This blog is part of a series of blogs that will be written by the Business Area Advisors for Propel Careers. These blogs will share insights into the life sciences industry and thoughts on career guidance. To learn more about the business area advisors of Propel, see link: https://www.propelcareers.com/index.cfm/about-us/advisors/
Just the other day I was asked by an biotech executive (non-scientific background), who I'll refer to as Rory, 'what makes a chemist good?'. I paused for a moment as I wanted to, a) think about what my answer will be, but also, b) convey the message so Rory would understand what I meant. After a slight pause, I asked Rory if the question was in regard to a synthetic chemist or a medicinal chemist, explaining that they are quite different fields, so 'what makes a chemist good' depends on the role. With a blank look on Rory's face, 'huh?' came out. So here was my blank slate, my opportunity, to teach someone who cares what it is that I do...and I failed to even mention science, read on.
What I told Rory is that a GOOD chemist comes in many fashions. However a GREAT chemist is something different, in my opinion. I may not be either, but I've seen (again, my opinion) both. What makes a synthetic chemist great are these attributes, in no particular order: opportunistic, curious, motivated as hell, willing to recognize mother nature wins every battle, analytical, smart, malleable, humble. What makes a medicinal chemist great are these attributes, in no particular order: opportunistic, curious, motivated as hell, willing to recognize mother nature wins every battle, analytical, smart, malleable, humble. Striking similarities for jobs that I told Rory were different!
As I reflected on this, funny I thought, I never mentioned chemistry. It is then clear that being a great chemist has nothing to do with knowing chemistry, right? Well, not exactly. Knowing chemistry gets one entrance into the candidacy of 'great chemist'. I know a lot of chemists – the ones that I think are 'great' versus the ones that are 'good' both have the chemistry (medicinal or organic) in spades: their chemistry foundation is intact. It's the qualities that I described to Rory that divides the line.
Why am I writing about this? We, as scientists, are taught to be extremely critical (not in a negative way) of scientific work, whether it is seminars, publications, colleagues' work, etc., and rightly so...it sharpens our analytical minds and improves our scientific depth. But in that process, we may lose sight of attributes that could make us great: the intangibles. I've blogged on the transition from academia to industry before and there are consistencies with these messages: filling the physical (lab) and mental (studies) toolbox can make one quite sufficient as a researcher, but that alone doesn't necessarily make one great.
Athletes may have the same challenge: being really good requires technical skill – becoming 'great' requires something different. Becoming a superstar athlete requires physical 'awe' typically; becoming a champion requires the things I mentioned above, often in combination with that physical awe. A champion athlete: takes advantage of the opponent's weaknesses, studies the game and learns from it, works his/her rear-end off, understands that raw talent (as cool as it is) isn't enough, digs into every detail of his/her work, thinks critically about how to be better, understands his/her own weaknesses, remains flexible to learn from mistakes, continually improves even the sharpest parts of his/her game, and has the humility to accept the final score. Opportunistic, curious, motivated as hell, willing to recognize mother nature wins every battle, analytical, smart, malleable, humble. The ones that have unprecedented physical skill may overcome the odds (LeBron James?), for the mortals it's the other stuff that creates greatness (insert your champion here, let's discuss).
Rory asked me to describe what makes a great chemist; what I described could perhaps be applicable across any profession. After a long pause, I ended my comments to Rory (about chemists) with a smile: 'having good hands doesn't hurt'...funny that the same can be said about athletes.
Tell me who your champion athlete is and let's discuss!