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“When you advance condently in the direcon of your dreams and endeavour to live the life that you have imagined, you will be met with a success unexpected in common hours.” Henry David Thoreau Last night at a talk that I was giving at a CIPD event in Cork City, Ireland, somebody asked me why and how I changed my career from being an organic chemist to a respected leader in the organisaonal development space. My career shi journey has taken me from being a PhD researcher at University College Cork in Ireland, to Postdoctoral researcher, to Industrial Scienst, to Organisaonal Change Agent to Global Director at Pzer in New York (where I helped create a culture of innovation across the worldwide footprint of Pfizer Global Supply, 50+ sites, 20,000+ staff) to Entrepreneur. Now, I am the Managing Director of my own company, Making Shi Happen Limited. How did I manage to make all these career shis and what was the meaning behind them? This micro-book covers my journey from having the idea to change my career, to implemenng this change. Every career path begins when secondary school ends. For me, this beginning was marked by the decision, which subject I wanted to study in college. Like many people, I decided on a subject that I was good at in secondary school – science in my case. This seemed like an easy decision; however, I completely neglected quesons such as “What am I really good at?” or “What do I really want to do for the rest of my life?”. As a result, my career took some unexpected and excing twists and turns. Reecng over the last number of years helped me to decode the process that I followed what we now call the “6 D Career Shi Process”: Desire and Direcon "Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Howard Thurman Desire is the first “D” in the “6D Career Shift Process.” I graduated with a BSc and PhD from University College Cork. After completing my postdoctoral studies, my first industrial job was as a Technical Services Chemist at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in Ringaskiddy, Cork. After two years in that role, I had the opportunity to transition to a Research and Development Chemist role, where I had the priviledge of working on a team led by the inspirational leader Liam Tully, who invented and implemented mega-million-dollar patented innovations for the manufacture of key pharmaceutical drugs to improve patients’ lives. Even though I was enjoying this role, I was beginning to realise that my natural strengths were not in the scientific arena. After 14 years of studying and working in the organic chemistry field, I had a desire within me to shift in a new direction. After climbing relatively high on the technical career ladder, I was beginning to realize that my ladder was leaning against the wrong wall. The signs that I noticed within myself of the desire to move in a new direction were as follows: • A dread of going to work on a Sunday night / Monday morning. “Tell me why I don’t like Mondays” by The Boomtown Rats became my theme tune on the way to work on Monday mornings!

• Feeling an emptiness inside • The repetitive thought of “I’m not sure I can do this for the rest of my life” (even though I had a good job with a good employer) • I felt as if I was out of alignment with my life’s purpose (or Dharma in Indian culture) • Scanning the jobs section to see what new careers might resonate with me • Researching higher education courses to see what might resonate with me in terms of new subjects to study It took me a while and much introspection to crystalize my desire and new direction into something tangible. As I reflected, I realised that when I was working as a scientist it was my people skills and my ability to build bridges and be innovative that got me by, as opposed to being a logical, accurate, evidence-based, practical scientist. I began to realise that I wanted to use my natural gifts, which for me were things like my people skills and creativity to make a positive difference. Training as a Business, Executive and Personal Coach helped me to crystalisze my emerging desire and destination. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, “I had a dream.” This dream was to transition to a role that would allow me to use my natural abilities to help people and organisations reach their full potential. At this time, I was still working as a Research Chemist, and was simultaneously undergoing further studies in areas such as Executive Coaching, Leadership Development, and Team Development. My passion for personal, and organisational development comes from my own back story. Half-Irish, Half-Indian child born in Cork, Ireland on the less affluent northside of Cork City, raised by a single mother who encouraged and supported me to always do my best and be ambitious with my education and life golas. I struggled a lot with my mixed identity as I grew up in a what was then a largely homogenous Ireland. I sounded like everybody else, but I looked different. Teasing by my childhood peers always reminded me of that fact. This led me to engage in a lot of introspection – Who am I? Where do I belong? Why did I have to be the different one? I eventually developed myself to a point where I was able to build a bridge within myself and accept myself for who I was, allowing me to become my best where East meets West! Now, I firmly believe that it is the difference that makes the difference! We are all different in one way or another. It does not matter what we are passionate about. It could be waiting tables. It could be serving ice cream. It could be nursing or being an engineer. What matters is that we get joy from our work, and that we use our key skills to make a positive difference. People sometimes feel like they are admitting failure by moving in a new direction after investing so many years in pursuing a particular career path. For those people, I can assure you that your career history will serve you on your future career shift journey. My previous qualifications, like my PhD serve as a passport and a stamp of credibility if you like. To this day, many of the clients that I work with are employees of scientific organisations. It helps make them feel at ease that I have a scientific background when I help them develop what is often seen as the fluffier human skills such as trust bulding, team performance, creativity, and inclusion. The other feeling that arises when we decide to move in a new direction is fear. People often refer to fear as False Evidence Appearing Real. To make the career shift a more useful acronym is Face

