Lesson #1: Contracts come and go; relationships are as permanent as you make them. Any successes in my working life this year have been achieved entirely through investing in relationships, in some cases for years. This is a source of joy for me, as I am reminded this year more than many that when I am in my rocking chair looking back over my life, it is the people I will remember, not the goals and milestones hit or missed. Banking on my credibility with staff, management, partners and others is scary but ultimately very rewarding.
Lesson #2: Surround yourself with smart people and then listen to them. Kind of a corollary to lesson 1, could be restated as 'know your limitations and fill them'. 2009 will see me focusing on networking far more than previous years.
Lesson #3: The future is a little farther away than it was a year ago. For the last 10 years I had planned to retire from full time clinical research by my mid 50's, now just about 3 years away. The global recession thinks otherwise, and I am gradually accepting the fact that I will be working longer. On the plus side, thanks largely to heeding some very good advice (see lesson 2 above), we are down slightly less than the market at large, above water on our home and carrying no consumer debt, and the college expenses will probably wind down by 2012 or thereabouts. In my worklife I am focusing on developing greater expertise and networks within the field of clinical research in emerging markets. I shared some of that expertise at a couple of conferences in 2008 and hope to develop more such opportunities in the coming year.
Focuses for 2009:
- build credibility
- invest in relationships
- simplify wherever possible - the common sense approach is usually the right one
- rebuild capital through wise investments and sound spending
