Sarah L Manley Robertson

To what do you attribute your biggest career successes?

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Part of my career journey is defining and redefining success. As I accumulate lessons and accomplishments, I repack my bags: releasing what feels unbearably heavy or misaligned to make way for what is possible.

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I believe in my abilities. They are grounded in experience and built by my “if you can dream it you can do it” attitude. It is my bedrock belief - that unbreakable, unwavering foundation that fuels decisions, and emotions, and actions. Now, I’m learning how to set intentions – to more purposefully pursue growth and discover what’s next, in this role or beyond.

Learning is like breathing to me. I aspire to live a growth mindset. I believe strengths can be enhanced, new skills and behaviours developed. And that is why the answer is always yes. Yes to projects or roles or life experiences that will stretch my strengths and give me that sizzle in my gut (ok, maybe its dopamine).

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What would you like future generations of women to know about their voice and leadership?

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Your voice matters – when it is authentic.

Know who you are. Naming my values took paying attention to enduring beliefs and behaviours that consistently sparked almost visceral reactions: like being drawn to those who persevere (my mom used to call it my penchant for stick-to-it-ive-ness) or feeling in flow when I’m untangling complexity and just figuring it out as I go.

Keep your balance. I don’t mean the binary horizontal plane balance of a teeter-totter or a metronome. I mean the well-rounded, all-sided, grounded balance that comes from investing in all aspects of your life. I’m still working on it – I think admitting that, coupled with the ongoing pursuit of it is part of being a good leader. I also mean resisting the emotional roller coaster – a mentor once said to me “things are never as good or as bad as you think they are”. They’re usually somewhere in the middle.

Where values and balance meet, authenticity lives.

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What is a leader’s role in creating culture?

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Organizational culture is the culmination of strategy, systems, structure, rewards and people -  all people: individual contributors, interns, people managers, C-suite. That means all people in the organization are culture creators. Leaders catalyze and crystalize it.

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Leaders catalyze culture by paying attention to what others – customers, partners, vendors, public – say about the organization. They take actions that confirm those views, shift them over time, or transform the culture to meet those expectations.

Leaders crystalize culture with action. Humans are programmed for survival: to do either what pleases or what eases in response to their leaders.  When I acknowledge effort, teams give more – a “please” response. Similarly, when I pay attention to outcomes, teams prioritize what matters and when I ask broad questions, they take time to think. When I micromanage tasks, individuals crank out random “stuff” – an “ease” response (please make her go away). Each action and reaction, sustained over time, creates a culture of creation, collaboration, control or competition.

Leaders adjust as the organization breathes. When does your organization exhale, allowing you to lead from behind, make space and create? When does your organization inhale, brace itself, requiring you to lead from the front and control?

What advice would you give to someone looking to follow in your career path within the pharmaceutical industry?

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Careers in any profession, in any industry, are all about people: people growing and learning; people interacting (and at our worst, reacting). Careers in pharma are all about people leveraging science to help other people. Study people. Understand the patient journey. Learn social styles and embrace the benefits of that natural diversity.

Learn the business. Work in it, not beside it. I took a shift in the packaging suite (following GMP of course). I attended the focus groups. I read the medical journals. I observed the Ad Boards. I took the sales training and did the role-play. I took ride-alongs. I own copies of the DSM-5, CPS, and Dorlands. I went to the warehouse. I learned to read the P&L.

Leverage your strengths. I love a big hairy problem; the messier and more complex, the better. I look for opportunities to lend my restorative nature to my colleagues – to help them uncover and untangle intertwined roots. It builds a sense of accomplishment and meaning on top of delivering in my role. And it builds allies.

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Cultivate networks. Collect people. I’ve worked with several coaches for different purposes at different phases of my life – some certified professionals and some peers. I’ve had many mentors with more tenure and experience than I. I’ve been a mentee. I show interest in the achievements and milestones of others. I ask questions of those whose strengths complement my own. I’m looking for a mentor with less experience than I.

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I believe you are powerful. I believe you are a catalyst for change.

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Sources:

[1] Repacking your Bags: Lighten Your Load for the Good Life by Richard J Leider and David A Shapiro

[2] Dr. Carol Dweck

[3] Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand it by James M Kouzes and Barry Z Posner, p. 62

[4] https://positivepsychology.com/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi-father-of-flow/#

[5] https://drdansiegel.com/healthy-mind-platter/

[6] https://www.jaygalbraith.com/images/pdfs/StarModel.pdf

[7] https://www.aihr.com/blog/types-of-organizational-culture/

[8] The Heart and the Fist by Eric Greitens p. 172

[9] https://www.managementcentre.co.uk/insights/social-styles/