Everything and Rise! What I have learned about fear on my own journey is that the fear never goes away. We must take action despite the fear! Career Shift Questions 1. What is it that you are passionate about? (My 2008 answer: Helping people and organisations reach their full potential by better understanding who they are and what they stand for) Hint: What would you do even if you were not getting paid for it? 2. What are your natural gifts? (My 2008 answer: Building relationships, putting people at ease, communication skills and innovation) Hint: if you are struggling with this, ask some trusted friends or colleagues for their thoughts. Destination and Dent “If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.” Lewis Carroll Our future career destination arises from contemplating where we can use our skills and passion to make a positive difference (or dent) in the world. It is helpful to imagine your career destination at a future point in time. A good time frame to use is five years out, as we often overestimate how much we can get done in one year and underestimate how much we can get done in five years. When I lived in New York, I often went to the Imagine sign in Strawbery Fields in Central Park to visualise my desired future state or destination. This contemplation of the desired future state is a key step in the 6D Career Shift process. The metaphor I like to use when explaining Destination is a car Sat Nav. If you do not have a destination in your car Sat Nav, then you will not know what route to take to get to your destination. So, if you are updating your CV and applying for new jobs without a clear destination in your career Sat Nav, then you might as well be driving around in circles! Sometimes we become impatient and start taking action to “drive” to our next career move without having a clear vision of our destination, or in other words, what career success looks like for us. Steve Jobs used the phrase “dent in the universe” to describe the positive difference that we are all capable of making in the world. Our personal dents may not be as big as the once that he made but we can all make a positive difference. I am currently writing this on my iPad Pro! The key to making a positive difference is to focus on how we can serve a cause beyond ourselves that we are passionate about, using our natural gifts to help. The key to this is asking “How can I serve?” (this can be described as acting from our best self) versus what’s in it for me? (this can be described as acting from our ego self). All I can tell you is that the more I operate from a place of service, the more abundance flows in my direction. I do not have the empirical evidence to support this claim but trust me, I know it’s true! Careers are a bit like tennis: the better we serve, the more we win. Career Shift Questions: 1. What is my career purpose? (My 2023 answer: I’m a bridge helping to unite opposites in organisations, e.g., Left Brain – Right Brain, Head – Heart, Finance – People, East – West, and so on.) Hint: This is an inside-out process. Try to contemplate your career purpose where

you get your best ideas. Examples of where people have their best ideas are walking, driving, showering, or socializing; or, more generally speaking, activities that tend to quiet the mind. 2. What is my career destination vision for five years' time? (My 2008 answer: People Development role at Pfizer). Hint: Ask yourself where can you make a positive dent using your passion and core skills? 3. What are my year-on-year career goals to end up at my destination in five years’ time? Hint: For career goals think about training and mentoring goals, location goals, salary and benefits goals, and so on. 4. What opportunities are there be in my current company or in voluntary work that will help me advance towards my destination? Dare “You miss 100% if the shots you don’t take.” Wayne Gretzky The Career Shift does not happen inside our comfort zones. We must move into our stretch zone and take calculated risks. For example, when I was asked to move to New York to help evolve the innovation culture of Pfizer Global Supply, I jumped at it! The Career Shift does not happen without being courageous. I like to think about courage as being fear walking towards that which is feared. In the words of Susan Jeffers, to make the career shift, we have to feel the fear and do it anyway. Some great advice that I received along the way was to follow my heart and take my brain with me. Remember, we live in the world of the lily pad career, where the younger generations tend to jump from lily pad to lily pad! The job for life mentality is a thing of the past. Career Shift Question 1. What are you afraid of in your career shift? How can you mitigate these fears? Hint: Make a T-chart. List all the fears you have in the left column. Then list the fear mitigation for each fear in the right column. This activity helps you reduce the fears, as you have a mitigation plan to deal with them. Determination “I get knocked down, but I get up again. You are never gonna keep me down!” Chumbawamba I do not want to give you the false impression that my career odyssey was all plain sailing. I hit many bumps along the way, which brings me to the sixth and final D of our career shift process – determination. Two of the most essential career and life skills that we can possess are determination and grit. These are essential qualities that I would encourage you to develop as you embark on making the career shift. When you get “knocked down”, and experience setbacks, as you inevitably will, it is grit, determination and the courage to bounce back that will help you get through thes challenging times. In the words of the music band Chumbawamba:“I get

