Lab to Leadership communication
- Lakshmi Ramachandran
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
How I became a Brilliance to Influence Strategist with a PhD in Cell Biology
P.O.W.E.R UP Brilliance to Influence Edition 27
Why do I do what I do?
This is a question I often ponder upon, a lot more recently, as I hear this curious question:
"What made you move from science to leadership communication and influence, and how?"
Though it may seem like a major transition, as I connect the dots, it is more of a natural progression from working in STEM to working for people in STEM.
This article spans my journey from the lab to leadership communication, from studying cells under a microscope to studying what makes a room trust a leader.
My career journey started with an exploration of the workings of our body at a cellular and molecular level. In 2002, I joined the doctorate programme at ROSWELL PARK CANCER INSTITUTE NIAGARA CENTER , University at Buffalo , with a full scholarship.
As I narrowed down my research to studying just 'one' protein molecule out of millions within a single cell, I had a humbling realisation of how much we do not know.
This humility instilled in me the exploratory mindset I describe below: a hunger to know, learn, and contribute more, no matter where I am in life.
I have experienced success at a very early age. At 26, I received my doctorate in Cell and Molecular Biology with a Dean's Award. It was the dream of a 15-year-old girl, come true.
Then life happened.
A personal challenge with infertility threw me off that track. Yet it feels like I took multiple, beautiful sidetracks to find my way back to research, just a different kind this time: understanding human behaviour, as a coach, professional development expert, and speaker.
"Life happens and sometimes throws you off your track. It's like a boat out in the oceans hit by a storm. In such situations, keeping afloat through resilience itself is a big achievement, let alone finding your direction."
It's when things calm down that the quest for direction and destination begins once again in the journey.
Finding the Connection
I loved being a scientist. In the years that followed, after I moved out of the lab following my career break, I struggled to find something else that I loved within science. I tried my hand at science communication and research administration, but I couldn't find the same passion and joy.
I then stumbled into professional speaking through a course I did and communities I joined, mainly Asia Professional Speakers Singapore and Keynote women. I also embarked on coach training and received my Professional Coach Certification (PCC) via International Coaching Federation.
Later, I went on to develop and teach a public speaking course, which has been running successfully at the National University of Singapore. I have also developed courses on emotional intelligence and leadership development.
I did not have language for what I was becoming until I came across Ikigai, the Japanese concept that sits at the intersection of four questions:
What you love: For me, that was always science, and the exploration it demanded.
What you are good at: Listening, translating complexity into clarity, helping people see what they could not yet see in themselves.
What the world needs: Leaders whose influence matches their brilliance, because when it doesn't, their best ideas, products, and medicines stay stuck in labs and boardrooms instead of reaching the people who need them.
What you can be paid for: Leadership communication coaching and keynote speaking to help experts translate their brilliance into influence. I am positioned to do this best as I understand their exact problems, and how to solve them, because I have lived that exact gap myself, from deep technical expertise to the leadership influence it took years to build.
The Exploratory Mindset
In hindsight what helped me stay resilient and connect the dots is an exploratory mindset which I believe is from years of scientific training and lived experience. Sharing key aspects of this mindset:
Accepting failures: Failure is an inevitable part of good science. Thomas Edison once said, "I have not failed. I've just found ten thousand ways that won't work." Scientists embrace failures and rejections many more times than success and approvals. It is human to feel disappointed or frustrated with failures. But never to lose hope.
Being curious: Curiosity is the seed that nurtures an exploratory mindset. It replaces fear, doubt and hopelessness. Curiosity is foundational for any research to ask the right questions and steer towards the best direction to find the answers.
Embracing change: Change is undoubtedly constant but also uncomfortable most times. Those with an exploratory mindset are able to embrace change sooner and ask how they can use the change to their benefit rather than feeling thrown off track.
Courage: Specifically, the courage to put myself out there. This looked different at different points, and it is the piece that carried me from private reflection into public visibility.
I have had the courage to put myself vulnerably out there with the purpose of sharing my experience to create awareness, inspire and educate. I have got recognition in the process such as being recognised as Singapore 40 over 40 inspiring women, Coach awards bronze, becoming Globant Techfluencer, publishing an award winning book, a beauty pageant, and most recently being ranked top 3 public speaking coaches in Singapore by Favikon and winning a Women excellence award from the Indian community in Singapore.
If You Are in Your Own Storm Right Now
I share all of this not for the awards themselves, but for what they represent.
Years ago, I did not know if the path I was building even had a name. Today, I coach and speak to leaders who are brilliant at what they do and struggling to be seen for it - the same gap I found myself in.
If you are somewhere in your own storm right now, unsure which direction to swim, I want you to know that the boat does eventually reach calmer water. Not because the storm resolves on its own, but because you keep choosing, again and again, to ask what you are actually meant to do.
Dreams to Reality is actually 'Dreams to Clarity, Intention, Conviction, Courage and Action to Reality.
Dr Lakshmi Ramachandran, PhD, PCC is a leadership communication coach and keynote speaker working with senior leaders across Asia Pacific. She helps leaders who are exceptional at what they do turn that brilliance into influence. drlakshmispeaks.com
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