Here are six pieces of wisdom from Dr. Brinton, who will soon leave his 14-year post as director of the Stanford Biodesign Innovation Fellowship to take on a senior leadership role at a large life sciences company.
1. Value mentorship: Mentors such as Tony DeMaria, MD, cardiology chief at UC San Diego, who encouraged Dr. Brinton to apply to medical school and offered other invaluable guidance, have been “the most significant force in my career,” Dr. Brinton said.
2. Accept failure: “You have to be able to accept it, learn from it and get past it,” said Dr. Brinton, who watched his first two startups fail before successfully launching Shockwave Medical and thus commercializing an innovative new treatment for cardiovascular disease.
3. Find a balance: It may take several years, but it is crucial to find the middle ground between being tough on employees or trainees and taking a friendlier, less intense approach.
4. Define your own path: Though Dr. Brinton classified his choice to pursue roles as a physician, entrepreneur and educator as “brutal,” he described how, ultimately, each of those pursuits had informed and improved the others.
5. Train the next generation: As important as it is to have good mentors in place, it is equally important to pass on that knowledge to your successors, as Dr. Brinton has done as head of the fellowship program.
6. Don’t be afraid of a challenge: Making the decision to uproot his entire life and career and move from Stanford to Irvine, Calif. was tough, Dr. Brinton said, but will be worth it “for the opportunity to impact millions of patients.”
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