Change the arc of your career, your habits, the world…

Academic Career and Leadership Development

For Professors, Higher Education Leaders, & Physicians

Leader Academic offers individual coaching, on-campus and virtual workshops, and coaching & mentoring groups for academics across the span of their careers. Since 2002 we have supported faculty members, physicians, chairs, deans, and other academic leaders to:

  • Get more writing done
  • Lead successfully
  • Negotiate for raises and other resources
  • Manage difficult personalities
  • Preserve time for your personal life
  • Support equity in hiring & promotions
  • Foster cultures of diversity and inclusion
  • Delegate effectively
  • Navigate departmental politics
  • Advance inclusive pedagogy
  • Take time to recharge
  • Survive and thrive as an “only” or one of very few of a historically marginalized group
  • And much more, all while staying true to your values

Individual Coaching

Professors

Professors face a unique set of challenges – managing competing demands on your time, navigating departmental politics, and working out sometimes fraught relationships with your co-authors, students, and staff. [Learn more]

Academic Leaders

Academic Leaders who want to excel must effectively delegate, influence, and motivate a range of stakeholders, including many over whom you have limited authority. [Learn more]

Physicians

Physicians in Academic Medicine face the pressure of conducting research, publishing, and keeping grants and teams funded, all while staying up to date on your clinical skills and new developments in your areas of specialty. [Learn more]

The Coach's Guide for Women Professors Book

The Coach’s Guide for Women Professors

Read cover to cover or dip into as you encounter concerns about time management; your authority and influence; work/life integration; and more.

Free Excerpt from The Book



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Bring Your Whole Self

Significant identities of our clients include:

  • Black / Latinx / Indigenous / East Asian / South Asian / Pacific Islander / Caribbean / Person of Color
  • Trans / Genderqueer / Gay / Lesbian / Bi / Two-Spirit
  • First gen college grad / Speaker of English as a second language / ex-pat
  • Academics with physical and mental health challenges
  • Parent / Single Parent / Caregiver
  • Meditator / Religious / Spiritual / Atheist / Agnostic
  • Scientist / Artist / Change Agent / Writer / Clinician / Public Intellectual
  • Neurodiverse individuals including those with ADHD, Autism, and sensory processing differences

Testimonials

“Rena Seltzer’s workshops are perennial favorites with Yale faculty. Workshop alumni get more writing done, have more control over their schedules, and feel increased confidence in their leadership skills. Rena has also served as a coach for a number of Yale faculty leaders. Here as well, her work has been transformative.”

– Tamar Szabó Gendler,
Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences,
Yale University

“I would not have gotten tenure without Rena Seltzer’s skillful coaching. If you can find a way to work with her as a coach, do it! But if you can’t, read her book at least twice. It has all the life and career hacks every academic (male and female!) needs.”

– Dolly Chugh,
Jacob B. Melnick Term Professor,
New York University

“I have solicited feedback from everyone and the comments were uniformly glowing; with terms such as excellent. Outstanding and fabulous! I should note that the group is not always so positive!”

– Ivy League Professional School Dean, 
following a workshop with his leadership team