Three Paradoxes of Leadership in Life Sciences

Brene Brown has dedicated much of her career to studying human behaviour and in the last 10 years, more specifically leadership. Browne’s view is that we can’t understand leadership if we don’t understand power and cites Reverend Martin Luther King Jr’s definition of power: “the ability to achieve purpose and effect change” as the most accurate and important definition she has ever heard. 

Over the past twenty five years, Fastnet  has been advising clients on business critical hiring decisions and Fastnet and Kestria have supported clients with many exciting leadership appointments. While the key attributes of “achieve purpose” and “effect change” from Martin Luther King Junior’s 1968 speech still resonate today, there are fundamental paradoxes and competing priorities that make leadership in the current environment a fine balancing act.

Visionary Vs Pragmatic 

The most effective leaders are visionary and strategic, cultivating cultures where agility, creativity & risk-taking are nurtured and encouraged. They have a clear vision for the future, champion an innovative, socially responsible and inclusive culture and have a unique ability to communicate what can be achieved in a consistent and compelling way where everyone in the organisation feels connected and empowered.  This is contrasted with the necessity not to lose sight of ‘the day job’, the immediate shorter-term organisational priorities. The tension between the ‘long game’ and the urgency of delivering results has never been more palpable.  

“Pharmaceutical and life sciences companies continue to face shareholder value pressure because great science has not translated into great returns, and the headwinds persist” 

Global vs Local

Ireland has a superb track record of success in the global life sciences sector and is home to 19 of the top 20 global pharma and biopharma companies and 14 of the top 15 MedTech companies. The country has a global record for operational and innovational excellence and our uniquely collaborative ecosystem has given rise to one of the world’s most innovative MedTech hubs.  We are the world’s third largest exporter of pharmaceuticals according to the UN International Trade Statistics database. Some may argue that we have been victims of our own success in relation to our homegrown entrepreneurial potential, however trailblazers like APC, VLE and HiTech Health, to name but a few are demonstrating what is possible. The 2023 – 2027 BPCI Strategy is very specific around the need to make Ireland “a supportive environment to enable indigenous SMEs to grow and flourish and to review global best practice in ecosystem development such as MIT REAP (Regional Entrepreneurial Acceleration Programme)”. NIBRT also calls for “benchmarking against peer countries such as Belgium” in its 2023 annual report. It is encouraging to see acknowledgement of the need to broaden and deepen the Irish ecosystem and the ambition to build a bright future where global and local perspectives play mutually beneficial roles.

For leaders operating in multinational organisations the global/local conundrum can also be a challenge and an opportunity. One of the most common debates in global environments is the need to maintain corporate consistency (Standardised CoE-led processes & strategies in Operations, Branding & Communications) while respecting local nuances. While business model simplification and business model innovation are critical success factors for multinational firms, standardisation is more effective for some workflows than others and context is key.

While the level of disruption in the labour market will be significant, The World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report predicts that the impact of most technologies on jobs is expected to be a net positive over the next five years. The opportunity for leaders is to focus on designing optimal talent strategies to ensure their organisations can best adapt their workforce to meet evolving demands in a transforming environment. Interestingly, the highest priority for skills training 2023 – 2027 is analytical thinking and the second priority for workforce development is to promote creative thinking.   

The paradox of digital transformation in life sciences does not represent a choice between technology and human capability, rather an opportunity for leaders to reframe the approach. All transformation is human-led and the challenge for the leaders of today and tomorrow is to integrate technology advancements with human creativity, wisdom and potential. Successful digital transformation will complement, amplify and enable human capability, not replace it.