Jill's Blog
I’ve Interviewed Hundreds of MSLs About What Brings Meaning and Joy at Work, Here’s What I Learned
For so many MSLs, their purpose was clear when they were practicing healthcare professionals or in the lab. But then, after moving to ‘the dark side’ of pharma, as their friends often quipped, they started to second guess their purpose. The question, “how do you live your purpose as an MSL and find meaning and
Book summary: The Power of Regret by Daniel Pink
“The purpose of this book is to reclaim regret as an indispensable emotion—and to show you how to use its many strengths to make better decisions, perform better at work and school, and bring greater meaning to your life.” – Page 13 Do you want some tips to help you make better decisions, boost performance,
Book summary: Moonshot by Dr. Albert Bourla
“It was the last day in 2020 that we met in the Purpose Circle, but the groundwork it laid prepared us for the battle ahead. This day was the beginning of our moonshot.” – Pg. 14 As a proud member of the pharmaceutical industry, I knew that Pfizer CEO’s new book, Moonshot, would be a
Surprising Lessons for Medical Presenters from the Acropolis
“She was wonderful!” said my 17-year-old daughter. “We learned so much and it was so fun!” agreed my 14-year-old. We had just said goodbye to our tour guide, Charis, after a three-hour walking tour around the outskirts of the Acropolis in Athens. If you have teenagers, you know that accolades like that do not come
What Wine-Tasting Can Teach Us About Engaging Presentations
One of us lives in San Francisco. So when it was time for the six of us university girlfriends to get together to celebrate our milestone birthday, the Napa Valley was a natural destination. During the trip, we spent a day on winery tours—of course. By the third winery, I have to admit that I
One Little Idea That Made a BIG (100 Pound) Difference!
By Mike Arnone In April 2019, I opened an email that changed my life. It was a note encouraging our pharma team to dive into a new online learning module called “Be Curious” by Jill Donahue. And I was curious! In the lesson, Jill talked about the compound effect. She was trying to inspire
We can’t escape this crisis—but we can be stronger on the other side
By Jill Donahue I spent several weeks trying to figure out how to help people during this crisis. I’m not a front-line medical worker. I can’t care for patients or perform life-saving procedures. I’m not a social worker. I can’t help those who are hurting the most from the impacts of the pandemic. I’ve never
The Path to Patient Centricity: Closing the ‘How’ Gap
Hot off the press – Ipsos and Excellerate teamed up to author an analysis of the findings from The 2nd Annual Aurora Project’s Global Patient-Centric Benchmark Survey. Thanks to the amazing team of contributors who offered invaluable insights. Thanks as well to the Aurora Project Global Survey Working Group* who co-designed the survey and contributed to the
Culture Code – Book Summary by Jill Donahue
You know it when you see it; a strong culture. You also know it leads to success. (A Harvard study of more than 200 companies shows it increases net income by 765 percent over 10 years.) But how do you get? Daniel Coyle tackles this challenge head on. He teaches us how by sharing fascinating
The Four Tendencies
If there’s one thing we all have in common, that is that we all need to influence, persuade, cajole, teach, sell, or inform those around us. Whatever you call it, you need to move yourself and others. Some people are harder for you to move than others. Why is that? And what should you do differently? We
Drop the Ball
“…when women believe that for us ‘having it all’ must mean ‘doing it all’ – it becomes what psychologists call internalized oppression.” – Drop the Ball, page ix Even though women make up half the workforce, they still represent only 18 percent of the highest-level leaders. Why? Could it be connected to the fact that just
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
“Once you open your mind to the possibility that there are laws of marketing, it’s easy to see what they are. In truth, they are obvious.” – The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, page xi Imagine the billions of dollars that have been wasted on marketing programs that don’t work. There is a perception that
It’s hard to change HCP habits!
“Habits can be changed if we understand how they work.” says Pulitzer Prize winning, best-selling author Charles Duhigg. When you woke this morning, what was the first thing you did? What habits helped or hindered you? It’s the small habits over time that decide your future. Now think about what habits of healthcare professionals help
Invisible influence
“Social influence is as silent as it is powerful.” – Invisible Influence, page 231 Think about where you ate for lunch, or what drink you ordered on the airplane. Or maybe something bigger, like who you dated, married or voted for. It all had to do with your personal tastes, judgements and preferences – right?
The Happiness Project
The fact that you are reading this tells me that you likely prioritize your happiness. But just in case you think it’s slightly frivolous and self-indulgent to think so much about your own happiness (I know I did), it is prudent to remember that you are impacting the happiness of those around you more than
Turn the Ship Around
“I imagine a world where we all find satisfaction in our work. It is a world where every human being is intellectually engaged, motivated and self-inspired.” – Turn the Ship Around! page xxx David Marquet, an experienced naval officer, had an idea to turn his ship around. He shares the story of how, by challenging
Intrinsic Motivation at Work
“…a disturbing number of the managers they see are running on empty – low in intrinsic rewards and approaching burnout. I don’t want this to happen to you.” – Intrinsic Motivation at Work, page 84 Employee engagement has become more important than ever. Why is that? What do we mean by employee engagement? And how
Everybody Matters
We’ve paid people for their hands for years, but they would’ve gladly given us their heads and hearts for free if we’d only known how to ask.” P. 177 Everybody Matters Enjoy my summary of top 3 lessons from their book here