Career development through a learning mindset
Fiona McCloskey sees learning as a lifestyle (300 words, 2 min)
Learning and development are goals that should be pursued every day, not side projects to be engaged in when you have the time to take a course or seminar, said Fiona McCloskey, country manager for Labtician Théa.
“When I think of career development, two things come to mind,” said McCloskey (photo below). “The first is having a learning mindset each and every day. The second is being unafraid to get outside your comfort zone.”
Many people tend to think of career development as something done on the side, separate from their jobs, said McCloskey.
“We might set up our individual development plan at the beginning of the year, identify a couple of courses to help us build new skills, and identify a mentor to meet with regularly,” she explained. “But we don’t really think of career development as a day-to-day initiative.”
McCloskey thinks significant learning and development can happen every day.
“We work in an industry with many talented and bright individuals. Take advantage of those interactions. Be curious. Ask questions. You can proactively learn from the people around you.”
In her own career in marketing, McCloskey said she would participate in brand planning and strategy sessions outside of her division.
“When I was a director, I used to bring in brand managers from other divisions into our brand planning sessions. You can learn so much from people with a different breadth of experience than you.”
Individuals looking to improve their leadership skills can look to the leaders around them and ask what inspires or motivates them, what questions they are asking and why, McCloskey added.
“If you do these things consistently, day-by-day, you will find those incremental learnings add up,” McCloskey concluded. “You will have significant growth and development in your career trajectory.”
THIS WEEK 03/22/22
AbbVie announced that Health Canada has approved SKYRIZI (risankizumab), for the treatment of active psoriatic arthritis in adult patients. In psoriatic arthritis, SKYRIZI can be used alone or in combination with a conventional non-biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug such as methotrexate.
Bay Area Health Trust announced that the company has received a Health Canada Interim Order (IO) authorization for its McMaster Molecular Medium (MMM). MMM is a temperature-stable molecular transport medium that inactivates and stabilizes Covid-19 specimens from the collection site to the laboratory. At the intersection of health, life sciences and business, Bay Area Health Trust leads relationships between hospitals and the for-profit private sector including, in this case, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation and McMaster University.
BioVaxys Technology Corp. of Vancouver announced that the company has entered an agreement with Millipore-Sigma to manufacture a supply of GLP-grade BVX-1021, their newly developed vaccine ("BVX-1021") against the strain of coronavirus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ("SARS1").
Corium, Inc. of Grand Rapids, Mich., announced that the U.S. FDA has approved Adlarity (donepezil transdermal system) in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Adlarity is the first approved prescription drug product using Corium's proprietary CORPLEX transdermal technology.
Next from our NPC Webinar series! Join panelists Leandra Wells (GSK), Peter Brenders (Beigene), Danny Goldman (Sanofi), and Jim Shea (CCPE) for a conversation about new ways of working, the pandemic’s impact on career mobility, and the skill sets individuals and teams need to navigate today’s workplace.
The Spring webinar will be held April 6 starting at 11:00am ET. Don’t miss out!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Season Six of the NPC Podcast has concluded, an ongoing exploration of Pharma’s purpose, process, and people with a diverse list of guests across eight episodes.
Podcast co-hosts Mitch Shannon, Jim Shea and Mark McElwain spoke with guests for various perspectives on career development, understanding cancer patient journeys, the impact of the pandemic on work in Pharma, and lessons from the vaccine rollout. Did you miss an episode? Catch up now!
CANADIAN HEALTHCARE MARKETING HALL OF FAME
The Canadian Healthcare Marketing Hall of Fame awards were established in 2002 to honour healthcare marketers who have contributed to our vocation and inspire others.
More than 100 honourees have been selected during the past 18 years. In the selection committee’s view, they stand for a representative cross-section of the qualities that make our business unique and fulfilling. Each week, NPC Healthbiz Weekly will acknowledge one past Hall of Fame Honouree.
2007 Inductee
Ken Stallman
Toronto
Ken Stallman may have headed for a career as a pharmacist, but after graduating from Montreal’s McGill University with a BSc, he was bitten by the pharma bug instead. “I felt that there would be too much time entrenched in filling prescriptions rather than talking to the customer, unlike today,” says Stallman, who sought a way to “marry his love for the sciences with his desire to
meet and mingle with people.”
Stallman’s quest was aided by recognition of the fact he had “an innate selling ability,” a talent that would land him a sales position at Parke-Davis/Warner-Lambert in 1969. There he would begin a 12- year journey through a variety of sales and marketing positions. “I wanted to be in the pharmaceutical industry because I felt I was selling something that had meaning in terms of benefits for people. I really felt good about the products I had to sell,” he says, referring to the range of OTC and prescription products he handled at the time.
In 1975, Stallman accepted an offer to relocate to head office in Toronto, along with his wife, newborn baby, dog, and bird, which was “no easy feat.” Six years later, he succumbed to his “entrepreneurial spirit,” taking the leap to the advertising side at the SMW agency. In time he became a partner with the company which was subsequently bought by Publicis, and he was appointed Senior Vice President, Managing Director, heading the Publicis Wellcare division in 1998.
During his 20 plus years with both organizations, he worked on various ethical brands with Ciba-Geigy, Hoffman-La Roche, Ferring, AstraZeneca, Organon, and Alcon as well as OTC brands with Bayer Consumer Care, Sandoz, and GlaxoSmithKline Beecham, and pet care nutrition with Waltham Veterinary Diets.
“Then I said I want to re-invent myself. I like the idea of being independent, where the buck stops here and I live and die with my decisions for me and my clients,” says Stallman. In 2002, he would realize his dream by starting Cundari Health, a fully integrated healthcare division of Cundari Group Ltd. where he’s been for the last five years. “Within six weeks we had a good solid [client] base,” says Stallman, adding that his healthcare expertise and his partner’s creative, promotions, and packaging background were a winning combination. Looking back on the independence that Cundari has afforded him, Stallman remarks, “I was able to develop a totally integrated offering, not just base advertising and collateral, but all services including continuing health education,” which was later enhanced by the purchase of the CHE company, Minerva.
One of his proudest moments came in 2003 when son Darren joined the organization. Darren is now Director, Client Services. The elder Stallman currently sits on many industry committees and boards where he can help influence healthcare policy in Canada and provide value for his clients.
His energies are also focused on creating and developing proprietary offerings. One that he has just developed will meet the needs of the biggest emerging cohort, the 50+ generation. “We’re also exploring more opportunities to work in the social media area. There’s a very skeptical audience out there. We have to be careful that we’re not always pushing the drug as much as pushing information, and that the drug is one of the solutions.”
But today, his most important role is that of grandfather to his beautiful granddaughter, Maya Samara, to whom his daughter gave birth this past August. “It’s a new, exciting, and different role and I must admit, I’m loving every bit of it.”
NEXT WEEK
In the 03/29 edition of the NPC Healthbiz Weekly, a recap of Vaccine Task Force Co-Chair Mark Lievonen’s conversation with our NPC podcast hosts. It’s easy to get your no-charge subscription and have the issue sent to your phone or inbox each Tuesday at 6:00 a.m. sharp.
Stay safe, stay sure, and stay on your game. We’ll see you again next week.