In this guide, Sundar Christopher outlines the steps to becoming and successfully serving as a department chair at a research university. He draws on personal experience as a department chair plus the input of many colleagues to discuss the requirements and complexity of this academic leadership role. For job seekers, he offers practical advice for crafting polished application documents and responding to interview questions, and for current department chairs he shares strategies for managing time, people, research, budgets, and all the many responsibilities of being chair. Dr. Christopher wishes for this guide to be useful and encouraging for all professionals interested in or already invested in academic leadership.