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How to Stay True to Who You Are and Obtain Success, Balance and Fulfillment
Lisa T. Grimes and Paula Brown Stafford were fierce competitors who didn’t exactly like one other. But after a mutual friend set them up to chat over lunch, they quickly discovered that they were so alike that they literally finished each other’s sentences.
These two award-winning executives have a combined experience of over 60 years at the highest corporate level and have managed over 25,000 employees globally.
Together, they wrote the book “Remember Who You Are,” It is broken down into three main sections: Achieve Success, Create Balance and Experience Fulfillment.
Lisa and Paula used juggling balls as a metaphor for balancing one’s different priorities in life:
- Crystal balls are the most valuable possessions that we cannot afford to drop, like family and faith.
- Glass balls are a close second to crystal balls, but we must prioritize to keep them in second place. Examples are career and business.
- Rubber balls are tasks that we may be able to delegate, like the laundry.
- Lead balls are those that we need to drop because they weigh us down, like perfectionism, guilt, and people-pleasing.
On the topic of guilt, Paula shared an interesting personal story. She missed her son’s preschool graduation ceremony when he was 4 years old, as she was out of town on a business meeting halfway across the globe. When she returned home, instead of feeling guilty and apologizing, she excitedly invited her son to watch the video with her so they could relive the moment. Not only did she did avoid the burden of guilt herself, she was able to help her son to feel loved and valued as well!
For their final bits of advice:
- Figure out your brand
- Take the time to make one or two truly meaningful connections with others
- Seek to give back. Find someone you can help.
What You’ll Learn
- How to build a healthy relationship with your peers… and even your competitors
- How to build self-confidence to live out your convictions
- How does “connection” between two people truly start?
- The difference between men and women in terms of “professional confidence”
- The power of writing a personal letter to your younger self.
- The difference between showing vulnerability and sharing “too much information”
Resources
- Remember Who You Are: Achieve Success. Create Balance. Experience Fulfillment. by Paula Brown Stafford and Lisa T. Grimes
- Habergeon a boutique management consulting company
Bio
Paula Brown Stafford
With more than 30 years of experience in biopharmaceutical services and consulting, Paula Brown Stafford helped build the contract research organization (CRO) industry and the preeminent CRO in the industry, Quintiles. Her career at Quintiles culminated in serving for five years as president of clinical development, Quintiles largest business segment. She is currently managing director of Habergeon and chief development officer of Novan, a North Carolina-based pharmaceutical company. Her first book for professionals, Remember Who You Are (co-authored with Habergeon colleague Lisa T. Grimes), will be published in early 2018.
While at Quintiles, Paula was a member of the Executive Committee, the Technology Investment Committee, and a Board observer in addition to founding Quintiles Enterprise Data Council in 2007 and Quintiles Women Inspired Network in 2010. After retiring from Quintiles in 2015, Paula has focused on Board work and leadership development and was appointed to Adjunct Professor in the Public Health Leadership Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health.
Paula is currently a Board member of Novan, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVN), Health Decisions, Inc., and the immediate Past President of the Public Health Foundation Board at UNC-Chapel Hill. She served as a member of the CDISC (Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium) Board of Directors from 2008-2015 (serving as Chair 2011-2013) and was previously an Independent Director for Bio-Imaging Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: BITI and later BIOC) from 2002-2008.
For her outstanding contributions to healthcare and pharmaceutical development, Paula was honored with a Distinguished Alumna Award from her alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in 2016. Paula was invited in July 2014 to provide expert testimony in the U.S. Congressional hearing on the topic of modernizing clinical trials: “21st Century Cures,” a bill later approved by the House of Representatives in 2015. She was named in 2012 as one of the 10 top women in biotech by FierceBiotech. And in 2011, she received the Triangle Business Journal’s “Women in Business” award for her significant contributions to Quintiles and her dedication to making a positive difference in healthcare around the world.
Paula holds a bachelor of science and a Master of Public Health, both from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a specialization in Biostatistics. She and her husband have two adult children.
Lisa T. Grimes
A dynamic leader, seasoned entrepreneur, author, and speaker, Lisa T. Grimes has spent more than 32 years in a variety of executive management, sales, and business development roles. She is currently Managing Director of Habergeon and President and CEO of PurThread, a North Carolina-based antimicrobial textile company. Her first book for professionals, Remember Who You Are (co-authored with Habergeon colleague Paula Brown Stafford), will be published in early 2018.
As an entrepreneur, Lisa began her career with PPDI, one of the world’s largest contract research organizations (CRO), as an early member of its executive management team where she had responsibility for global business development. Leveraging her PPDI experience, Lisa then became President & CEO of a site management organization, leading that company’s transition to a full-service CRO and ultimately, its sale to United Healthcare. Since that time, Lisa has served as start-up or interim CEO to other companies, including Invitrox (diagnostics and therapeutic assay focused company) and AcSentient (specialty pharma company focused on ophthalmology), for which she negotiated its sale to ISTA.
Additionally, Lisa’s broad life science industry experience includes positions with multi-national organizations such as GlaxoSmithKline. She also spent ten years serving on the Executive Advisory Group of the pharmaceutical consulting firm Campbell Alliance (now INC Research) and its subsidiary, the Pharmaceutical Institute.
Active in her community, Lisa serves on numerous boards, including Fill Your Bucket List Foundation, Lighthouse Ministries, and Knowing God Ministries. She is a past board member for the Caring Community Foundation and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Pharmacy Foundation. Lisa is an award-winning interior designer who also has experience launching consumer services franchises.
Lisa holds a BS in Pharmacy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She and her husband have two adult sons.