knocked down, but I get up again. The key things to focus on when we suffer setbacks are our passion and our vision. Our passion and vision help us to keep going during difficult times. It also helps to create two plans to keep us focused and determined on our journey. The first plan outlines how to move from your current career to your destination. The second plan outlines how you will keep yourself motivated and in good health as you continue to do your current job, while building a bridge to your new destination. Job dissatisfaction can lead to burnout. Career Shift Questions 1. What is your career shift plan? Hint: Break down the plan into small steps that will ultimately lead you to your new destination. 2. What is your wellness plan to keep you motivated and in good health as you move toward your destination? Hint: Think exercise, socialising, sleeping, and eating well. Conclusion As we move in the direction of our new career destination, we will begin to feel more fulfilled, more successful and happier. In the words of Tony Robbins “Success without fulfillment is failure.” Another key action to take on the career shift journey is to write down your personal definition of success. We have a world chasing success with no definition of what they are actually chasing! I have learned that this definition should be holistic, integrating work and life. My original success definition did not have family as part of it. I can certainly say that the final piece in my success jigsaw was the birth of my daughter Katie on April 22, 2021. When she was born; I felt like I had arrived and the striving for success was over. The more tactical Career Shift topics such as applying for jobs, networking, updating your linkedin profile, working with recruitment agents and so on are outside the scope of this micro-book. There are plenty of resources out there to help you with these topics. The career shift journey is an empowering process that is about you taking back your power. It is about shining. It is about deciding what YOU want; not your parents; not your partner; not your children, but YOU! In the words of Dr. Seuss “Be who you are and say what you feel because those that matter don’t mind and those that mind don’t matter. “ Before I finish, I would like to share a piece of advice that was given to me a number of years back. “Always do your best to leave things better than you found them.” Whether it is people, projects, companies or relationships. Work towards being a force for good by “always doing your best to leave things better than you found them.” This mindset has served me well in my career. I hope it does the same for you. I wish you all the very best with your own personal Carrer Shift. May you shine like the diamond that you are.

Acknowledgements: “We are standing on the shoulders of giants.” Sir Issac Newton I’d like to acknowledge the giants who have helped me on own personal Career Shi Odyssey: Firstly, I’d like to thank my family for all there help on my journey—especially my mother, Sharon, and Kae. Thanks also to my Making Shi Happen colleagues, especially Dr. Anne Mahler, for all their help and guidance with content creaon, such as our podcast and this micro-book. A special thanks also to Catherine Wiley for holding me accountable for geng this done! Thanks to the numerous mentors that have shaped my own Career Odyssey, I appreciate everything that you have done for me. If you prefer to listen to content, check out episodes 12-14 of the Making Shi Happen podcast. hps://spofy.link/6k3FC71duDb The Honesty Box Project: “How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a me.” Morgan Freeman This is the rst electronic micro-book in the Honesty Box project founded by Jay Chopra PhD in September 2023. The principle is quite straight-forward. I produce these electronic micro-books on a regular basis and make them available for free. In turn, I invite you the reader to make a small donaon to a charity of your choice or conduct a random act of kindness. This could be something like paying for the coee of the person behind you at the queue in Starbucks. The Honesty Box project was launched on September 30th, 2023, at the Royalton hotel on Park Avenue, Manhaan. New York is a place that has signicantly shaped the desny of my own career, and my life. You can nd out more about our work here on our website: www.makingshihappen.ie “In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do, now you’re in New York, these streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you, lets here it for New York” Jay Z