation on Herschel boosted Emma’s confidence and shifted her outlook to a growth mindset – positively changing the way she thought about her own skillsets, role, institution and career. This led to Emma taking on several new opportunities, including joining the pilot Executive Programme in Strategic Technical Leadership in 2023, and then progressing to her current role as Technical Services Manager (TSM) for the Faculty of Environment in 2024. Her driving ambition is to effect lasting, positive change for technicians across her institution and Emma feels her new role, working closely with TSM colleagues from across the University of Leeds, will enable this.
Why choose the Herschel Programme?
Emma returned to full-time working in 2019, following a period of balancing work with caring for her children. By 2022, and still early in her secondment as Senior Lab Manager, Emma was keen to drive her career forwards. She heard about the Herschel programme through her technical network at Leeds and was encouraged by the feedback from the previous cohort, seeing it as an opportunity to further develop her leadership skills.
“I was already leading a lab and managing a team. So, I initially wondered if the programme would be appropriate, as I felt it was aimed at aspiring and new leaders. But I found it to be very relevant as an existing leader and it put my role into a new professional light.”
Herschel Experience
Emma particularly remembers the Culture & Context module, focusing on how a workplace feels and how to effect positive cultural change, and she has gone on to use these tools and techniques in both her lab manager and technical services manager roles.
However, she believes it is the Herschel package in its entirety which helped her achieve the positive change in mindset she needed to move forwards in her career. Also having the time and space to dedicate to her leadership development was important.
“The motivational speakers; inspirational real-life stories from other participants; ALS groups where, as relationships build, you may organically share your experiences and what may have held you back; taking the time to explore these aspects in a safe environment. Each had an additive effect, and all of these elements combined make it the golden ticket.”
Herschel Impact
While on the Programme, Emma’s secondment came to an end, and she interviewed for the ongoing lab manager role against other internal and external candidates. She secured the post, and she quickly utilised the management and leadership skills she had learnt. She helped to develop her team, to lead on more projects within her department, and also delivered interventions to encourage more cohesion and enhance the workplace culture.
Her changed mindset and newfound confidence encouraged her to take advantage of new opportunities, including; public speaking, introducing guest speakers, chairing sessions, joining Technician Commitment committees and working groups, and becoming a Technician Champion.
“Herschel changed my mindset and gave me the confidence to do things I would not have been comfortable with previously”.
“I moved from feeling [disempowered] to feeling that I am absolutely worthy of investment. I knew that I deserved to develop, and had the confidence to ask for development opportunities”
“Once you have an ‘I can, I must, I will’ mindset, this propels you forward, and I progressed quickly.”
Emma went on to secure a scholarship place to attend the pilot Executive Programme in Strategic Technical Leadership (EPSTL), delivered by Nottingham University Business School in partnership with Technician Commitment. She said she would never have had the confidence to apply for this programme without Herschel.
A combination of her success in the lab management role, leadership skills gained through Hershel and EPSTL, plus a fierce ambition to effect lasting positive change for technicians helped Emma achieve promotion to her current role as Technical Services Manager.
“I wanted to be able to effect more lasting change for technicians – this was a primary driver for wanting this role.”
“Herschel helped me realise this was an avenue I could take. Specific training and development courses were becoming available to technicians in response to the sector-wide need highlighted in the TALENT Commission report (2022). Herschel gives you the professional toolkit to reach your full potential.”
Emma has continued to get involved wherever possible to promote technicians and increase their visibility.
What Next?
Alongside her fellow Technical Services Managers at the University of Leeds, Emma is working to further increase the visibility and recognition of technicians, share best practice, align procedures, provide appropriate management, and identify further opportunities to support technical teams across the institution.
While recognising the increasingly difficult context in which the sector is working, she is excited about growing in her role and becoming even more effective as time goes on.
“We must work together in the face of the current financial situation; embracing cost-saving opportunities while continuing all the great work which is already underway”.
“Thanks to Hershel, I unlocked a positive mindset, and I will constantly continue to learn, grow, and develop, and I am now thrilled to be establishing myself as an experienced Technical Services Manager.”