How does your usual day look like?

I travel a lot, which means there is no typical day during those times. When working from home, shortly after getting up, I usually have breakfast with my partner while checking the news and doing a first scan of the emails that have come in overnight. Despite working from home, I then prepare for the day, making a point to put on make-up and a proper outfit, at least the typical home-office outfit of a nice blouse or top paired with my favorite comfy Lululemon leggings and a pair of warm socks as my feet always get cold during the long hours at the laptop. During this time, depending on the day and my energy, I will either listen to a podcast or some upbeat music. Two to three times a week, I then go on to do a Lagree or Aerial Silk morning workout, as it gives me energy and puts me in a great mindset for the day.

On the days I don't work out, I try to be disciplined enough to do a 10-minute meditation before logging on to my laptop and getting stuck in with emails and meetings. Truth be told, I'm not always successful, especially if I start my email program before meditating.

I reflect on that for a few more minutes before I get down to planning and organizing my day, updating my meetings, to-do lists, and any other essential things I need to have in place to make it a productive day. Most of the day is then spent with meetings with numerous cross-functional stakeholders tackling local operational topics relevant to our cluster (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and more strategic priorities with Regional and Global colleagues.

Meetings usually finish around 18:00/18:30, after which I take time to catch up on any open tasks of the day or coach one of my current clients. I then like to take a hot shower and change into some comfy “at home” clothes as it helps to disconnect work from evening time despite being at home. At this point, my partner will either already have prepared dinner, or I will help him cook, which means chopping stuff and taking care of the dishes as he is a way better cook than I am. I make a great sous-chef though ;) During this time, we always check in with one another, asking about how our day went and spending quality time together for the rest of the evening. This is a no-email or work time which we spend together at home or sometimes out with friends.

Before going to bed, we take a few minutes to step outside onto our balcony and enjoy the fresh air and nature that we are lucky to have surrounding us. Sometimes we even spot a fox exploring the neighbourhood and these small evening encounters fill me with joy. I then do a last 30-minute check of emails to ensure I can go to bed with a clear head and clear the inbox further before shutting down and going to bed. 

What are the things you like the most about your job?

Every day is different in terms of the topics I tackle and projects I work on. This means it never gets boring. Also, given the speed and the constantly changing dynamics of the healthcare system,  there is always an opportunity to do and learn new things which I enjoy greatly. I specifically love to identify and understand future needs of our professional ecosystem and work on innovative strategies to address them as an organization. Finally, I feel very privileged to lead, coach and mentor teams to help them to achieve their goals whilst stretching and developing them to support their growth. 

What are some of the skills you utilise the most in your day-to-day?

Deep listening, clear communication, making decisions, stakeholder management, organisation and planning.  

Truly listening to the people you are working with and pairing that with clear communication and a solid decision making is essential in order to move things ahead in a way that ensures buy-in from your stakeholder group. 

What was one of your happiest days in your career and why?

It's hard for me to pinpoint one particular day or event. As with anything in life, there have been many ups and downs. What I will say is that the happiest days in my career have always been when I have overcome a challenge together with a group of amazing people and when I have made a real difference and had an impact on the people around me and the world I live in.

What has been your greatest challenge on your career path and how did you overcome it?

Similarly as with the happiest days- I couldn’t pinpoint one big defining moment as I see challenges as a natural part of life and especially your career.  What they all have in common is that looking back they have helped me to learn and grow. Now I’m not going to say that they didn’t hurt or that if I could choose I might not say-let's just skip that part of my career because you know which normal person would willingly and knowingly say- yes please let me experience hurt, pain, frustration, anger or whatever it is. So it's not about glorifying them like we sometimes tend to do, but its about recognizing what, despite the pain, they can teach us and understanding that even if the situation may feel out of our control that we have the power to not let ourselves become victims but to take something away from it that will help you in the future.Whether its a learning, clarity, resilience whatever it may be- if you commit to looking, trust me you will find something. 

Also, we tend to negatively connotate challenges, for me it’s really about reframing and understanding that challenges can be a positive thing, even if they hurt sometimes. I mean a lot of people thrive on challenges and appreciate them, seek them in order to propel them to higher levels of performance or to gain a better understanding of themselves, to learn. And we need to understand that all forms of challenges will do this for you- even the ones that you didn’t choose and that aren’t exciting or „fun“ but maybe even painful. So in summary, it's about having a growth mindset which really helps me overcome any challenges that come my way.

What is something you had to learn to become better at your job?

I am very passionate about what I do, and when I do things, I want to do them well and tend to give 150%. Especially moving up the career ladder, I learned that giving everything 150% of your time and energy is impossible. You get pulled in many different directions, and many people need different things from you; giving 150% everywhere is the perfect recipe for exhaustion. So, managing my energy has been a significant learning.

Building on that, I am still learning to say no. I am interested in a lot of things and am always happy to learn something new and to get involved. I am learning to be more deliberate in how I allocate my time and how that serves my goals and ambitions. 

How did you get to become a DACH Cluster Medical Lead?

I studied Medicine and thought I would end up working in a hospital. While I was waiting for the allocation of my internship spot, I found out that the pharmaceutical industry was a possibility for physicians as well.  I gave it a try and started in the Medical Department, being convinced that this was my route. After approximately 2 years, there was an opening in the Commercial department, which I took as it was within Oncology, an area I had always been highly interested in. I stayed in commercial and worked locally before transitioning into regional headquarters- again, a move I had not necessarily envisioned as I had initially planned to develop my career within the local organization. After nearly 12 years in Commercial, I made an unexpected move again- I went back to the Medical function where I had started. 

All of these decisions have one thing in common—I followed what I was passionate about while combining it with a strategic plan for how it would enrich my experience, skill set, thinking about transferrable skills, and how it could help progress my career by helping me become a broader leader of an organization.