1. The EuroVoice
December 2009
SPECIAL ISSUE
Pan-EU Leadership Conference, 2nd October 2009
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2. The EuroVoice
December 2009
HBA Europe Board of Directors 2010 The President’s Voice
President: Friederike Sommer, Founder
Friederike Sommer Training&Consulting 2009
President elect: Jolanda Groenhuijzen,
Managing Director, MyLanda GmbH Year of growth!
Vice-President: Isabelle Buckle, Business
Director Strategic Global Account Applied
Biosystems
Immediate Past President Barbara Gerber,
Senior Director Client Services Europe,
InterbrandHealth
Treasurer: Gabriele Matthias, Novartis Dear HBA EU members,
Research Foundation
end of year is usually the time for drawing the
Secretary: Kelly Teasdale, Global Client and year's balance sheet and as my mandate as
Affiliate Development, Chandler Chicco President of HBA EU is coming to a close I am
Companies happy to share with you positive learnings from
Mentor: Cathy Sohn my experience of working with the Board as a
Senior VP, Worldwide Business Development, team. I feel that these are valuable insights that
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare can be transferred into our professional and
personal life.
Directors at large
2009 has been a challenging year in which to lead
our young HBA European chapter, which is
Membership: Annelie Stapela
only in its 4th year of existence. As a Board of
VP Commercial Operations, R-Squared Directors we were faced with lower financial
Executive Search and Selection resources to run the programs and with less free
Programs: Dragana Zivkovic time to dedicate to the HBA due to higher
Business Analyst, Novartis Pharma AG pressure from our jobs. Nevertheless by the end
Mentoring: Britta Luescher, Corporate of the year a rich program of 26 local events
Citizenship and D&I Executive Animal Health, plus 1 Pan Euro event were held across 6
Novartis countries in Europe, including 2 new
EuroVoice: Silvia Pellegrini, Client Services countries: Belgium and Germany. The topics
debated reflected our members' needs as
Director, Sudler&Hennessey
expressed by them, giving insights into
Corporate Relations: Deborah Wong, changing industry trends, showing how to
Corporate Relations, Novartis Pharma AD develop further skills for advancing our career,
Advocacy: Cherie Faiella, Executive Director, and grow as leaders.
Office of the Chairman, Ernst&Young LLP
Volunteers: Gaia Pieraccini, Managing -Continued next page-
Director, Mederis Join the Ranks
Marketing: Yasmina Eroglu, Head of Not a member yet…?
Marketing EEMEA, Oncology Novartis Pharma Get Connected - Join today's leaders
AG committed to professional growth for women.
Women in Science: Christine Billy, Scientific Get Involved - Gain powerful networking and
Coordinator, Novartis Pharma AG; Linn leadership opportunities.
Hjortsberh, Project Manager, Archimed Medical Get Ahead - Take advantage of career
Communications AG enhancement & learn about industry issues and
trends.
For more information visit http://www.hbanet.org
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3. The EuroVoice December 2009
“The President’s Voice”
Distinguished keynote speakers always made sure that all was relevant to the current rocky
climate in healthcare and the general economical recession giving perspectives and tools pertinent
to how we could master our career for the best and what our role could become. On top of a
pleasing 15% membership growth another major milestone for our growth was achieved: the
first HBA EU Senior Advisory Board composed by 13 Top Senior Executives from major
healthcare companies, academics and politicians was created and started working as a
strategic think-tank for the Chapter advancement.
What was the secret behind the significant results achieved by the Board despite tough
current economy? Passion and dedication are the fundamentals for success in whatever you
might be doing in your personal and professional life. However in the case of a no-profit
organization such as HBA, sharing a clear sense of working for our own communal benefit -
women in our field -was a very powerful motivating agent that increased significantly and beyond
expectations the level of cooperation within the team and the quality of the performance.
Sharing problems with the team and discussing solutions was vital to nurture collaboration and
fuel creativity. It was amazing to observe how the diverse mix of seniority, nationalities and
professional experience within the Board generated brilliant and effective solutions to overcome
problems and barriers we met while unfolding our yearly plans and programs.
