Servant-Based Readership

By Rob Wright, Chief Editor, Life Science Leader
Follow Me On Twitter @RfwrightLSL

You may have noticed in last month’s issue we ran not one, but two Leadership Lessons articles. Why? Well, I recently received a phone call from an executive consultant who was interested in discussing the possibility of a second economic downturn, or as some are labeling it — the double dip. Some international business executives are taking a proactive approach in preparing for this possibility. Though I consider myself to be an optimist and am not anticipating a second global economic crisis, my motto is — better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. Thus, when I received Susan Tose Spencer’s no-nonsense advice, I decided to forego running an Industry Leader article and instead, include her article, which was chock-full of common sense.

For those fans of the Industry Leader column, don’t worry; it is not going away. During my recent visits to various trade shows, I actively reached out to hundreds of people to step up and send me these types of editorial content. If you are interested in putting something together, but aren’t quite sure how to do it, drop me an email, and I will send you a guide to help you along. There is no cost for any editorial in Life Science Leader magazine. So, what have you got to lose? Check out this month’s Industry Leader article on page 48, which was written by Eric Luyer from IBM.

This month’s Leadership Lesson on page 50 was written by James Strock, author of Serve to Lead, which I have thoroughly enjoyed reading. Servant-based leadership espouses — a boss works for his employees, not the other way around. Thus, I believe one of the best ways to work as a chief editor is serving our readers, or as I like to say, servant-based readership. No readers, no magazine. I have been receiving some very positive feedback from readers about the magazine and some of the new sections. For example, at the 2011 Bio International Conference in Washington DC, I had a business owner tell me he began reading Life Science Leader as a result of our adding the Leadership Lessons column. Glad to hear it. Another executive told me he really enjoys the Ask the Board feature (p. 8). This month, we are privileged to have answers to reader-posed questions from a CEO, a consultant, and a director of operations. As much as I enjoy hearing the positive comments from readers and people with whom I get to interact at shows, I welcome all of the suggestions on how to keep raising the bar for improvement. For example, an executive wanted a bit more information on how data was gathered for our Outsourcing Insights feature. If you take a look on page 11, you will notice we now include a quick synopsis explaining the survey methodology. I would like to personally thank Craig Draper, Ph.D. with EMD Millipore for offering this suggestion.

I will be taking a break from traveling for a few weeks. So, if you have a suggestion, a question for the board, or would like to know who does my hair, drop me an email or pick up the phone.