🎵 Tonight the super trouper lights are gonna find me
🎶 Shining like the sun (super trouper)
🎵 Smiling, having fun (super trouper)
🎶 Feeling like a number one
(Apologies in advance for the earworm.)
Did you know that a super trouper is a type of spotlight? I only learned this recently myself, at which point the lyrics to this ABBA song finally made sense.
That’s not the reason for this post though.
Instead, it’s a recommendation to think about where you’re shining your own spotlight.
When it comes to clear communication, the focus shouldn’t be on you. It’s on your reader.
With grant proposals in particular, Dan and I often see that applicants have written the proposal for themselves. They understand why their research is important and the difference it will make in the world if it’s funded … but they don’t shed any light on these topics for the person who’s seeing the proposal for the first time. It’s ACEing Academia #1 all over again: the Curse of Knowledge.
Track records are an even better example of where applicants can stay in the spotlight too long and get burned.
I don’t blame them, though. The traditional track record is all about what they’ve achieved: so much in grant funding, X-number of publications, Y-number of awards, Z-number of invited talks.
But the new Resume for Research and Innovation (R4RI) narrative CV is about the applicant’s or team’s contribution to four different module headings. The spotlight should be shining on the contribution: not just *what* was done, but how. What role did the applicant play? What was the impact of the contribution? And, perhaps most importantly, how are these skills and experiences relevant to the proposed project?
Beyond grant proposals, networking is another area where you need to take the spotlight off yourself. Instead, aiming it on the person you’re speaking with will make the experience more pleasant … and, believe it or not, the light that reflects back on you will show you at your very best. The best way to be interesting to others is to be interested in them.
So, where are you going to aim your super trouper?