Dr. Kiplangat Sigei is the Medical Affairs Manager for Anglophone Africa at BioMérieux, an in vitro diagnostics multinational company headquartered in France.
Greatest milestone: Being awarded Business Daily Top 40 Under 40 in 2017. I was recognized for my achievement in winning a regional award (Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific) at Novartis Pharmaceuticals (my previous employer) for being a key member of a team that saw the signing of an MoU between Novartis and The Ministry of Health to ensure access to cancer medication for Kenyan patients.
The key to success: Is consistency. We tend to get influenced to bend the rules and seek short cuts in all spheres of our lives. But always strive to maintain a certain level of trust and consistency at home, at work and within your networks. When you build a profile of consistency, you become a trusted partner from the smallest unit at home to your career and business networks and interactions.
Building a career: I took a career risk by joining the relatively new medical affairs role for medical doctors in Kenya back in 2013 at Novartis. Since then, my focus at work has always been threefold: people, passion, partnerships. I am passionate about my field of work. But to grow and be totally effective, I always strive to partner with like-minded people.
Biggest money mistake: I used to spend more than I saved early in my career. I spent mostly on things I could have done without or could have spent less on. Although I had a good income, I was often embarrassingly broke. Sometimes, I look back and realize that I could have invested much more than I have done today had I been more diligent with money. But I don’t look back with as much regret as I do with a sense of ‘lesson learnt’. I must also mention that the Centonomy 101 course was a financial lifesaver!
Biggest career loss: As a doctor, having a patient die is always a big loss, especially when you feel it was a loss that could have been prevented. I still painfully recall a parent breaking down in grief. We had just tried everything to save their child in vain. That experience pushed me to discover other ways I could impact the health care system more positively, but in a different way.
If I could start all over again: I wouldn’t do anything different because everything that has happened has prepared me for who I am today. I would however be keener in listening to opinions that are not always in line with my thinking. We learn a lot from pausing and reflecting on alternative voices.
We fell in love, married at KQ 20yrs ago, built successful careers, business
Saving method: I have a dedicated percentage for saving. I also increase the savings with every pay increment to keep my expenditure more or less in check. I then focus on deploying the saved funds to investments with guidance from investment advisors including family and friends. Previously, I would find myself thinking about saving towards end month when there was inevitably very little to save. The rule is to save first then spend what remains in order to live well in the present while safeguarding the future.
My parting shot: Run your own race as long as you are focusing on the right things. Family, friends and society can put so much pressure on you that you end up straining yourself, particularly on money. It is okay to get a pay raise and stay in the same house and drive the same car as long as you have a clear plan for both your present and future. Nonetheless, maintain a strong network with family, friends and colleagues – and of course be a useful member of that network. Work diligently and challenge yourself to gain recognition. We are sometimes told to be humble and let our work speak for itself but we live in such a competitive world that we need to continuously push ourselves to be recognized in whatever capacity we can.
This profile feature on Dr. Kiplangat Sigei was first published in the Saturday Magazine. The Saturday Magazine is a publication of the Nation Media Group.
