Excellent Article: Business Acumen and Leadership

[Nate W.]

Today, I located an excellent article on business acumen, interpersonal skills, and behavioral attributes needed to be successful in any professional endeavor, especially in the private sector. It is so good that I wanted to share it with the forum. It deals with a wide range of topics that might be helpful to those trying to make a transition to industry. It focusses on the soft skills and issues related to fit (i.e. working well with others in a productive manner). Many of these topics have been discussed routinely on this forum.

This article was written by one of the most successful hedge fund managers in the country. It is his firm's mission statement on hiring and his general management principals. Even though it comes from a different industry, I think the principals would apply to the biotech industry and this forum. It is a practical "real world" approach to fostering a productive team and implementing the right culture at any organization. Further, the article takes a no-nonsense approach to these topics and is written by a manager not an academic or an organizational psychologist.

It is so good that I think forum members in academia trying to make the transition to the private sector can apply these principals and with networking can easily find the industry job they truly want. Probably w/o an internship or a contingency position.

DX and Dave---you will loved this article! It might spur some ideas.

http://www.bwater.com/Uploads/FileManag ... ciples.pdf

[Rich Lemert]

Nate -

I've just briefly skimmed through the article, but I feel that you're asking our readers to make a significant time commitment based solely on your enthusiasm for the material. The article is, after all, 106 pages long! Furthermore, my initial impression is that it focuses on principles and attitudes that should be nurtured by someone active in the business world, but that it may be lacking in the type of practical advice our audience will be most interested in. (Again, I've just skimmed through it, so my impression may be wrong.)

I think it would be very helpful if you could provide a bit of a guide to what you think are the important sections of the report. Which discussions would the new PhD find most helpful? Which are more appropriate for someone who's made the transition and wants to know "what now?" Which are just philosophical murmurings that can be put off for another time?

I am not discounting the importance of the material you've offered us. I'm just asking for guidance so I can better understand how to optimally allocate my time.

[Nate W.]

Rich,

I have only read 3/4 of the article. I am going to a conference right now. When I am done, I will point out some specific sections. The sections on goal setting and hiring the right person based on behavioral attributes are excellent. In recent years, I can't tell how many times industry interviews have focused on behavioral questions, not questions related to one's technical expertise. Bridgewater Associates is a hedge fund worth 122B and has only about 1500 employees.

These principles and behavioral attributes should also be assimilated by those seeking industry positions. The cultural norm of academia is quite different than that of business as we have touched on many times in this forum; an issue often holding PhDs back and in a constantly stuck pattern of low paying academic positions and in one of dysfunctional servitude to a PI.

DX this is your cup of tea and you can relate given your position in industry.

[D.X.]

Hi Nate - I have to agree with Rich - very long and whereas there can be some good info in here I would defer to Rich's request.

Yes I advocate for good soft skills development in the context and part of personal development with acknowledgement that practice thereof can be linked to career progression and successes. As part of delivering the requirements of the job.

There are plenty of other and well established resources out there and certainly this element is well acknowledged in the private sector.

But thanks!!

DX

[Dave Jensen]

Hi Nate - I have to agree with Rich - very long and whereas there can be some good info in here I would defer to Rich's request.

Yes I advocate for good soft skills development in the context and part of personal development with acknowledgement that practice thereof can be linked to career progression and successes. As part of delivering the requirements of the job.

There are plenty of other and well established resources out there and certainly this element is well acknowledged in the private sector.

But thanks!!

DX

Sometimes I lean to philosophy -- about being positive, about making it over the hurdles, etc. And I found some good parts in this about those areas (thanks Nate.) I may bring them up again as separate subjects here, and link to those parts of the e-Book.

Dave