Pharma Veterans

Enhanced Importance of Communication – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1165 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1165 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma    Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Moose Photos Preamble This post is based on an INSEAD article by Andy J. Yap. Link at the end. The Power of Impactful Communication: How Leaders Can Speak to Both Head and Heart In moments when organizations are pressed from all sides, market disruption, workforce changes, remote work, shifting expectations, communication becomes not just a tool, but the lifeline of leadership. Leaders who can mobilize others, inspire belief, and align emotions with purpose are far more effective than those who rely solely on strategy and metrics. INSEAD’s Andy J. Yap argues that for leaders, communication is the bridge between influence and impact...

Gender Pay Equity – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1164 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1164 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma    Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Carolina Basi Credit: Hong Son Credit: Mikhail Nilov Credit: Thibault Luycx Credit: Tony Nomjansk Preamble This post is based on various reports on this subject. Closing the 20% Gap: The Urgent Case for Gender Pay Equity Despite decades of advocacy, women around the world still earn, on average, 20 percent less than men for equivalent work. That means women receive only 80 cents for every dollar paid to men—a global wage gap that persists even after accounting for differences in roles, education, or experience. UN Women has intensified its call to close this gap, not merely as a moral imperative but as a vital economic necessity. Why the 20 % Gap S...

Gender Gap in Digital Access – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1163 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1163 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma    Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Anurag Jamwal Credit: Jhovan Morales Credit: Khezez Credit: RDNE Stock Project Preamble This post is based on Development Aid September report on this subject. Why Access to Technology for Women Must Become a Global Priority In September 2025, DevelopmentAid published a report that laid bare a harsh reality: in many developing countries, women remain far behind men in access to digital technology. They are 19% less likely to use mobile internet than men, and the growth in women working in ICT specialist roles has barely budged; only about 1% increase over a decade. These numbers aren’t just numbers; they represent human lives constrained b...

CEOs’ Blind Spots – Epilogue – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1162 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1162 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma    Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Tima Miroshnichenko Credit: Andrea Piacquadio Credit: Snapwire Credit: Werner Pfennig Preamble These posts are inspired by McKinsey research. Link at the end. This is the last post of the series which summarizes and concludes. In Pakistan, most CEOs of private businesses are owners who rarely retire. The succession goes to their children, who sometimes get quite old waiting for the father to handover charge. The following applies to owner CEOs also.   Leadership Blind Spots Across a CEO’s Tenure: Early, Middle, and Later Years The journey of a CEO is never linear. It is marked by bold beginnings, complex middle years, and delicate t...

CEOs’ Blind Spots – Final Years – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1161 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1161 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma    Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Amorie Sam Credit: cottonbro studio Preamble These posts are inspired by McKinsey research. Link at the end. In Pakistan, most CEOs of private businesses are owners who rarely retire. The succession goes to their children, who sometimes get quite old waiting for the father to handover charge. The following applies to owner CEOs also. The Late-Tenure Leadership Dilemma: Navigating Clarity, Legacy, and Succession We are looking at CEOs journey in phases, an energetic start full of bold moves, a middle stage of consolidation and refinement, and the latter years, where legacy and succession loom large. While early years are characterized ...

CEOs’ Blind Spots 2 – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1160 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1160 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma    Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Polina Tankilevich Credit: Pranav Digwal Preamble These posts are inspired by McKinsey research. Link at the end. The Mid-Tenure Blind Spot: Why Leaders Struggle to Renew Vision and Strategy Leadership is often romanticized as a heroic journey: a bold CEO steps into a role, makes decisive moves, sets a vision, and rallies people behind a North Star. In the early years, this narrative often holds true. Many leaders, energized by fresh mandates, chart ambitious courses and deliver transformative results. But leadership is not just about beginnings, it is also about sustaining momentum over time. It is in the middle years of a leader’s tenure that a d...

CEOs’ Blind Spots 1 – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1159 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1159 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma    Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Kampus Production Credit: Mikhail Nilov Credit: Olha Ruskykh Preamble These posts are inspired by McKinsey research. Link at the end. The Overconfidence Trap: Lessons for New CEOs in Leading Culture and Self Stepping into the role of Chief Executive Officer is one of the most coveted, demanding, and scrutinized transitions in leadership. For many new CEOs, it is the culmination of years, sometimes decades, of ambition, performance, and preparation. Yet, despite this preparation, countless studies, leadership surveys, and real-world examples reveal that many incoming CEOs fall into a common trap: overconfidence. This overconfidence manifests in tw...

Pickings by Pharma Veterans Fortnightly Newsletter #31 – September 14, 2025 This newsletter is the offering from Asrar Qureshi, Founder of Pharma Veterans. It will bring to you a selection of Pharma Industry news and developments from Pakistan, region, and the world. It will be published fortnightly on alternate Sundays. For queries and sending information, please send email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com. SPECIAL NOTE The objective of this newsletter is to share important news from the US and Europe, where exciting new research and development in drugs is going on. News from India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are included to show where Pakistan stands vis-à-vis the region. This is done in order that Pharma Industry in Pakistan may take necessary actions for course setting and long-term strategy making. PAKISTAN • A parliamentary committee was informed on Tuesday that the surge in medicine prices has become a serious issue in Pakistan, while the pharmaceutical industry is leaving the c...

Thich Nhat Hanh on Healing Ties Through Deep Listening – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1158 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1158 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma    Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: ab-pixels.ng Credit: vera arsic Thich Nhat Hanh Preamble Thich Nhat Hanh (1926 – 2022) was a Vietnamese, great Buddhist teacher and peace activist. He has written several books and essays.  Relationships are complex, and hurt is inevitable. Misunderstandings, conflicts, or bad actions can rip at the fabric of connection, turning once-safe places into sources of pain. Yet, there is a way forward, one illuminated by one of the great spiritual teachers of our time, Thich Nhat Hanh. In the essay “The Art of Deep Listening and the Three Buddhist Steps to Repairing a Relationship,” we find a gentle, powerful road...