In an article in Pharmexec, May 2024, the author identified seven essential attributes that investors look for before investing in Life Sciences. Among the seven was a “proven management team”. And this was described as “paramount”.
I remembered seeing something similar in Excedr’s online piece on ‘Top VC Firms for Biotech in 2024: Supporting Innovation & Growth’, where they cited “fostering a strong management team” as “the biggest factor that smart investors consider”.
“But what does this actually mean?” and “What capabilities are investors wanting to see?”, I remember asking myself. Among the answers given were effective leadership, strategic execution, adaptability in the face of obstacles/market shifts and the ability to make deep connections with others across the life science ecosystem.
So, when I was asked to write a blog about the value and importance of developing management and leadership capability in the life science industry, these investor perspectives came immediately to mind – namely, their need for genuine confidence in the managers and leaders that they invest with.
In the UK, we are blessed with a number of large pharma company resource pools from which to draw talent from. In a recent ABPI report, it was said that “compared with the rest of Europe, corporate venture capital investors view the UK as offering better access to experienced senior management as well as to specialist drug discovery and development experts, thanks to the historic presence and links with large pharma companies”.
However, the small-to-medium sized companies that make the UK industry thrive are often populated with much more diverse talent who have not had access to the management and leadership development resources that are accessible in other larger pharma companies, such as those I’ve had the opportunity to work in, like GSK and Astra Zeneca. And who is to say that such programmes are effective for the challenges that leaders face in small-to-medium life science organisations? In my view, the two are worlds apart. Why so confident? I proudly worked in those companies in Learning and Development and since leaving to build my own businesses, I have had the privilege of more than 500 hours of one-to-one confidential coaching with leaders in small-to-medium sized enterprises who tell me the same.
Many of their stories, shared eloquently and with heart, centre around some core themes: -
- making sense of their roles and what they are there to do within the unique landscape of their organisation’s goals, strategy and structures
- having to motivate their teams in ever-changing contexts, change that’s faster and less predictable than they’re used to, or have experienced before
- navigating conflicting priorities when everything is important
- feeling anxious about how to raise difficult topics that may result in a conflict of opinion or resistance from others.
I’m passionate about what I do and am constantly on the lookout for how I can help support the leaders I serve. I’ve been running Perla’s flagship Management Essentials Programme for a few years now, and it seems to hit the spot …” ... feel more confident about being a manager now! … understanding myself and how I manage and how I can develop, was invaluable … practice sessions and talking with others was most valuable … 3 days spread out allowed for important reflection and implementation, very helpful … thank you for a really rich and valuable learning opportunity and environment! I look forward to applying everything and learning more along the way! - I might suggest this to my own manager".
And I now have the great pleasure of partnering with my colleague, and co-author of this blog, on a next level up programme. We can see that small-to-medium life science organisations face leadership and management development challenges that are quite unique. In the last six months, we undertook three phases of market research with small-to-medium life science leaders with the intention of creating a development programme purposefully designed for their very specific needs. Our research endorsed the view that investors want to experience confident management teams, who have, or are developing their ability to influence, be self-assured, think strategically, and who have the capacity to navigate seemingly conflicting demands. Everyone in our research pool responded positively to us tailoring our Expert Leader Programme to meet these specific needs. Our straightforward aim is to save and improve more lives across the world by fostering leadership excellence in small-to-medium UK life science organisations.
Times are tough at the moment in the industry, and even a week can seem like a long time. Yet we see companies that know what investors are looking to see and continue to invest in their people. What my experience also tells me is that developing leadership expertise and confidence, naturally strengthens leaders’ engagement and sense of value and contribution, and keeps the talent pipeline strong.
With One Nucleus putting a spotlight on ‘people in the life sciences’ this month, it’s a brilliant opportunity to reflect on leadership and management capabilities and how to build these and demonstrate them within your organisation. As such, we would be delighted to hear your thoughts and your stories.
Blog written by Liz Mercer, Perla Development Ltd
[email protected]
https://www.perladevelopment.co.uk/
https://onenucleus.com/directory/company/140045
https://onenucleus.com/perla-development
and Matt Evans, Fired-Up Talent [email protected]
*Guest blog post by Perla Development. If you would like to submit a blog, please email [email protected]