How to Stand Out in Pharma

Hello and welcome to the podcast! I am so excited to be back here with you today. I just came off of a month break from the podcast – the first one I’ve ever had since I started my podcast in 2020.

And today is special because we aren’t just in a new month but this is the 200th regular episode of the podcast.

How incredible is that?

200 episodes.

When I started this podcast it was just 3 months into being full time in my business.

I was a little scared. I didn’t even know how to make a podcast.

But what I wanted to do was to have a way to communicate with you that was on your schedule, digestible for your commute, and more than just written word.

I wanted to be able to talk to you.

To share my thoughts on the industry, what it’s like to be a woman with a career, insider strategies, the tips and actions you could take to better your career and ultimately your life right? Because when you’re unhappy at work, it’s hard to be happy in your life.

But listen, with every area of growth we have, there’s always another level, and with each new level, yes it gets easier to act with courage, to feel confident in new situations, but that doesn’t mean you become immune to the human experience of having feelings.

So even though I left my role with AstraZeneca and became a business owner, I then had a new area of growth – visibility. Online, in sharing my thoughts and frameworks, and in believing that if I put out a podcast, people would listen, that I would be able to help people.

And because of that belief to do the scary thing, here we are at 200 episodes, 4 years later.

4 years.

Of providing weekly strategies and insights for you and I couldn’t be more grateful to still have this podcast.

And if you go back and listen you’ll hear the growth. The podcast name has changed, the confidence in my voice has changed, but the consistency and quality has remained.

So thank you so much for being a listener.

Thank you for allowing me to share what I know with you and trusting me to help you with your career.

Thank you if you’ve reached out to me and shared with me how the podcast has helped you – when I get those messages on LinkedIn or sometimes even on email telling me how an episode helped you get a new job or have a conversation with your boss or get a promotion, or stop working so much, it literally means the world to me because this is what I’m here for.

I spend a lot of time every week identifying topics and putting together this episode for you.

It is a gift of labor and love each week to show up and help you in this completely free way.

And the ripple effect is more than I can imagine – we are global with this podcast, all over the world.

And if you’ve given a review of the podcast, thank you thank you! Reviews aren’t just for vanity they are to help me help more people with this podcast. Think about it – if you stumble across a podcast, or even a crockpot you might buy on Amazon, you’re going to look at the reviews. It gives credibility – what are people saying about this? Is it worth my time to listen?

So when you take just 1 minute to write a review or tap the stars, it does make a difference. It’s a way you can help other women in industry get the support they need.

Ok, so thank you. Thank you for being here. For listening. For allowing me to help you see new perspectives and grow. I don’t take it lightly.

Alright so for our main topic today, I thought why not talk about how to stand out in the industry.

I think this is really aligned to the growth journey I’ve had in getting to the 200th episode – I had to stand out, be visible, or you wouldn’t know this exists, you wouldn’t know I exist.

So many people that find me find me from referrals, from friends of friends, from my site or features people have written about me on Google, from word of mouth – I had to stand out.

Standing out helps you whether you’re wanting to be seen as the best, be valued and respected, to get a promotion or even just to get a new job.

And one thing that is a unique challenge to standing out in Pharma is how competitive it is.

You aren’t the only talented woman in the industry or in your field.

You aren’t the only one with a PhD or a certification or other advanced degree.

So whether you’re wanting recognition at work, to get to the next level, or to get promoted, you need to stand out. Be more visible.

But how do you do that without sounding like you’re bragging at work?

Or feeling fake like you’re talking just to talk?

Or why can’t your hard work just be enough to help you stand out?

If these are questions you have, I totally get it.

Let me break it down like this –

You stand out as a credible expert when people know who you are and what you do. When you offer ideas that are new.

I talked about this in a recent episode about thought leadership.

It’s like the old saying, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

Sounds like a brosky business card swap right?

So here is my spin on it – it’s about cultivating meaningful relationships that are your allies. And you want these allies to be diverse. Not just your immediate circle or company. Not just your job function or expertise but other expertise areas too.

You don’t need a lot. Focus on quality over quantity.

Another way you stand out is by your consistency.

So there is your network of meaningful relationships that know who you are and your ideas, trust your expertise.

Then you need to multiply that by the frequency of your visibility.

How do you get visibility? You can get it by contributing to projects at work, posting on LinkedIn, sharing your ideas in meetings, speaking up and meeting new people.

It doesn’t have to be just one thing.

You can sprinkle in different types of visibility.

I had a post on LinkedIn recently where I said leaders are built one day, one meeting, one moment at a time.

