Is there a recipe for professional happiness? How can someone work tremendous hours and still be happy and balanced in life? How do our previous colleagues see us if we change careers and venture into something completely new?
I have talked to Tímea Fenyvesi, the legal director of Egis Pharmaceuticals PLC. If you want to discover her challenges, insights, and her thoughts on finding a fulfilling career path, read along because she has a lot to share!
"Each of us makes a choice when starting a professional path. In my case, early on, I decided that I want to work in the corporate world. With that, I have chosen a competitive, highly demanding, but of course, very rewarding path.
I could have got another type of job, let’s say in the public administration, with way less workload. But that would have come with much fewer opportunities too. So it’s always a choice. You cannot have it all in the sense that you are excelling as a legal director in a highly competitive sector but you are the first one at the 4 PM aerobic class.
You make a choice and your obligations and opportunities will follow. I think you can only be happy in your professional life if you have chosen the right path. Your career must be aligned with your values, needs, and interests. It’s your choice, but you have to know yourself well to make a good decision on that.
I extremely enjoy what I am doing. I feel good that I can support my colleagues, my team, and the management in any field because I have so much experience by now. The biggest appreciation that I can get is when the management asks for my opinion. Of course, it doesn’t mean that they have to act accordingly. They have other business aspects to consider. But this is the most valuable feedback, that I am doing my work well, that they are interested in my opinion.
But you cannot build up such trust overnight. A friend of mine just started a new position and told me that she was uncertain about making the right choice. She doesn’t feel that her opinion is valued enough. I told her that it’s completely normal. Earning the trust of the management, getting to know the company in such a depth that you can effectively support your field takes time. Just as it takes time and patience to get along with your colleagues and with your partners.
During these years, I have understood that many things will not turn out as you expect. You may not receive the contract even if the partner promised it to you, you may not sign on the date that has been agreed upon months ago, it’s all uncertain and you need to cope with that. So one of my biggest learning points during my career is patience. Patience with my colleagues, with the partners, and with the career path itself.
Along with being patient, I had to put tremendous hours into my work. When we have a strategic deal, I cannot count my hours. It also happened several times that the signature date was so tight that we had to negotiate all night long and continued drafting the contract even the next morning to sign on time. But of course, these cases stay exceptional. I can perform under an extremely heavy workload, but even for me, it would be impossible to perform like this every day.
That’s why it’s very important for me and for everyone to find an activity that will recharge you as much as possible in your free time. For me, it’s hiking. I am jumping out of bed at 6 AM just to go for a difficult mountain walk. But again, everybody is different. For you, maybe the most fulfilling free time is to walk your dog. Or go for a knitting class. It doesn’t matter. The point is that you experience full recreation and let go of the stress of the week when you can.
So just like with your career choice, there is no ready-made recipe for everyone. Only you can decide what satisfies your needs the most. The key is that you know yourself, what is the most suitable lifestyle for you.
I also hold on high esteem those who have worked in a high management position for years, but with time they realize that it’s not for them anymore. Maybe they have arrived at a crossroads in life and they want something different now. So they change careers and leave behind their successful career and venture into something completely new. I find it courageous. But there are so many faces of courage.
My courage resides in my ability to be able to represent and defend my company's interests in any situation. It would be very hard today to make me uncomfortable in any professional situation. That’s my strength and I am confident in this. But someone else may decide to leave his prestigious corporate position to open a bakery. That’s also very courageous.
So as I said, there is no ready-made recipe for fulfilment and professional happiness. You have to know yourself and listen to what you really want at this moment in your life and do it. Only then can you be happy."
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