CAB 13. Fifty-one years old and still prescribing advice.

Dear friends,

Today is my birthday. 7-11

I am 51 years old today and I have been working since 1997, so that’s a total of 26 years already. 8 years working in NHS hospitals in the UK and then 18 years in the pharmaceutical industry.

What is my top 10 learnings from my career so far?

1. Take charge of your own career. Be your own CEO. You must take control of your own career and not let other people dictate your career. That means you need to have a career plan and then find out what do you need to learn and what do you need to do to achieve your target. I agree it is hard to plan long term like 10 years & 20 years, so my advice is to have a 5-year career plan. 

2. Personal development is your own responsibility. It is not your manager’s responsibility to send you to this course, to that course. It is up to you to plan your own learnings. And it is not limited to training and workshops only. There is so much free learning available these days. I learned so much for reading great books and watching insightful TED Talks.

3. First impression matters. It is much easier to make a good first impression than to undo a bad first impression. So pay attention to how you present yourself - your grooming, your clothing, your accessories. All that matters and contributes to how people will make a judgement about you when they first meet you. For guys, if you want to stand out, buy a tailor-made suit and a great pair of shoes.

4. Good work-life balance is achievable. You have to be disciplined in knowing what are the boundaries between work and your personal life. For example, I make sure I leave work at 530pm to get to CrossFit class at 6pm most weekdays. I don’t send or check work emails and whatsapp messages in the evening. And when I go on long holidays I don’t bring my work laptop. Set your own boundaries.

5. 

6. Email however is important for documentation. No documentation means it didn’t happen. I learned that after going through a few audits already. The auditor always asks where is the evidence. No evidence means you didn’t do it. So always a good practice to document what you have done. If you have a verbal discussion with someone, document the discussion and what you both agreed by sending an email summarising it. Quick and easy. Will save you a lot of headaches later on.

7. Networking is key to career progression. Make sure that you have the right exposure and the right people know you. It is very hard for career movement to happen if the senior management does not know who you are. Hoping that your good work will speak for itself will not work. My transfer to the US and later on to Malaysia is partly due to having the right exposure to the right people at the right time.

8. Presentation is a great way to gain more exposure. So don’t shy away from speaking on stage. Volunteer for roles that can give you the chance to be on stage more often. This is then your chance to show people what you can do. Make sure that you really excel in doing presentations. Take courses, get feedback on your presentation styles so that you can present like someone doing a TED talk.

9. Building trust with your team is the no 1 thing that you must do as a new manager. Firstly, don't forget the birthdays. Always buy a cake for a birthday. It’s a very important gesture. Secondly, show that you are invested in their personal development. Let them know that you are open to their suggestions of what training course they want to go to. Thirdly, share your weaknesses and failures with them. This is very hard to do at first, but this shows them that you are not perfect and you are human after all.

10. Work smart rather than work hard. Meeting your KPI is non-negotiable. Do what it takes to make sure you hit your KPI. That doesn’t always mean that you have to work harder and harder. Most of the time it requires you to take a step back and analyse the situation from a different angle and you will find a smarter way to do your work and achieve your KPI.

So those are my top 10 career tips.

TL:DR

Be your own CEO

Invest in personal development

First impression matters

Good work-life balance is possible

Control your inbox

Document your evidence

Networking is key for career progression

Present like a TED talk

Build trust in a team asap

Work smart instead of work hard

Thank you

Doktor Az

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How To Write More Better LinkedIn Posts

When is the best time to post on LinkedIn?

Anytime is fine. As long as the audience in your targeted region is awake

So in Malaysia, don’t post after midnight. People are already in la la land.

What matters is the quality of your posts

✅ It has to be relatable to the reader
✅ It has to have a message for the reader
✅ It has to have a hook for the reader to click see more

So let me teach you how to do all that

“How to Write More Better LinkedIn Post”

It’s a practical workshop where we will write your LinkedIn post together. It is on Sunday 26th Nov 930am at Iconik PJ

Click here to register https://doktoraz.my/upcoming-events/