Amr Seif, Egypt, Levant, and Iraq cluster lead, Pfizer: Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Amr Seif (LinkedIn), Pfizer’s cluster lead for Egypt, Levant and Iraq (ELI) and country manager for Egypt.

My name is Amr Seif and I am the ELI cluster lead at Pfizer. I am a pharmacist, and I’ve worked in a variety of areas including sales and marketing. I’ve been living and working in Dubai for the past 13 years, and only recently moved back to Egypt.

I shifted into leadership roles in 2008 and recently joined Pfizer as ELI cluster lead — managing Egypt, Levant and Iraq.

The main responsibility in my role is addressing purpose. Our purpose is to ensure access to our innovative breakthrough treatments to patients. My role relies on collaboration and partnering with key stakeholders to address our common purpose.

Pfizer has a strong legacy. Having joined it only recently, I am impressed at how Pfizer’s products have changed the lives of bns of people around the world and made what was once unimaginable imaginable.

For 175 years, Pfizer has been delivering breakthrough medications and vaccines and has a promising future that is looking at creating more innovative medicines for patients. If you look at the stats, 1.3 bn people have taken Pfizer medications last year, the products are very widespread.

We’re seeing great innovation in the pharma industry with the rise of AI. We are excited about integrating artificial intelligence in developing ground-breaking therapies, which we intend to harness in the fight against cancer and other diseases.

There are also more interesting trends happening — like precision medicine or the customization of treatments targeted to specific patient populations for specific ailments. Researchers now have much more detailed information about individual patients, thanks to advances in DNA analysis, which help us to produce personalized and effective treatments.

I lead a very disciplined morning routine. I sleep at around 9:30pm, wake up at around 6:15am, head to the gym, and arrive at the office at around 8:30am. When I get there, I start by reading EnterpriseAM and looking through my emails.

I’m usually the most productive during those first few hours so I aim to get things done early. I try to leave the office at 7pm and head home for dinner with the family. I like going on a quiet walk in the evening — without music — just to clear my head.

The constants in my everyday life are: working out, working, reflecting, and my family.

I stay focused by prioritizing. This way I’m able to direct all of my focus to whatever is most important at that specific moment. I even block out reflection time in my calendar to make sure that I always give myself a moment to think and reflect. I do this to avoid making decisions based on quick impressions — a natural human instinct — instead I pause, and look at things from a different perspective.

I collaborate with the team to focus on our priorities, while staying flexible to handle last-minute opportunities that arise.

In terms of my professional goals, my current ambition is to continue to drive growth, help advance health equity and innovation, collaborate with governments on projects and initiatives that impact patients and continue to invest in developing and growing the teams.

My personal goal is to become more present in the moment. I want to get in touch with my feelings and emotions at each moment.

To me, work-life balance is relative. When I first started my new role, I needed to give it my all, so my balance leaned more towards work. So, it differs based on the circumstances. What’s more important is being fully present in whichever it is you’re focused on.

I like to wind down from work during the drive home, which is why I enjoy going to the office. However long that drive is, it’s the perfect chance to reflect on the day and switch off work mode.

Sometimes a vacation is truly needed. I make it a point to take a two-week holiday every year to spend quality time with my family and enjoy our favorite activities together.

I don’t watch TV. Ten years ago, I just randomly stopped watching TV. I sometimes watch football and other times my son puts on Friends and I watch it with him. I do really enjoy TED Talks, though.

One piece of advice that has always resonated with me came when I received my very first promotion. My boss’s boss told me that what got me to this role is not what will make me succeed in it. Essentially, this means that if we stick to what we’re good at, we might get one promotion, but we need to stay agile and keep learning. If you continue doing what you did in your previous role, you won’t achieve everything you aspire to. It’s crucial to keep learning and adapting.

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