Saturday, January 01, 2011

Living Now…in Forward Fast

I’m driven to accelerate the use of new medical treatments to improve quality of life for those who are suffering. People with disease, pain or disabilities can’t wait. So, as I start the new year of 2011, my daily wake-up call continues to be "move with urgency."

Learn fast.  Track fast.  Think fast.  Respond fast.  Create fast.  Forward fast.

This is my personal mission for 2011. That’s why, right now, I want to leverage all my experience and skills in marketing, advertising, education and communications to help create “health science brands.”

With the passion I have for advancing medicine, I actually gain energy from being on the move. People might tell me to slow down, or they might say I’m rushing things or we need more time. I’m tempted to think I should rewind really slowly. Certainly there are times when I enjoy rewinding, going back to reminisce and relive an experience. But then I restart. I work hard to be creatively prepared and focused in order to reach the scientists, medical researchers, physicians, nurses, clinics and millions of patients we need to inform.

So I can't sit still—I’m living at the speed of hope.

I measure the journey not simply by speed, but by outcome, because I’ve seen the value our health science branding approach can create in people’s lives. The fact that we can touch so many people so quickly gives new meaning to medical advancement.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with one company changing kidney dialysis and another with a revolutionary device to transport kidneys for transplant. In both cases, we were working to completely change the current practice of medicine and replace older technologies. In fact, the kidney transport device was featured in Business Week magazine as one of the “Ten Devices Changing Medicine.” With the promise of simpler routines, improved quality of life and even better survival, we were motivated to live in fast forward—now.

One of my clients is working on cellular therapy for cardiovascular diseases and another introduced the first approved treatment for a rare disease caused by a genetic disorder in the blood. Both have been years in development, so each day we are able to help speed up the processes and get these life-changing treatments on the market can make a dramatic difference for patients and their families. So, we live in forward fast—now.

One foundation we helped brand is delivering hope to those with arthritis and another is improving and speeding up the way hospital labs identify diseases. Both have strong clinical evidence of a better way to help people who would suffer needlessly otherwise. So, we work to communicate the news in forward fast—now.

One of our diagnostic company clients wants to get the word out that they have a better way to diagnose ovarian cancer. With another company, we need to accelerate the awareness of a treatment algorithm for sleep apnea, an often underappreciated cause of cardiovascular disease. So, living in the “now” means working in forward fast.

In your world, you can look around and see the people who take this approach. They are
the ones who are:
  • taking charge of their personal and professional lives
  • making significant choices about how they view things
  • choosing their attitudes with purpose
  • attracting the right talent to create teams that support their vision 
  • taking action to make things happen
When I meet with new clients or interview potential associates, I always ask, “Are you ready to hit the forward fast button? Because, if not, it will take too long to get where you want to be.” The people who share the desire to move fast come together, work together and achieve amazing things together.

It’s that chemistry of fast-minded people that has made my journey in health science branding so gratifying. I’ve learned so much from so many and I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned with others who want to make a difference.

Looking forward to even greater impact in 2011.

You can read more about my personal philosophy -- and many others who share a common purpose -- in our book entitled, Living in the Now available at Barnes & Noble.

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