We asked Niamh Clarke, Head of Quality and Regulatory Affairs, QP & RP with PCO Manufacturing to share with us some insights on her experiences and how she draws inspiration from the environment around her, role models she had during her careers, the best advice she received, and what she sees as the biggest challenge facing leaders today.
Voltedge: What is your current role and how long you have held this position?
Niamh: My current role is Head of Quality & Regulatory Affairs, QP & RP with PCO Manufacturing Ltd who are the leading parallel importer of pharmaceutical products in Ireland. Having been with the company for 21 years, I have been in my current role and a member of the Senior Management Team for the past three years.
Voltedge: Where do you draw inspiration from?
Niamh: I honestly draw inspiration from everywhere. I absorb information from a plethora of different sources, the media (very often radio interviews on my commute), audio books (again on my commute), various written articles. I also draw constant inspiration from my amazing team and colleagues. We’ve been lucky enough in PCO to have a very stable management team and so we communicate and collaborate well giving us the opportunity to continuously strive for excellence.
Voltedge: During the course of your career, was there a role model or mentor that stands out for you?
Niamh: My most influential role model in life has been my father and that is primarily down to a number of very key lessons early in life – he instilled in me an incredible work ethic which has remained with me, a very simple but important message that ‘it is just as easy to be five minutes early as five minutes late’ and that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well. They probably read as being very basic and very much common sense – but as he also says ‘common sense is not very common’!
Voltedge: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given during your career?
Niamh: That it is possible to overcome ‘imposter syndrome’. Firstly, by actually recognising and acknowledging it (I needed a little help here – thanks Dearbhalla Baviera) and subsequently by accepting it, albeit in a different guise. Being a good leader does not mean a complete elimination of self-doubt – in fact, a certain amount of self-doubt can lead to an increased level of self-awareness which in turn can augment one’s leadership capabilities. This realisation, relatively recently in my career, has completely changed my outlook for the better.
Voltedge: What do you believe is the biggest challenge facing leaders today?
Niamh: Sourcing and retaining talent – we have a huge responsibility to pro-actively develop our teams to have our existing talent conclude ‘I want to stay here’ and also to foster a company culture and vision that makes prospective talent think ‘I want to be a part of that’.
Voltedge: What is your favourite quote and why?
Niamh: ‘A strong woman looks a challenge in the eye and gives it a wink’ – I love this! I recently saw this somewhere and just thought ‘that’s me’!
