"I created my own monster"

Talent Spotlight: Jack Burke

A few years ago, Jack Burke thought his career was on the wane. A self-professed "marketing and graphics generalist," Jack had followed a path that took him from early days in pre-press and typesetting to years as an advertising manager, a vice president and general manager of a graphic arts and digital imaging business, and eventually a director of client services at several marketing firms. Jack had acquired a wealth of experience in all phases of marketing communications, from graphics production and publishing to account management and business development, but times were changing. Mergers and acquisitions had significantly altered the client mix of the firms he represented and technological innovations had transformed the landscape of services they were seeking.

Then things changed for Jack as well. After working for a while as an independent consultant, he landed a contract job at a large pharmaceutical company. There he was charged with managing a variety of advertising-related projects through the promotional regulatory process. Although he did not have any prior experience in "pharma" or "regulatory," Jack did have several skills that contributed to his success in this role. First of all, he understood the basic principles of process and operations management. Second of all, he was a strong communicator and knew how to mediate between people who were frequently at odds, such as those responsible for promotions and those responsible for compliance.

Given the complexity and organizational politics involved, this was a job that "nobody wanted to do," but Jack jumped right in. ("I'm not afraid to get done what needs to get done," he tells me.) By educating himself on the intricacies of the regulatory process, rationalizing the flow of work and approvals required from group to group, and consistently communicating with everyone involved, he jokingly says, "I created my own monster." In reality, he stepped into an intermediary role that had not existed before and built a process that the company is following to this day.

Jack found working in the pharmaceutical industry to be "interesting, enlightening, and educational." He also found it to be an intense, fast paced world where workloads can assume gargantuan proportions. Nevertheless, he maintains that it's a "big plus" to know that you are working for a company whose "stated goals are to help improve the health and quality of life of the patients they ultimately serve." Aside from being personally rewarding, however, Jack also found that it was opening new doors for his career.

"My opportunities were limited until I got into pharma," he says, where he soon found one thing leading to another. For example, a communications manager he had met at the engagement described above, having taken a position at a smaller pharmaceutical company, contacted Jack when she needed the assistance of a consultant. As a result, Jack's been at this new firm since last summer on a contract through Aquent doing what he does best: organizing and communicating efficient processes so that a diverse group of stakeholders - doctors, lawyers, clinicians, communications specialists, ad agencies, and printers - can successfully execute marketing and sales programs.

When I asked Jack what advice he has for people at earlier stages of their careers he begins by stressing one of the fundamentals: "You have to be able to write." As important as marketing communications are to your external clients, it is equally vital to be able to communicate clearly and succinctly when implementing and managing critical internal processes. Jack discovered on his first foray into "pharma" that his willingness to talk to and learn from a host of people, coupled with his ability to clearly articulate his plans and explain procedures to all affected parties, was the key to his success.

In Jack's view, the ability to write and communicate cannot be separated from the necessity of connecting with a broad range of people. "This business is all about contacts." The key to building a strong network of contacts, he explains, is serving as a resource to others and remaining open to opportunities as they present themselves. "I basically agree to do whatever someone asks me to do. If somebody says, 'I need this,' I just do it if I can. If I don't know the answer to a question or can't fulfill a request, I find the right people to get the job done."

By working hard, helping others when you can, and reaching out to others when you need to, you soon build a reputation as someone who is not only dependable, but invaluable. You become someone like Jack Burke. "At this point," he says, "though I'm a contractor, people come to me for answers."