Leadership in a post-pandemic environment
Arima Ventin of Allergan offers her advice on getting through Covid-19 (500 words, 3 minutes)
NPC Healthbiz Weekly is presented to you in cooperation with Peak Pharma Solutions
While many leadership behaviours that were important before the coronavirus are still crucial during the pandemic, there are key leadership practices crucial to success in the post-Covid future, according to Arima Ventin.
Ventin, the Executive Director of Market Access, Pricing and Government Relations at Allergan, is currently leading the team responsible for securing reimbursement for diverse products across private and public payers.
“When I think of leadership, I think of personal leadership, which is focused at the individual level,” said Ventin (photo below) at the 14th National Pharmaceutical Congress. Personal leadership is something that is not related to the employee’s title or level in an organization. Nor is it defined by the number of direct reports one might be supporting, she said.
“Everyone can demonstrate personal leadership, and being successful will depend on it.”
Ventin stressed the importance for leaders to be empathetic toward their employees. She added that it is key for leaders to be compassionate and authentic toward their team members.
She noted that the rapid spread and devastating impacts of Covid-19 had disrupted the business environment and the personal ’ personal lives, with the result that their personal lives tangle with the workday.
While it is now commonplace for a dog to bark or a child to walk into a meeting over Zoom, sharing her home life with colleagues has allowed Ventin to connect with her team more authentically, she believes.
“Most importantly, it allows others to not stress about the interruptions that might disrupt their day,” Ventin said. “By being real, they know that they can come to me, and I hope that we can work together to figure out how to make things easier. Sharing and bringing compassion and understanding allows leaders to be more approachable and more empathetic.”
Additionally, Ventin said leaders must show optimism during these challenging times. Covid-19 has created an unexpected environmental shift and made plans difficult to implement.
The environmental shift caused by the pandemic has created much disappointment and tragedies, making it easy for employees to get bogged down, Ventin noted.
“In these times, we need leaders who are optimistic and can set a positive vision for the future of their organization,” she said. “Leaders also need to be able to share optimism compellingly and dynamically.”
She added that a leader needs to convince members of their team that the future will be better than the current situation presented by the coronavirus.
“Inspiring and instilling confidence and a can-do attitude will be important,” she said.
In a post-Covid environment, it will be critical for leaders to show resilience. With organizations challenging past best practices, forging new ways of conducting business and developing new go-to-market strategies, it’s realistic to assume that the path may not be straightforward, Ventin acknowledged.
As leaders implement new strategies, Ventin suggests mistakes will be made, and issues will arise. Adapting to the post-Covid normal will be challenging for organizations, and at times, employees will pine for the way it used to be, she added.
“A good leader will be there to encourage and support teams and to remind them of the common organizational goals,” Ventin said. “To be successful with this type of disruption and change, resilience will be a key skill to develop.”
Leaders will need to have the ability to rally the team, which will be important when implementing new strategies.
It will be equally important for leaders to facilitate a culture where resilience can be built, Ventin acknowledged.
“To become resilient, a leader needs to foster an environment where employees can take calculated risks, reach higher than they thought they could and know that their leader will be there to support them, to encourage them and to tell them to continue when things don’t go as planned,” said Ventin.
The takeaway: Ventin, who has more than 20 years of experience in the Pharma industry, has learned that the best leaders are humble, they are selfless and are more concerned with the well-being of their team than their personal titles.
“I have had the great pleasure of leading a talented team over the past few years,” Ventin said. “I have learned that I do not need someone who knows all the answers. Employees appreciate it when I admit that I do not know something, and they look forward to opportunities to collaborate with others to solve problems in a proactive and creative manner.”
Team members want to feel supported—sometimes that means leaders have to roll up their sleeves to help. Allowing everyone to realize their expertise and talent and develop their talent will allow leaders to build the strongest, the most resilient and most competitive team, Ventin added.
Further reading: According to the Harvard Business Review, when preparing for the post-Covid world, leaders should focus on recognizing that they’re faced with a new, broader challenge; recalibrating their team; and reopening with attention paid to the small stuff. Story here.
YOUR HEALTHBIZ WEEK 02/02/21
BeiGene announced data from its fourth Phase III trial of the anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody tislelizumab met its primary endpoint of improving overall survival in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The drugmaker already saw positive interim Phase III data for tislelizumab in squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), combined with two chemotherapeutics tislelizumab’s first full approval in China, as first-line therapy for advanced squamous NSCLS in combination with chemotherapy.
