Why compassion and kindness will help you overcome any challenge
Rafeeq Refaat is a Commercial Relation Manager for Bayer’s Consumer Health Division in Egypt. In his blog post, he tells us about the professional and personal challenges his path has taken him through. He also shares his own recipe for inner peace of mind and personal growth.
Since I started at Bayer, I have had only one dream and one goal: I always wanted to be a decisive gain and bring added value to the company!
My journey in the pharmaceutical field started in 2005, after graduating from Assiut University. I started as a Medical Sales Representative, then moved to USA. I came back to Egypt after one year, to work with one of the multinational companies. My first success was that I was able to launch a new concept for the treatment of diabetes patients. A milestone dear to my heart as diabetes is a fast-growing health problem in Egypt with a significant impact on morbidity, mortality, and health care resources.
At that time, there wasn’t a well-defined Consumer Market Channel approach. As a team, we had to establish a well-structured model to be able to serve our customers sufficiently from an overall product portfolio perspective. Re-transforming the team’s mindset, but we finally succeeded. Eventually, I was promoted to District Sales Manager for whole Upper Egypt area, managing a highly diverse team, in 8 cities for more than 1600 km longitudinal and 400 km crosswise.
Making the Decision to Join Bayer
Later on in my professional path I was approached by the Bayer HR team through LinkedIn. I decided to give myself a chance and went for an interview. I got the job and started immediately as a District Sales Manager in for Bayer’s Consumer Health Division in Egypt.
It wasn’t an easy decision to make. After a long time thinking with my wife, and the feedbacks I collected from my friends, I decided to move starting a new milestone in February 2015.
At Bayer, I was motivated by the ability to start things from scratch, which I considered to be a challenge and opportunity at the same time.
Shaping a New Success Story in Upper Egypt
I was able to build and grow a team of highly dedicated and talented Medical Representatives — together, we are proudly responsible for the Upper Egypt region. As a team, we were able to make a transformational growth in that area, having more than multiplied our sales.
The key to this success is the culture that Bayer provides. In our organization, we focus on winning as a team, we strive to be #1 in the market, and we understand what success looks like in each area.
Challenges Always Have Solutions
However, 2016 was also a tough year. I was working on my MBA while building the team in Upper Egypt. In addition to all of that, my wife was pregnant and was about to deliver our second baby. I had to focus on finishing my MBA final projects and theses, while I was also focusing on building an inspired and motivated team, along with coaching my elder daughter to be ready to face the new life with her new sister and supporting my wife in her last phase of pregnancy.
Working while studying is not all doom and gloom. It is one of the most rewarding methods of studying. It comes with challenges. But challenges always have solutions. If you plan, manage your time, and ask for help, your life will be a breeze. Luckily, I have a supportive wife, who holds a Doctorate degree in life coaching, along with two diplomas in the HR field. Her support became more important in tough times. Stress can cause considerable levels of irritability, anxiety, fatigue and other negative consequences. But being a supportive partner even in stressful times can be a determining factor in which direction your relationship ultimately goes.
A Sense of Ownership is the Most Powerful Weapon against tough circumstances
Moreover, we were launching a new product brand in the same year. This launch led us as a team to the challenge to establish the market across eight governorates to with more than 3000 Healthcare professionals — a nearly impossible mission. Therefore, my team and I worked on a proposal to hire part-time candidates under the umbrella of a third-party company to cover the evening shift. In this way, we were able to significantly boost our sales figures in Upper Egypt. A huge success and effort of the whole team that I gladly reflect on today.
2021 … A New Year … A New Promotion … A New Challenge and a New Opportunity
In 2021, a Commercial Relation Manager position was opened in Cairo. I thought twice before applying to this position. As much as it looked tempting, it required moving along with my family from Assiut to Cairo. This meant a new home, new life, new schools, and off course the challenge of leaving behind friends and family. I accepted the challenge with the tremendous support of my wife as she was the corner stone in that stage. She was the maestro of all details and always kept me focused.
Obviously, this was only possible with the encouragement and endorsement of our esteemed senior management.
I am happy that I can contribute to the success of the company in this role and that my team can grow as a result of these successes.
Being Unique is Like Playing a Special Song
As a professional and a private person, my passion is to make my dreams come true.
Everyone has unique dreams, and the wonderful thing is that you can have anything you want if you have the right attitude and take the right steps.
I sincerely believe that compassion is the key to kindness — and both are the recipe for inner peace of mind and personal growth. The world can be hard sometimes, so let’s be the kind part of each other’s stories. By spreading love, peace and hope, we can leave fingerprints in the lives we touch.
An important personal companion for me is the oud musical instrument, which brings me both joy and sometimes can empty any sadness in my chest.
Being unique is like playing a special song, with harmony of notes sounding altogether, and without dissonance.
Leading a team can sometimes be similar to playing an instrument. I am glad that I can be part of a unique team and that we can grow together.
