This episode is special and the first in a series of four. In partnership with ESCP Business School, I’ll be giving the mic to students, the leaders of tomorrow, to discuss with seasoned healthcare executives about their journeys and leadership beliefs. We welcome in this episode, Jean-François Brochard, General Manager at Roche France. Through this conversation, hear Jean-François’ advice on careers in healthcare, why you shouldn’t overthink opportunities and keep an open mind, and what true leadership means to him. It is all about being supportive and demanding, about thinking systems. For Jean-François, “Leadership makes miracles possible, it solves complex problems, it is less about myself and more about ourselves.”
Jean-François Brochard is the General manager of Roche France and director and chairman of LEEM (the French organization of pharmaceutical companies). With over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Jean-Francois held various leadership positions in both developed and emerging markets in Europe, North America, and Asia.
Before joining Roche France in 2018, he was the President of GSK France. He is also a director and chairman of the Growth, Regulation, and Conventional Policy Commission at LEEM.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to “Spread Love in Organizations”, a podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. This episode is very special. In partnership with ESCP Business School, I’ll be giving the mic to students, our leaders of tomorrow, to discuss with incredible healthcare executives about their journeys and leadership beliefs. ESCP Students: Hi everyone, we are Rita and Mohamed, two students at ESCP Business School in Paris, and we are delighted to be here today and welcome Jean…
In this conversation, Karine Duquesne, general manager of LEO Pharma France, shared insights into her approach to leadership. She emphasized the importance of authenticity, vulnerability, and kindness in leadership. She also discussed the challenges and opportunities presented by hybrid work arrangements and highlighted the significance of belonging and purpose in the workplace. Karine’s focus on innovation in healthcare was driven by a desire to offer hope and treatments that can make a difference in patients’ lives. Overall, her leadership philosophy centers on being true to oneself and creating a supportive and challenging environment for personal and professional growth.
“Be yourself to be at your best“
MEET OUR GUESTKarine Duquesne Vice President, and General Manager at LEO Pharma.
Karine Duquesne is Vice-President, and General Manager of LEO Pharma France. Karine previously held the position of General Manager at Actelion Pharmaceuticals France, and Johnson & Johnson’s rare disease subsidiary prior to its merger with Janssen in 2020.
She holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree and has more than twenty years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry within various positions, from Medical Affairs to Head of Marketing and Sales.
Karine is French and has enriched her career with international experiences in the USA within Janssen’s Global and Strategic teams in Immunology and Neuroscience.
Karine is passionate about people development, innovation, diversity and inclusion.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to “Spread Love in Organizations”, a podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host, joined today by Karine Duquesne, Vice-President, General Manager of LEO Pharma France. Karine previously held the position of General Manager at Actelion Pharmaceuticals France, and Johnson & Johnson’s rare disease subsidiary prior to its merger with Janssen in 2020. She holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree and has more than twenty years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry…
This episode is special and the first in a series of four. In partnership with ESCP Business School, I’ll be giving the mic to students, the leaders of tomorrow, to discuss with seasoned healthcare executives about their journeys and leadership beliefs. We welcomed in this first episode, Marc De Garidel Chief Executive Officer at Abivax. Marc shared his personal story and leadership beliefs with the students and several of his insightful learnings. In his closing advice, he encouraged aspiring leaders to pursue their passions, learn from mistakes, and not be overly concerned about others’ opinions.
“You can’t have impact if you don’t take risks at some point“
MEET OUR GUESTMarc De Garidel Chief Executive Officer at Abivax.
Marc De Garidel, is CEO of Abivax after being the CEO of CinCor Pharma, a biopharmaceutical company that develops therapies for patients with cardiovascular diseases and recently acquired by AstraZeneca.
Marc is a graduate of École Spéciale des Travaux Publics (a leading French civil engineering school), and holds a Master’s degree from Thunderbird School of Global Management and an Executive MBA from Harvard Business School.
Marc began his career with Eli Lilly, then in 2000, he was appointed General Manager of Amgen’s French affiliate and progressively oversaw an increasing number of countries before heading the Southern region of Amgen International, the group’s most important region in terms of sales. In 2010, Marc left Amgen to become the CEO of Ipsen where he helped transform the company by focusing on research and development and expanding Ipsen’s international presence. Under his leadership, Ipsen’s market value increased significantly. Prior to joining CinCor, Marc served as CEO of Corvidia Therapeutics, a private Boston-based biotechnology company that was acquired by Novo Nordisk in August 2020.
