Elizabeth George

I think persistence, for one - being persistent. The other one is being a team player. Just listening to different people, listening to all the voices on the table. You don't have to agree with them, but listen, and be open to being - don't come from a point of bias, try and be open to all voices at the table, and be a team player. I think those are the top two that have helped me succeed.

You have to be confident in yourself. Sometimes you always meet difficult people and difficult circumstances, and I think sometimes the tough circumstances or the difficult situations and maybe projects that you go through, those are the ones that make you stronger. If you're going through a hard time at work or in your career, there's always light at the end of the tunnel, but it's important not to give up, and to be persistent, and you end up being more confident and stronger as a result of it. The tough situations are where you grow. When things are easy, you never grow and learn, but when things are hard, that's when you learn, that's when you build character, that's when you build strength. People have told me that before - bosses have said that the hard situations are the ones that make you, and you don't quite understand it till you go through it. I have gone through those over my career - we've had some really tough projects. Sometimes communicating tough information, especially in regulatory, we do a lot of that. That's where you grow. They are hard, but you grow. And I think in any career, that's true. Sometimes the hard, tough situations where you feel like it drains you when you're there, but at the end, that's where you grow. You shouldn't shy away from doing the hard things. Sometimes push yourself, and you will grow, and you will become strong, and those are the experiences you take away and teach others.

One thing I learned the hard way in my career - I think sometimes, as women, you're eager to please. But I would say don't be afraid to lay boundaries and kind of draw the line, whether it's setting times you're comfortable working around, whether it's making time, setting work-life balance with your family. Don't be afraid to advocate for what you want and what you need. And then the second thing I will say is ask for what it is, and I've been telling multiple women this - ask for what you want. Be clear with your expectations and where you want to go in your career. Because if you don't ask, nobody will give it to you, and people take you for a doormat. It doesn't matter how much work you do, you need to be advocating for what you want, and kind of highlighting all the work you've done, and where you want to go. If you don't do it, nobody else will do it for you.

I think there's a lot of growth in this field. The advantages of working in the career I have is there's never a dull moment, you're always learning, and then there's a clear career trajectory, which is great. If you're in regulatory in a company, there is a clear path for growth. If you came in entry level, as long as you put in the work and you have a life science background, you should have a clear pathway of growth to principal or senior principal in any company. But I think beyond that, getting into leadership or getting into manager, director, senior director - those are a little more tricky. To get a manager role, you need some management experience, and often it's hard to get that unless you're given that opportunity. So I say sometimes it's also building the right mentorships along the way, where people will advocate for you. As you grow in your career, you want to develop mentors in your business that can speak for you and vouch for you in a leadership role, despite not having that experience maybe. You need to build your mentors along the way so that they can vouch for you and give you those roles when the opportunities arise, because they will - there will be opportunities, but not everyone will get the chance. Sometimes you have to advocate for yourself and also have mentors that can vouch for you to get that role. You want to make sure that you build that rapport with decision makers over time.

Honesty, trust, just being transparent. I think that's sort of what I'm taking into my career - just be your true self and value your true self. Be true to who you are. Sometimes it's hard - even as you grow in leadership, you feel like you need to emulate somebody else's leadership style, but I would say know yourself, and know who you are, and make sure your authentic self comes out wherever you are. That's when you become your unique person, and people value you for that. Don't try and be someone else, but have faith in yourself, and stick to what you believe in. My values would be transparency, truthfulness, being high integrity. Especially in the field I am, I think all those are - you really need to be that voice when you're in regulatory, and you want to stand for high ethics.