Building Resilience in Life Sciences: Preventing Burnout in High-Stakes Drug Development

“Over 90% of people you meet in life sciences are going to be dealing with failure every day. You have to normalize failure in this industry to get the success you want,” says Beth Benatti Kennedy, discussing the unique pressures facing pharmaceutical professionals.

Beth Benatti Kennedy brings more than two decades of experience as a leadership and resilience executive coach, working with major pharmaceutical companies including Takeda, Nautilus Biotechnology, and Pfizer.  Beth is also the author of Career Recharge and co-author of ReThink Resilience

Her insights into preventing burnout have become increasingly relevant as the industry faces mounting pressures from accelerated development timelines and regulatory complexity. In this interview with PharmaSource, Beth shares critical strategies for building resilience.

Life Sciences’ Unique Pressure Points

The pharmaceutical industry presents distinct challenges for maintaining workplace wellbeing. “One of the most significant challenges I see is managing deadlines with timelines, compliance requirements, and failed clinical trials,” Beth explains. “There is so much pressure for things to move quicker than in other industries.”

This pressure is compounded by the high-stakes nature of drug development. Every day of delay can impact patient outcomes and commercial success. The financial implications are equally significant, with substantial investments at risk during development phases.

The Five Stages of Burnout: Early Warning Signs

Beth emphasises the critical distinction between positive stress (‘eustress’) that drives performance and harmful stress (‘distress’) that leads to burnout. While some stress is normal and even beneficial in a high-performing environment, the transition to distress often manifests through clear warning signs.

“Distress starts to interfere with our sleeping patterns. We see increased cynicism, reduced impact, and difficulty managing basic tasks,” Beth notes. “These are crucial warning signs that shouldn’t be ignored.”

The progression through burnout’s five stages begins with what Beth calls the ‘honeymoon phase’ – a period of high enthusiasm and productivity. However, without proper management, this can progress to more serious stages requiring intervention, potentially including extended leave.

The Benatti Resilience Model: A Comprehensive Approach

Beth’s framework for building resilience encompasses five interconnected areas that create a foundation for sustainable high performance:

• Wellbeing forms the cornerstone, focusing on emotional, physical and spiritual health. Beth recommends implementing a ‘Friday Five’ check-in system, where team members briefly reflect on their wellbeing activities each week.

• Self-awareness represents the second pillar, emphasising purpose, mindset, and understanding of personal working style. “Having a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset makes a tremendous difference in how we handle challenges,” Beth explains.

• Brand is the third element, brand, helps professionals understand their impact and reputation. This includes regular 360-degree feedback to align self-perception with how others view their contributions.

• Connection, the fourth component, addresses the growing challenge of workplace isolation. This becomes particularly crucial in modern hybrid working environments, where deliberate effort must be made to maintain strong professional relationships.

• Innovation completes the model, encompassing both professional development and personal growth. “Innovation isn’t just about technical advancement,” Beth notes. “It’s about maintaining curiosity and engagement in both professional and personal spheres.”

Implementing Resilience in Practice

Success in building resilient teams requires systematic implementation. Beth recommends starting meetings with personal check-ins, building psychological safety, and encouraging open discussion about challenges. “Teams where the leader builds trust and psychological safety are achieving their deadlines while maintaining an environment where people can be honest about their struggles,” she observes.

Regular feedback loops and strength-based approaches to team organisation have proven particularly effective. One translational medicine team implemented quarterly resilience tracking alongside their project metrics, leading to measurable improvements across all five areas of the resilience model.

You can take a range of resilience assessments and find out more about her books on Beth’s website