Don't Make The Stupid Mistake Of Missing HBA WOTY Next Year

The first time I was invited to the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association’s (HBA) annual Woman of the Year (WOTY) event, I gladly accepted. I will admit that for my first time, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I suspected that my gender would place me in the minority; however, to my surprise, there were a number of men who attended. This year was no different. What might surprise you is who the men were who attended this year’s WOTY. For example, Ken Frazier, the CEO of Merck, was in attendance, introducing this year’s WOTY winner, Bridgette Heller, president of Merck’s Consumer Care Division. This year’s winner of the honorable mentor award, Kevin Rigby, VP of public affairs for Novartis, was introduced by his colleague, Division Head and Novartis executive committee member, David Epstein. During his acceptance speech, Rigby made mention that one of the three most important mentors in his life just so happened to be in the room— former U.S. Senator, Olympic Gold Medalist, and two-time NBA champion, Bill Bradley. If you have been hesitant to attend this event simply because you are a male, you are making a mistake. Ladies, if you work in a healthcare business and aspire to be a leader, then you should strongly consider getting involved in HBA. For those that didn’t attend, here are some of my takeaways.

Merck’s CEO Embraces Being Mentored Up
When Merck’s CEO, Ken Frazier, introduced this year’s WOTY award winner, Bridgette Heller, he was candid in his remarks. According to Frazier, Heller doesn’t set objectives for her team. Instead she refers to them as “Stands” denoting motion, action, and steadfast resolve. Frazier revealed one of the things he respected about Heller, was her willingness to mentor up, “very effectively and very directly” – sharing examples of how she approaches her job with a willingness to do things differently at Merck. For example, during one of her first meetings at Merck, after her presentation, she asked if there were any questions from the audience. When there weren’t any, she jumped down off the stage and stated to the stunned employees, “Well if there are no questions, then I have some for you,” recalled Frazier. According to Merck’s CEO, what has made Heller successful is, “The woman cares.”

WOTY Winner Reveals Sources Of Inspiration
During Heller’s remarks, she shared stories of growing up during segregation and having to overcome common stereotypes of the period around women and the color of your skin. She was thankful to teachers, who demonstrated the fortitude to go against the common thinking of the day. She also recalled one who did not, and the lasting impression it created. Even in her recent position at Merck, which has only been three years, she has heard executive-level leaders make statements to subordinates such as, “Don’t screw this up.” This doesn’t inspire confidence, but fear. Heller reminds that when in a position of leadership be aware of how you mentor so as not to squash a person’s potential. Push people to step toward challenges, not shrink away from them.

What I found most revealing about Heller came during her concluding remarks – sharing two stories of being inspired by young people through activities external to her job. Heller finds inspiration in Bianca Bailey, past recipient of mentoring via Girls Inc. (Heller’s non-profit of choice). Bailey passed on a music scholarship to Howard University to pursue a degree in chemical engineering. She chose this path believing engineering would provide her the ability to make a greater difference in the world, enabling people to lead better lives. Her efforts around water purification won praise from the White House, which named her a Champion of Change. Heller also drew inspiration from attending a retreat at the Princeton Friends School. She expressed being moved to tears upon witnessing eighth grade students speak on the value of accepting people for who they are, viewing differences as assets. Her closing advice, “Think of what could happen in your business if you harnessed the power of collectively supporting one another, promoting an environment of collaboration and free from ridicule.” In other words, strive to create an atmosphere at your company which encourages and nurtures leadership rather than squashing potential. If you aren’t sure what that feels like, try attending next year’s HBA WOTY. Then you will see what I mean.