It isn’t about the leadership development program you took or the book you read.

Leaders are made in how they act in a moment. Each moment, each meeting, each day is a new opportunity for you to be more visible.

Now the secret sauce is your authenticity.

So let’s go back to this formula I just created for you here.

We have your meaningful relationships – your network of people who know you, what you do, and your impact.

Then you amplify, you multiply how much you stand out by how visible your expertise is, who you are, and your impact.

Makes sense right? So you have a network of meaningful relationships that know who you are, what you do, and your impact and then your adding in consistent visibility moments. Moments you’re acting from comfort or courage to speak up in a meeting, to share your thoughts on LinkedIn, to meet new people at a networking event…

This builds reliability and brings awareness to you. You have to have these 2 things together.

If you have meaningful relationships but you stay in one small circle and on top of it, aren’t visible with them often, you aren’t as top of mind or relevant.

But the more visible you are by consistently showing up and being seen for your expertise and who you are, the more top of mind you are.

Think of it this way. My family likes sweet treats like little candies and those small hershey bars, MM’s. We like it and we never forget we like it. But if we put a bowl of MM’s on our kitchen island, guess what? We are thinking about those MM’s more. We are grabbing one or two every time we walk by. If the MM’s are on the top shelf of the pantry – we like them but we forget about them. They aren’t top of mind.

So now imagine you’re the MM lol. People like you, they know you’re amazing. But if you’re not on the kitchen counter, if you’re not reminding people by being visible, then you’re on the top shelf of the pantry.

If you’re getting passed over for opportunities, promotions, not getting recognized, there can be other contributing factors but one factor could be that you’re just not top of mind, you’re not as visible.

Now there is a 3rd element of this formula and that is authenticity.

You cannot sound like every other person, because you’re not.

Don’t put generic language on your resume, say things perfectly curated or only talk in robotic elevator pitches.

Now for my critically thinking people, which is probably you, and everyone who listens to this podcast, you might be thinking, wait I have to have original ideas for everything?

No.

You don’t.

You can have the same opinion and share it but share it the way you would share it. Because the way you say it is what is going to draw people to you.

Just like me, I have unique concepts and ideas – frameworks that I created. But there are some things I talk about that are grounded in psychology and leadership development and other areas that have already been researched and proven to be true. But the way I say it, the way I explain it, is what you may resonate with.

Like my MM example. I illustrated for you how you can be great but not be top of mind using MM’s. I just made that up as I went along. It was authentic to me. And it will probably help you remember this concept better because of it. You’re going to think of being the MM’s when you’re nervous to speak up or be too visible.

And this is one way I am being authentic. I am showing up consistently on the podcast. I am sharing new ideas and expertise with a network. I share this with you so you can see how I walk the talk with you and you can see other examples of it in action.

The authenticity part is big because all 3 parts of this formula are important. You have to have relationships, you have to be consistent and frequent in your visibility and you have to be authentic.

If you only have one or two, you won’t be as effective.

You won’t stand out as much.

And hear me, you already stand out in parts of your life, you are already talented and accomplished, you don’t need me to tell you that.

This is all about the next level.

The advanced strategies.

If you aren’t being seen, you don’t feel recognized or maybe you feel passed over, like your career has stalled or you are literally just not standing out among the competition – then this is something to consider.

Ask yourself – do you have a network of meaningful and strategic relationships that know who you are, what you do and your impact?

Are you visible? Are you speaking up in meetings, in your field, with your boss or stakeholders? Where could you do it more? How could you be more consistent?

And are you being authentic? Are you overthinking every word or are you trusting your expertise? Are you comfortable standing out alone? Because you might think you want to stand out so you can get the promotion or job or whatever goal you have, but do you really want to?

Because I can tell you from experience, when you are the only one saying what you’re saying, when you don’t have a boss or company or anyone vouching for you, and you’re doing new things and truly standing alone, it can be uncomfortable. And that is usually where I find people struggling with authenticity. They might feel comfortable with relationship building, networking, with speaking up, but their blind spot is they are playing it safe, it’s too curated, too analyzed so it’s not showing up as authentic and then it isn’t standing out at all.

So ask yourself – where are you holding yourself back from standing out? What would standing out really look like?

You can apply this to everything. From what you write on your resume, the conversations you have with your boss, how much or littel you network or talk to people, the types of jobs you strive for, the level of leadership you surround yourself with.

It’s all very telling if you choose to do that deep dive within yourself.

Alright, that is all for this episode. This 200th episode of the Your Worthy Career podcast.

I will talk to you next week!