Inspiring leadership

Everyone can be a leader, whether or not they hold an official leadership position. Shelley Anna, vice provost for faculty and professor of chemical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, is an advocate of this idea. “I really believe that people are leaders based on how they choose to show up for other people,” she says, “and not based on their title.”

Anna did not plan on pursuing leadership. She’d had intentions of becoming a professor, and during her tenure she enjoyed pursuing her research and advising students. But she also found herself engaging in conversations about how things worked and how to improve the systems people operated under.

Having graduated from CMU with a degree in physics, Anna took on a faculty position in mechanical engineering before moving into chemical engineering. Through these pivots, she got a good sense of how different departments operate, what works and what doesn’t. And then, she realized she was a senior faculty member. “I could no longer make the excuse that the senior people needed to do something about an issue,” she recalls. “It was me now. I needed to do something about it.” 

As she thought of the differences she wanted to make for her department and community, she began seeking out leadership opportunities and advice from her mentors. One of these opportunities was the ELATES program run by Drexel University for senior women in STEM academics. She had heard of the program through several other female faculty at CMU who had participated, including Dean Burcu Akinci. She has received no shortage of encouragement developing her skills from her colleagues at CMU and within her discipline, and she has plenty more to offer. 

I really believe that people are leaders based on how they choose to show up for other people and not based on their title.

Shelley Anna, Vice Provost of Faculty and Professor of Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

“There are people who don’t have a formal title, but you look to them because you trust them and because they have influence,” she says. “You can be a leader with a little ‘l’ in a whole lot of different ways, regardless of your positionality. I would love for people to think about what that means for them and be open to the idea that they’re leaders right from the beginning of their career, no matter what their positionality is.” Staying curious and being a learner, she advises, is crucial to being a leader.

During her journey, she was often surprised at what aspects she liked the best. Though she anticipated disliking having difficult conversations with people, she found herself enjoying helping them find solutions and improve their experiences. 

Having begun to develop her leadership skills and philosophy through the ELATES program, Anna then took on the role of associate dean for faculty and graduate students in the College of Engineering. She loved it.

 

You can be a leader with a little ‘l’ in a whole lot of different ways, regardless of your positionality.

Shelley Anna, Vice Provost of Faculty and Professor of Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

Now, in her role as vice provost for faculty, Anna has developed initiatives that empower other faculty and academic leaders including department heads, associate deans, and directors. One new program, called Lead Well: Foundations of Academic Leadership, helps leaders build foundational leadership skills by fostering trust, recognizing different leadership styles, and applying those principles to practical needs like delegation and teamwork.

Moving into the second year of a cohort model, Anna finds that the program is going quite well. Participants are learning important skills, and the team plans to roll out a similar model in the next couple of years for faculty who are curious about or aspiring to be leaders, but don’t yet hold an existing leadership role.

“In the role I’m in now, I hope I can bring the same positive impact to our faculty and leaders that I have to my students,” Anna says. “I’m very proud that all of my students are placed in the kinds of careers that they want to be in, whether that’s a faculty role, or industry, or working in a consulting firm. I’m not saying that was because of me, but I definitely am glad that I was a positive force for helping guide people to where they want to be."

For media inquiries, please contact Lisa Kulick, lkulick@andrew.cmu.edu.