The feedback on the results obtained- regardless of praise or critics - were instrumental to keep
the team spirit up and kept us going as it showed that our actions were having a positive impact
and did not go unnoticed. Even critics were taken positively as a stimulus to learn and improve.
The Board experience, I believe, was a wonderful environment where more junior members could
get easy access and interact with more senior members and take advantage of their broader
experience. Furthermore senior members enjoyed the privilege of contributing to the development
of the younger generation of leaders whilst being exposed to their fresh ideas.
Public recognition for the contribution and success of an initiative proposed was also a
formidable motivating element: gaining visibility for our communal and
individual achievements is still something women in many European countries are battling for.
Multitasking is one of the feminine features which can easily lead to burning out, particularly when
you are factoring HBA activities into your busy job and personal life schedule. I am sure each of
us working for HBA on the Board and the larger group of volunteers can testify how matching
these two roles taught them to better prioritize tasks and helped them improve their way of
managing responsibilities.
Finally I felt that working with a professional team 100 % composed by women, was a unique
opportunity to verify that the myth about women-against-women competition is just a
stereotype. It is a myth, let’s not perpetrate it!
My year as Chapter President taught me very special lessons that I am now ready to apply also in
my professional and personal life.
The HBA motto says “required experience for a healthy career” and I can certainly subscribe to it.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Barbara Gerber
HBA EU President, 2009
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4. The EuroVoice
December 2009
“Advance your Career and Impact in Uncertain Times”
a summary of the HBA Europe conference 2009, Zürich 1-2 October
by Linn Hjortsberg, Project Manager, Archimed Medical
Communication AG
The financial crisis has shaken up the world, including the
healthcare sector. These rocky times require you to
develop your own potential to remain an attractive
employee/employer and continue to be competitive.
Particularly in this climate of economic uncertainty, a
“Yes, I can” attitude is required to not only survive, but
thrive. In her opening address of the annual meeting of
the Europe chapter HBA Europe President Barbara Gerber
summarized her view with a quote of Eleanor Roosevelt;
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of
their dreams”.
On October 1-2, some 70+ healthcare professionals
gathered for the annual meeting of the HBA Europe
chapter to discuss topics around “Career Advancement
in Economic Uncertainty, Developing as an
Entrepreneur, Retaining Talent in Tough Times”.
The conference highlighted themes such as taking
calculated risks, driving innovation, pushing the limits
and developing a winning leadership style. Workshops,
panel discussions and presentations led by senior
industry speakers provided important insights for taking
control of one's career, whatever the economic climate.
The meeting was set in the Limmat Hall along the
beautiful Limmat river in Zurich. The atmosphere in the
warehouse inspired building felt modern, friendly and
relaxed, which was reflected in the mood of the guests.
The coffee break discussions were vivid, engaging and
sometimes hard to interrupt to give space to the next
speaker.
5. The EuroVoice
December 2009
“Advance your Career and Impact in Uncertain Times”
-continued-
One who truly believed in the beauty of his dreams is
Alexander Tsiaras (Founder /CEO Anatomical
Travelogue LLC) who told, in the keynote lecture, the
inspiring story behind his company: the Visual MD, an
educational portal for patients and non-healthcare
professionals. Using images from the latest imaging
technology, the visual MD allows the patient to travel
through the human body and explains the mechanisms
of common diseases in a visual, easily comprehensible,
and completely groundbreaking manner. Alexander is an
outstanding example of a true entrepreneur. His talk left
the audience breathless, and brilliantly set the stage
with a “can do” attitude for the rest of the meeting.
Barbara Annis, leading expert in Inclusive
Leadership and Gender Initiatives, provided striking
demonstrations of the biological differences between
male and female brains. With amusing examples she
exemplified how these differences influence our
perception, communication and logic and can lead to the
typical situations of conflict that we are all too familiar
with. However, these differences also create
advantages. As the male and female brain often
complements each other, the key to success lies is in
the combination. To learn more about how great minds
actually think UNLIKE, read Barbara's book “Leadership
and the sexes”.
Michelle Gasden-Williams (VP& Global Head,
Diversity & Inclusion, Novartis AG) shared her
experience of driving diversity and inclusion within
Novartis. She demonstrated how important it is for
women to stay authentic to their leadership style while
still taking the diplomacy of the corporate environment
into consideration. A common denominator for many
highly successful women is their ability of finding a
balance between political correctness and personal
values, to have political savvy.
