On ACA Leadership

By:  Christopher Cahill | Department of Chemistry | The George Washington University

What a thrill to be asked to share a few thoughts on leadership with the ACA community. In some respects, ACA provided me with my first ‘official’ leadership opportunity when I was elected to Council as Vice President in 2014. I had been leading a research group for about 15 years at that point, yet that was a very different experience, for sure. I felt drawn to the opportunity- ACA had been my scientific home for years, and some committee work had whetted my appetite for deeper engagement. I also felt that the ACA was then at a bit of a critical crossroads, and that I could contribute to re-tooling some aspects of operations. I was not explicitly aware of this at the time, but it turns out a strength that I have is to recognize the interconnected nature of challenges and opportunities, and to recognize what is important to a diverse group of stakeholders. As my leadership journey has continued, now to include Chemistry Department Chair for the past six years, I find that recognizing and acknowledging what is important to people, and then advocating for that within institutional constructs is rewarding and provides a wonderful sense of purpose.

As my career and experiences continue to evolve, I find myself feeling even more drawn to leadership and mentorship opportunities. My own interests have diverted away from the lab bench, and I enjoy living vicariously through my students, or through the junior faculty I am supporting. My predecessor in the Chair position at GW would always say ‘Your success is my success.’ And I could not agree more. Lately, I am most excited about helping create the infrastructure for others to do their best work, and I am motivated towards making processes and operations function more smoothly- it’s funny how the definition of a ‘win’ changes over time!