Business acumen - new LTR feature to help you achieve the success you deserve

Because technical knowhow alone is not sufficient to grow your QA/RA career in MedTech, we are launching a new section to help you build business acumen.

Here is an open secret no one will share with you.

“Why not me?”, you likely wonder when you see someone else getting promoted to a leadership role that you believe fully qualified for, but bypassed for some unknown reason.

You have worked hard in your QA/RA role. You are generally recognized as a solid performer both by your peers and managers. You have progressed slowly, but steadily, in your career and you are proud of your accomplishments.

Yet, there is a part of you that still desires a higher level of achievement, recognition and challenge.

Because that is who you are. You want to keep growing and keep making a difference.

But no one will tell you how to get there.

“Develop your leadership skills”, is a common advice. You may also hear a lot about communication and collaboration. And don’t forget about growing your professional network and finding mentors and sponsors.

While these are all good ideas - and often necessary for career advancement - they are not sufficient. Plus, everyone else who aspires to be in a leadership role, in all likelihood, is already following this advice.

How can you distinguish yourself and be seen as not only a technical expert, but also as someone with leadership potential to drive the business forward?

That is where business acumen can be your competitive advantage.

So, what is this thing called business acumen?

You will not likely see business acumen listed as a required or preferred skill for senior level jobs in MedTech QA/RA.

But if you look closely, you will find a set of loosely-related skills and competencies desired in candidates seeking Director, Senior Director or Vice President level jobs, for example¹:

• “Out of the box” strategic thinker with strong leadership ability.

• Ability to speak and interact with a diverse group of individuals on technical and business topics.

• Strong, strategic, creative, and "big picture" thinker, considered a visionary.

• Proactive leader with well-developed management skills and the ability to anticipate and identify potential issues to address early to mitigate or prevent.

• Ability to make difficult decisions under pressure.

• Ability to manage difficult conversations and seek alignment.

• Acute listening skills to gain understanding or to solve a problem, and the ability to recognize the difference.

• Excellent communication skills, including superior negotiation and influencing skills.

• Ability to motivate and develop high-performing teams with challenging goals that bring growth and development, including those over whom they have no direct authority.

• Demonstrated executive presence.

Many would lump all these in what is called soft skills, but that seems to suggest that these are fuzzy and feel-good skills, not directly measurable, and prone to bias.

Business acumen, on the other hand, is a lot more tangible. It is a combination of skills and competencies you gain from experience acquired through exposure to real-world situations. You can see business acumen in action, reflected in the judgments and decisions a leader makes that lead to business results.

The Oxford English dictionary defines acumen as²:

The ability to make good judgments and quick decisions, typically in a particular domain. (e.g. business acumen)

Here is a more descriptive description of business acumen³:

The ability to take a “big picture” view of a situation, to weigh it up quickly, make a logical, sound decision confidently, and influence others to agree with you in order to have a positive impact towards achieving the objectives of the organisation.

So, how can LTR help you build business acumen?

Since business acumen is acquired mainly through experience, does it mean you have to wait another 10 years and learn it by trial and error?

At Let’s Talk Risk!, (LTR), we don’t think so.

We also don’t believe that you have to chase titles such as Director, Senior Director or VP just to check the business acumen box on your resume. There are so many ways to build and grow your business acumen without having to go through the usual grind.

We see the skills and competencies needed for business acumen to naturally fall into 5 categories - Leadership skills, Risk taking, Industry knowhow, Business fluency and Growth mindset. We plan to build customized content in these 5 categories from a QA/RA point of view, to help you build tangible skills that augment your functional expertise, and position you for long-term career success.

1. Leadership skills: Setting a bold strategic vision, effective communication, and ability to influence and inspire;

2. Risk taking: Prudent risk taking for maximum benefit, both for achieving business goals and personal growth;

3. Industry knowhow: Awareness of latest industry trends, best practices, competitive landscape. changing regulatory environment and customer preferences;

4. Business fluency: Ability to speak the language of business, financial literacy, marketing and sales;

5. Growth mindset: Relentless focus on business growth, customer experience and brand equity.

We are now launching a brand new section on Business Acumen to help you gain these skills and competencies through specially curated content.

What type of content will you see on LTR under the new Business Acumen section?

At LTR, we believe in creating highly actionable content you can apply in practice. You may have already seen our LTR case studies, podcasts, webinars, ask-me-anything AMAs, risk management fundamentals series, and quick tips. Our content is rooted in deep research and analysis, but presented in a jargon-free, easy-to-understand style. We have a casual, conversational approach to learning while leveraging the power of a vibrant community to share ideas and best practices.

You can expect the same level of rigor, but an informal and conversational style for content related to business acumen. While you may find a lot of content on these topics elsewhere, none to our knowledge is customized and curated specially for QA/RA professionals in the MedTech industry.

At LTR, we remain committed to the mission of elevating our collective capability in risk management across the global medical device industry. A key enabler of this mission is your personal career success in the industry. That is why, we are launching a new section on Business Acumen to help you build these skills, in addition to your technical skills in risk management and related QA/RA topics.

This section will feature specially curated case studies and a special podcast available only to the paid subscribers of LTR.

Subscribe today to gain full access to content on the Business Acumen section on LTR

While a majority of the LTR content is freely available all subscribers, content in the Business Acumen section will be available only to paid subscribers.

You can upgrade your current subscription here, or click the button below to select your preferred paid subscription option.

1. Based on a review of senior level QA/RA jobs posted on LinkedIn (accessed July 2024).

2. Google search result for the phrase “what is business acumen” ( accessed July 2024).

3. See elgood: https://www.chris-elgood.com/business-acumen-definition/ (accessed July 2024).