6. The EuroVoice
December 2009
“Advance your Career and Impact in Uncertain Times”
-continued-
Authenticity was a word repeated more than once during the course of this meeting.
In a panel discussion – facilitated by Friederike Sommer (Managing Director
Sommer Consulting) - Anne Walsh (Head Global Communication, GSK),
Andrea Saxer (Head HR Novartis International), Dr. Max Ferguson Noble (VP
Commercial Operations, R-Squared) and Dr. Jolanda Groenhuijzen (President
& Managing Director, MyLanda) shared their experience and advice on how to be
an attractive employer/employee in rocky times. The panel agreed that staying true
to values and core competence, and focusing on strengths is increasingly important in
times of uncertainty. To help stay in charge of your career, also during corporate
restructuring, they advised to set up clear long term goals and find out where you
want to be in the new organization. Never sit around and wait for the change to
happen, but be prepared; keep an up to date CV, network, and be visible.
Communication and voice coach Bill Young (President, Co-Founder at Young
Vienne, Inc.) completed the conference with a workshop on “Presence”. Bill pointed
out how important it is, especially for women, to know not only what to say but HOW
to say it in order to make our voice heard. Through examples and practical exercises
the audience learned how to think, act and speak in order to get the message across.
Visit the HBA website www.hbanet.org for further information and the ‘Why Dot
Pharma’ website http://www.whydotpharma.com/2009/10/06/bringing-social-media-
into-health-care-one-woman-at-a-time/ for additional interviews, photos and videos
from the meeting.
Many thanks to all speakers and sponsors, the HBA Europe board, volunteers and
participants for making this meeting a successful, eye-opening and inspiring event!
7. Euroleader’s The EuroVoice
Voice
Angelica is a member of the nominating committee of the HBA board and
December 2009
will contribute each issue this column dedicated to highlighting the
individuals of leadership in the industry today… welcome to Euroleader’s
Voice !
Angelica Mirza
Partner‐ Amrop
Global Executive Search
angelica.mirza@amrop‐asa.com
Eleanor Tabi Haller-Jorden
General Manager, Catalyst Europe AG
Guest speaker at the HBA EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ZURICH OCT 1 & 2 2009
What points do you think we should be aware of regarding “Women’s Leadership Style”?
Gender differences in managerial style may be mainly in the eye of the beholder. It would be hard for anyone in
business to avoid all the recent discussion regarding approaches to leadership.
Buzzwords include ‘authoritarian’ or ‘hierarchical’ versus ‘coaching’, ‘participative’ or ‘facilitative’ management. Given
the growing interest in innovative approaches to human capital and management, it’s natural that policy planners wonder what
is the most effective approach to managing staff and resources.
One theory asserts that ‘feminine leadership’ has advantages which previously went unrecognized in the corporate
community. The emphasis on positive aspects of women as managers is certainly welcome. But perhaps this argument and
others place too much emphasis on the imagined differences of women or men managers. In fact, there are more similarities
than there are differences between men’s and women’s managerial styles.
While dwelling on the differences is ultimately counterproductive, it’s important to appreciate the evolving notion of female
management style. Examining assumptions about whether there really are male and female management styles is a first step
toward developing the best corporate leaders.
What in your opinion are some of the dangers in women’s organization and sterotypes that occur ?
Certain personality traits or characteristics have long been closely linked with gender. Women, probably as a result of their
conventional role as care providers within the family, have been most often characterized as nurturing, supportive
and passive.
Men, on the other hand, have been thought of as more dominant, aggressive and independent. These overall societal
stereotypes heavily influence our notions of male and female managers’ style in the business arena.
In a climate where global competition is keen and leadership talent is both critical and scarce, organizations cannot afford to
overlook any of the leadership talents that women embody. To ensure that vital leadership talent is effectively assessed and
deployed, Catalyst believes that organizations must heed the advice of women leaders and take steps to address stereotyping.
Catalyst invites you to participate in an important
global research project!