Biogen and partner Eisai announced that the U.S. FDA has extended the review period for their experimental Alzheimer’s disease treatment three months. An FDA approval would make the treatment, aducanumab, the first new treatment for Alzheimer’s in years and the first that appears to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s. The agency will now decide on the marketing application for aducanumab by June 7. Biogen submitted the drug’s marketing application to the FDA in July 2020.
The U.S. FDA has approved an Investigational New Drug application that will allow Vertex Pharmaceuticals to proceed with a clinical trial of its investigational stem cell-derived, fully differentiated pancreatic islet cell treatment for type 1 diabetes (T1D). The therapy, called VX-880, is described as an investigational allogeneic human stem cell-derived islet cell therapy that holds the potential to restore the body’s ability to normalize glycemic levels via the restoration of pancreatic islet cell function. Vertex says it will launch a Phase I/II clinical trial in the first half of 2021, which will investigate the safety and potential efficacy of VX-880 in patients with T1D with impaired hypoglycemic awareness and severe hypoglycemia.
NATIONAL PHARMA CONGRESS WINTER WEBINAR
The National Pharmaceutical Congress Winter Webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, February 10, 2021.
The webinar will be hosted by Peter Brenders(New Brunswick Health Research Foundation) and feature presentations led by Jim Shea (Council For Continuing Pharmaceutical Education), Paul Petrelli (Jazz Pharmaceuticals Canada), Eric Tse (Allergan Aesthetics, an AbbVie company) and Carol Stiff (Santen Canada)
As a reader of the NPC HealthBiz Weekly, you are invited to attend the webinar at no charge. Register now at pharmacongress.info
CANADIAN HEALTHCARE MARKETING HALL OF FAME
The Canadian Healthcare Marketing Hall of Fame awards were established in 2002 to honour healthcare marketers who have contributed to our avocation and are an inspiration to others.
More than 100 honourees have been selected during the past 18 years. In the selection committee's view, they stand for a representative cross-section of the qualities that make our business unique and fulfilling. Each week, NPC Healthbiz Weekly will acknowledge one past Hall of Fame Honouree.
2019 Inductee
Alok Kanti
Bayer
Mississauga, Ont.
Editor’s note: Alok has a dual role as Head of the Pharmaceuticals Division and the Senior Bayer Representative in Canada.
In 2015, Alok Kanti was appointed President and CEO of Bayer Inc. (Canada).
He started his career at Bayer in 1994. He has had the opportunity to work in many different roles, from sales representative to product manager to project development, and at many different Bayer locations worldwide—Germany, Philippines, Singapore China.
As a matter of fact, he has touched over 27countries, including Japan, the United States, Brazil, India and Australia, and has learned the ins and outs of what it means to work as part of a team and a leader.
After earning a degree in Engineering at the University of Delhi in his home country of India, he finished his MBA at the University of Southern California. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Canada to become a trainee in the International Management Program Healthcare Division for the Healthcare Division of Bayer.
His decision to go into the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry came early on.
“It was a matter of chance. I was looking at a number of industries,” he said. But when a Bayer representative came to his university campus, he was presented with a vision of what a pharmaceutical company can do for society and what Bayer could do for his career.
He quickly learned that providing healthcare products is different than providing products in other industries.
“The starting point of healthcare is that everything you do has to benefit the patient while creating shareholder value,” he said.
He said attitudes toward the healthcare industry and the products they develop are different from those in other product categories. He and his team have to be mindful not just about what they market but how it is marketed.
“The challenge really has been to understand the context in which you are operating. Every culture, every country, every product area requires a slightly different nuance in thinking to be able to execute effectively,” he said.
Along the way, he has been guided by a set of principles that have focused on putting the patient first and developing a competent and innovative team to work beside him. Achievement comes from a mix of people and technology, he said.
“In the long term, it is always the people who make the difference,” he said. “So, every action you take should provide an opportunity for employees to develop and grow.”
During his career, his mentors gave him these same opportunities, including his managers, who taught him how to put people first.
His parents and family have also been supportive of his opportunities and career path. He said that Bayer has always considered the work-life balance of their employees and their personal needs.
“We’ve moved houses 12 times, my kids have had to make new friends four or five times, but that can also be seen as an opportunity,” he said. “Every challenge, if it is framed properly, can be seen as an opportunity, and if it is seen that way, then it works out.”
NEXT WEEK
The 02/09 edition of NPC Healthbiz Weekly will feature Ross Glover, General Manager at Taiho Pharma Canada Inc., on supply chain collaboration and priorities in a post-Covid-19 launch. It’s easy to get your no-charge subscription and have the issue sent to your phone or inbox each Tuesday at 6:00 a.m. sharp.
Stay safe, stay sure, and stay on your game. We’ll see you again next Tuesday.