Pharma Veterans

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...

Understanding Consumer Packaged Good (CPG) Market Dynamics – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1157 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1157 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: Kari Alfonso Credit: junjie xu Credit: Polina Tankilevich Credit: Rachel Claire Preamble Consumer Packaged Goods, or CPG, are the everyday items we buy, use, and toss. They’re all around us: the food, toiletries, snacks, and drinks that fill our pantries and bathrooms. But behind these familiar products lies a dynamic, $3.18 trillion global industry (2024 estimate), one that is adapting rapidly to sustainability demands, digital habits, and shifting consumer expectations. Here’s what you need to know about CPG: how it’s defined, how it’s evolving, and why it matters. More pharmaceutical companies have added ...

Balancing Execution and Innovation in a Fast-Changing World – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1156 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1156 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: cottonbro studio Credit: Karolina Grabowska Preamble This blog post speaks particularly to senior managers who strategize, execute, and are responsible for results today and tomorrow. In today’s dynamic environment, organizations are caught between two equally critical imperatives: executing the existing strategy with discipline and efficiency and simultaneously doing constant innovation to remain relevant in a world of disruption. Lean too much into execution, and the company risks becoming stagnant, missing the next wave of change. Lean too heavily into innovation, and execution suffers, creating instabilit...

Leader for Everyone – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1155 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1155 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: August de Richelieu Credit: JLT Project Credit: RDNE Stock Project Preamble “We don’t get to choose who we lead. We have to lead everybody. We have to get them from where we are to where we’re trying to go as a team.” Robert E. Siegel. Author of ‘The Systems Leader – Mastering the Cross Pressures that Make or Break Today’s Companies’.  Leadership, at its core, is not about comfort, convenience, or selective engagement. It is about responsibility. The quote above encapsulates one of the most profound truths of leadership: you don’t get to pick and choose your followers the way you might select friends, colleagues, or even employees. Once you ...

World Population Trajectory – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1154 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1154 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: Airam Dato-on Credit: Elias Alex Credit: Kindel Media Summary This blog post is based on a UN report. Link at the end. The world's population is projected to continue growing for the next 50 to 60 years, peaking at approximately 10.3 billion by the mid-2080. After reaching this peak, it is expected to gradually decline to around 10.2 billion by the century's end. Currently, one in four people lives in a country where the population has already peaked. Fertility rates are declining, with women bearing on average, one child less fewer than in 1990, resulting in a global fertility rate of 2.3 live births per woman as of 2024. Life expectancy is on th...

Overcoming Personal Rivalries Through Professional Achievements – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1153 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1153 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: cottonbro studio Credit: marie claude vergne Credit: turaki photography Preamble In professional life, rivalry is almost inevitable. Human beings are competitive by nature, and when multiple people with ambition, talent, and determination come together in the workplace, comparisons and competition naturally arise. Healthy competition can be a source of motivation, spurring individuals to push boundaries, sharpen skills, and improve results. However, personal rivalries, where competition turns into hostility or enmity can become destructive, not only for those directly involved but also for their colleagues, teams, a...

Pickings by Pharma Veterans Fortnightly Newsletter #30 – August 31, 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 • Patients in Pakistan will soon have access to safer and higher-quality medicines as the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has adopted international pharmaceutical sta...

Different Kind of Leadership – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1152 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1152 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: Miguel A. Padrinan Credit: Pavel Danilyuk Preamble – How to Lead Like No One Has Led Before: Lessons from Marginal Leaders This blog post takes insights from a recent INSEAD article. Link at the end. The concepts embedded in this rather high-end article are alien to organizations in our part of the world. We are still stuck with the classic, conventional leadership style, where the end justifies the means. Nevertheless, these are interesting, intriguing, and refreshing. In most organizations, leadership is associated with clear metrics, performance goals, and hierarchical authority. Yet, a growing cadre of “marginal leaders”, those tasked with buildi...

Navigating Uncertainty – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1151 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1151 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: energepic Credit: Fox Credit: Andrea Piacquadio Preamble This blog post takes insights from a recent McKinsey article. Link at the end. In today’s rapidly shifting world, disruption is no longer a rare event; it is the norm. A recent McKinsey study revealed that 84% of business leaders feel underprepared for future disruptions, with geopolitical shifts standing out as a key concern. Geopolitical changes affect all organizations in all countries, not just global companies in developed countries. For example, a Pakistani company doing business only in Pakistan is not immune to global changes as it affects supply chains, exchange rates, local currency value, pr...