Tabi Haller one of the speakers at the HBA EU Leadership Conference and representing Catalysts,
has asked the HBA to promote their survey which focuses on women and men working in the
bioscience sector with specific emphasis on those employed in the pharmaceutical industry. The
goal of the study is to provide groundbreaking insights into how career pathways and emergent
industry trends impact the career aspirations, workplace perceptions, and future directions of
women and men in all functions and levels of the pharmaceutical industry.
The HBA encourages you to complete the online survey:
Start Survey: https://feedback.clearpicture.com/catalyst/
Access Code: catalystbiosci 3
8. Euroleader’s The EuroVoice
Voice
Angelica is a member of the nominating committee of the HBA board and
December 2009
will contribute each issue this column dedicated to highlighting the
individuals of leadership in the industry today… welcome to Euroleader’s
Voice !
Angelica Mirza
Partner‐ Amrop
Global Executive Search
angelica.mirza@amrop‐asa.com
Anne P. Walsh
VP Global Communications GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals
Guest speaker at the HBA EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ZURICH OCT 1 & 2 2009
What in your opinion is “Authentic Leadership”?
For me Authentic leadership is not new but is certainly increasingly important in the age of
digital communication, globalisation and stakeholder multiplication and empowerment. It is
firmly rooted in a respect of ones own values and a deep knowledge and reinforcement of
the organisations values. To be an authentic leader requires a rare mix of the soft skills
and strategic vision skills and to provide a bridge between these. It requires a good
knowledge of the organisation from inside as well as the myriad of internal and external
stakeholders.
What do you think are the “Risks” in Authentic leadership?
The biggest risk is not choosing to work for an organisation whose values you truly buy into. Its hard to fake it! But
once there our organisations change so rapidly it is important for the leader at each step to reflect and
understand/buy back in to the new look environment before being able to encourage buy in from others around
her/him. I believe to be authentic a leader needs to have the capacity to step back, understand and
challenge. Only then will she/he be able to authentically support the change.
Alexander Tsiaras
Founder / CEO Anatomical Travelogue LLC &
theVisualMD.com LLC
Guest speaker at the HBA EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ZURICH OCT 1 & 2 2009
What are your general comments to the members of HBA after the conference?
1) Be less civil in making the case of the total lack of parity in the work place
2) Define the HBA Europe mission, and build a representative website that clearly shows
the passion of the people involved and also the value (human and professional) for
those who join!!
3) Engage entrepreneurs and smaller business. It is almost exclusively big business focused, in the way that HBA
focuses on how to speak to HR, cooperation in the work place, how to create the right resume, etc. As the industry
is changing it is not encouraging women to be the principal change agents but rather internally secure.
It is not that women should story tell more, it is that everyone should story tell more and better. As Eleanor "Tabi"
Haller-Jorden at the conference mentioned, "no one's life has ever been changed by a pie chart". Data in in itself
can be deadly boring. It is story that gives data its soul. If you want someone to understand, remember and take
action to your message, then embed your message in a great story.
In America many women are demanding parity in the work place. Their collective voices are having impact. They
have an advantage because there are some laws to support them, they are a very large community sharing a
common language and as diverse as America is, they share a similar business culture. Still parity is too slow.
European women as a collective obvious have the disadvantage of no common language (though English
is the shared business language it is not quite the same as it being native), vastly different cultures, and
therefore the European women do not have the powers in numbers that their American counterparts have.
In some case though, as in the case of the Norwegians, 40% of the C Suite must be woman versus Italy
where Tabi's statistics show that it will be over 663 years before women reach parity with men. In Europe
you have enormous statistical shifts (about parity) between countries, greater than those between
American and European. 3
9. The EuroVoice
December 2009
EuroExcellence:
Recognising Leadership within HBA Europe
2010 EuroExcellence Award Winners
GABRIELE MATHIAS
Contributing to the Growth & Success of the European
Chapter
Scientific Research Associate, Friedrich
Miescher Institute for Biomedical
Research, Novartis Research
Foundation
2009 HBA Europe Director of Women in
Science
CHERIE ANNE FAIELLA
Contributing to the Growth & Success of the European
Chapter DRAGANA ZIVKOVIC
Special Award
Executive Director, Office of the
Chairman, Ernst & Young Ltd
Business Analyst, Novartis Pharma AG
2009 HBA Europe Director Advocacy,
Chair, Senior Advisory Board 2009 HBA Europe Director of Programs
RENEE PLAWNER TANNENBAUM BARBARA GERBER
Promoting the Advancement of Women in Healthcare Special Award
Chief Commercial Officer and Senior Director Client Services Europe,
EVP Elan Pharmaceuticals & Interbrand Health
Member of the HBA Europe Senior 2009 HBA Europe Chapter President
Advisory Board
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10. The EuroVoice
December 2009
MEET THE NEW 2010 HBA EUROPE BOARD
as elected at the Annual Business Meeting on Oct. 1st!
