Who Are The "Right" People?
By Ben Comer, Chief Editor, Life Science Leader
When asked about the key ingredients of a successful company — or product launch, collaboration, financing round, post-merger integration, anything, really — most biopharma executives will eventually utter a well-worn business truism: Surround yourself with the right people. It’s akin to saying that success is built on a diverse workforce, or a multidisciplinary approach, or a strong data analytics capability. While undoubtedly true (truisms exist for a reason), without more information or specific examples, these kinds of statements come off as platitudes. What leader would strive to surround themselves, after all, with the wrong people?
In reading through interviews in preparation of the April issue of Life Science Leader, two different executives — one the CEO of a rare genetic disease therapy company, the other a managing partner of a VC firm — made the requisite comments about the importance of finding the right people. What struck me, though, were the different descriptions they gave of such people.
“Good leaders are the ones who know what they are not good at, and who they will need to fill the gap,” said Sung You, managing partner at VC firm PBM Capital and also chief business and strategy officer at SalioGen Therapeutics. You was speaking from the perspective of a potential investor. The right people she described were the talented individuals capable of taking a scientific hypothesis, crafting a strong vision, building a dynamic team, and turning it all into life-giving medicines. People who are “obviously intelligent, but not egocentric.”
The other executive, featured on the cover this month, is Emil Kakkis, founder, CEO, and president at Ultragenyx. Kakkis described the right people as the individuals whom he is willing to go to bat for, to accommodate, or to protect. Creative people, for example, and not just creative scientists, often get pushed out as companies grow and become more structured and corporate. The reason that happens, explained Kakkis, is because the people who come up with new ideas about how to do things “tend to be people who are not controlled by rules and politics.” The right people, in other words, may not be right for every situation.
It will forever and always be important for business leaders to surround themselves with the right people. The thing to remember, however, is that the “right” person is always variously defined by the needs of an organization, its unique culture, and its existing employees. The Covid-inspired and much ballyhooed “Great Resignation” of 2021, and a national quasi-reckoning with racial injustice that preceded it, have reset the terms of employment across industries. Going forward, it may be less about leaders surrounding themselves with the right people and more about people surrounding themselves with the right leadership.
In my role as chief editor, I’ll be working to make connections and facilitate conversation among the right people, wherever they may sit within the larger biopharmaceutical ecosystem. My own seat will change this summer, from a home office in Florida, to an actual office in Pittsburgh. After nine years of remote work, it’s a compelling proposition. My door, and Zoom window, will be open. I look forward to hearing from you.