Learning How to Direct Others

This is ongoing. Don't assume anything as a given, that's for sure. I think, to be a bit more indulgent with myself. I think what is very difficult in this kind of position is you can be incredibly hard on yourself and I think just learning that there will be mistakes, giving myself some breaks, and to be kinder to myself has helped a lot. Surrounding myself with people that are generous enough to be able to tell me the truth is important. Also, to be open-minded to the opinion of others – just listen. To spend a lot of time listening is extremely important, but again, this is not a skill that comes naturally to anyone. This is something you have to work at. I think learning how to direct others is the most complicated job there is. I think that's probably the reason a lot of people are even afraid to become a PI. It's not about the science that is difficult, it's actually how do you translate yourself as a group? How do you animate the group and guide people to a similar direction is the hardest thing there is. So, I think just trying to remain as honest with your values and consistent with your values as possible. I think also, be able to admit when you're wrong.

My Leadership Style

My leadership style is very collaborative. I'm not territorial at all. I always say that competition to me is a lack of imagination in science. It should be working with others. If someone else does something, do something else, or do it with others. Collaboration, being able to grow with the ideas of others [is key]. In my own lab meetings, I think I was always the one speaking the least in my lab meetings because everybody expressed their opinion and this is magical. So, a lot [of] people at all levels, it could be an undergrad, it could be a postdoc, everyone has something to say. Let people feel absolutely free to express their opinion and challenge others and allow each other to become the mentors of each other. The lab should be the mentor of each other, so my style of leadership is very much collaborative and really building this collective intelligence.

Nurturing the Growth of Individuals

I think the hardest thing when we come into a leadership position, even if you have few people or you have a hundred or more, is the understanding of how each of us are different and how each of us can contribute in a very unique way. I think what I brought from my past experience as a leader is to be very attentive to what each individual can bring and to have a person-centric approach of my leadership. It's about the individuals, it's about nurturing the growth of individuals. I think I always had this approach, which is very much a classical approach of a laboratory. I translated that to my leadership positions. It's about individual first and it's not about you. It's about how do you allow the group to grow? This is something that I think you come to with maturity, with actual experience. When you're young and you're trying so hard to just get your story up and you feel that people have to basically be an expression of you. This is not what this is about. I think giving space to people to grow, respecting their differences, what they have to bring at the table is important.

Yasmine Belkaid is a renowned scientist whose research focuses on the relationship between microbes and the immune system. She is the President as well as the head of the Metaorganism laboratory at the Institut Pasteur.

Belkaid earned her Master’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene in Algiers, and a Master of Advanced Studies (DEA) from Paris-Sud University. In 1996, she earned her PhD in immunology from the Institut Pasteur, where she studied innate immune responses to leishmania infection. Belkaid then moved to the United States for a postdoctoral fellowship in intracellular parasite biology at NIAID’s Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases (NIH).

Belkaid has received numerous awards including the Robert Koch Prize, the Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences, the Sanofi-Institut Pasteur Prize, and the AAI Excellence in Mentoring Award. She also serves on the committees of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, the Microbiome Technical Advisory Group at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the NIH Anti-Racism Steering Committee, the American Society of Microbiology, and the Genentech Scientific Resource Board.