Friederike
Sommer
President
Gabriele Jolanda Isabelle Barbara
Kelly
Matthias Groenhuijzen Buckle Gerber
Teasdale
Treasurer President Vice Past
Secretary
Elect President President
Dragana Britta Annelie Cherie
Zivkovic Luescher Stapela Faiella
Programs Mentoring Membership Advocacy
Deborah Yasmina
Gaia Christine Billy
-Jean Eroglu
Piraccini Linn Hjortsberg
Wong Mktg &
Volunteers WIS
Sponsorship Comm.
WOMEN IN SCIENCE (WIS)
WIS is an HBA programme dedicated to fostering the advancement of women working in a scientific function. WIS
operates in sub-groups who discuss and research topics and then share their findings with the group at large during
monthly dinners. The output of the research work can be a publication, training, conference, etc.
Each WIS member is offered to either work with a sub-group on an already identified topic or to select a topic on
which she wishes to initiate sub-group activities. Sub-groups in Basel and Paris are currently working on:
• How do analysts judge an R&D portfolio
• How to transition from academia to industry
• How to transition from one company to another or from a function to another
• Boss/associate relationship and its impact on job satisfaction and career development
• Innovation in Europe
11. The EuroVoice
December 2009
**UPCOMING HBA EUROPE EVENTS**
Networking Event with Roger Dixon. Project Management: The Key to the Future.
Basel, January 12, 2010
Networking Event with Carsten Edwards. Putting Market Access at the Heart of
Commercialization. London, February 10, 2010
JOIN HBA EUROPE ON
FACEBOOK!
Our facebook profile will allow you to become
friends with HBA Europe on facebook, keep up
with the latest news and updates, get
email: hbaeurope@gmail.com invitations to upcoming events and, best of all,
password: socialmedia network with all other HBA Europe friends.
HBA EUROPE MEMBER NEWS
We are proud to announce that the Industrial Designer Society of America
awarded an excellence prize to AMPLIFIT 3, a project led by Manuela
Genesio, Global Professional Marketing Manager at Amplifon. The award was
given on the grounds of excellence and innovation in developing an
interactive methodology to select the most appropriate acustic device
according to the patient’s needs. Congratulations to Manuela, who states that
“as a woman, one of the most challenging aspects was coordinating a
team of only men – and all very expert at their job-. The sensitivity
typical of us women was a winning weapon in the process!”.
12. The EuroVoice
December 2009
One Flaw In Women
Their hearts break when a friend dies.
Women have strengths that amaze men....
They grieve at the loss of a family member,
They bear hardships and they carry burdens,
yet they are strong when they
but they hold happiness, love and joy.
think there is no strength left.
They smile when they want to scream.
They know that a hug and a kiss
They sing when they want to cry.
can heal a broken heart.
They cry when they are happy
Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.
and laugh when they are nervous.
They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you
They fight for what they believe in...
to show how much they care about you
They stand up to injustice.
The heart of a woman is what
They don't take "no" for an answer
makes the world keep turning.
when they believe there is a better solution.
They bring joy, hope and love.
They go without so their family can have.
They have compassion and ideas.
They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.
They give moral support to their
They love unconditionally.
family and friends.
They cry when their children excel
Women have vital things to say
and cheer when their friends get awards.
and everything to give.
They are happy when they hear about
HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW
a birth or a wedding.
IN WOMEN, IT IS THAT THEY
FORGET THEIR WORTH.
. Poem submitted by Angelica Mirza