In addition to that, Marc has had extensive non-profit responsibility as VP of EPFIA (Europe Pharma Association) for three years as well as chairing the French pharma association G5 for six years. Marc is also a recipient of the French Legion of Honor.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to “Spread Love in Organizations”, a podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. This episode is very special. In partnership with ESCP Business School, I’ll be giving the mic to students, our leaders of tomorrow, to discuss with incredible healthcare executives about their journeys and leadership beliefs. ESCP Students: Hello, we are Sarah Boutros and Bouchra Taha, Specialized Master’s students at ESCP Business School in Paris, and we are thrilled to be joined by an…
In the conversation, you’ll hear from a changemaker, Marja Pronk, CEO & Founder of Global Young Leaders, Global experts foundation, and MH Pronk Healthcare Consultancy. Naji and Marja discussed various topics including leadership, health equity, and living life by design. Marja emphasizes the importance of leadership at all levels, including personal leadership. She believes that living life by one’s own design leads to happiness and optimal performance. Marja also highlights the necessity of love, transparency, and room for creativity in organizations. In her final words of wisdom, she encourages healthcare leaders to recognize the holistic nature of healthcare, encompassing both technological advancements and human aspects. Hear more about Marja’s personal journey, insightful learning, and the incredible impact she is having on young leaders across the globe.
“Take the fear out and bring the love in organizations“
MEET OUR GUESTMaria Pronk CEO & Founder of Global Young Leaders, Global experts foundation and MH Pronk Healthcare Consultancy.
Marja Pronk is CEO & Founder of Global Young Leaders, Global experts foundation and MH MH Pronk Healthcare Consultancy.
Marja is driven by the patient, healthcare perspective ‘to have access to the right treatment’. Her training as a medical doctor at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam and her years of experience at the pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline, inspired Marja to create the first specialized market access consultancy firm in the Netherlands. She since then helped contributed to more than 650 cases in 35 disease areas across Europe bringing innovation access to patients.
She is also founder of Global Young leader where they equip young people with personalized life skills so that they can create life by their own design.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to “Spread Love in Organizations”, a podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host, joined today by Marja Pronk, CEO & Founder GLOBAL YOUNG LEADERS, Global experts foundation and MH PRONK HEALTH CARE CONSULTANCY. Marja is driven by the patient, health-care perspective ‘to have access to the right treatment’. Her training as a medical doctor at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam and her years of experience at the pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline,…
This episode is in partnership with MIT Sloan Healthcare and BioInnovations Conference, an event that brings the healthcare ecosystem together. We sat with Andy Plump, President of R&D and Board Member at Takeda, and discussed his personal story, his leadership beliefs, and the “Challenges in Scaling Biotech Innovation” the topic of his panel at the conference. Hear his thoughts on the current and next decades of innovation, “will it be the decades of Life Science or Computer Science?” Most importantly, Andy leaves us with a message of hope. Every dark period in history anchored on the triad of war, pandemic, and social injustice has ended with greatness through science… We are on the edge of this, again, now.
“This decade will be remembered for Life Science or Computer Science… The potential is limitless.“
MEET OUR GUESTAndrew Plump President of Research & Development and Board Member at Takeda.
Dr. Andrew Plum is the President of Research & Development and a Board Member at Takeda. His career spans nearly 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry and academia.
Andy has been recognized for his contributions to the healthcare industry, education, and the arts. He serves on several non-profit boards including the Board of Trustees for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation, the Biomedical Science Careers Program, and as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the PhRMA Foundation.
Prior to Takeda, Andrew served as head of Research & Translational Medicine, deputy to the president of R&D at Sanofi, based in Paris, France. Prior to Sanofi, he served as worldwide cardiovascular research head at Merck.
Andy received his M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), his Ph.D. in cardiovascular genetics, and his B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in medical genetics at UCSF.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this special episode in partnership with MIT Sloan Healthcare and BioInnovations Conference, an event that brings the Healthcare Ecosystem Together. I am joined today Andrew Plump President of Research & Development and Board Member at Takeda. His career spans nearly 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry and academia. Andrew has been recognized for his contributions to…
Being in healthcare is a privilege and a humbling responsibility; we impact lives. This is what Michael Ullman has done throughout his years at Johnson & Johnson from where he retired recently as Executive VP, General Counsel & Executive Committee Member. Leadership for Mike is grounded in humility, kindness, and optimism, it is above all a responsibility to other people. Hear Mike’s experience leading JNJ to deliver on covid vaccine that saved humanity during the pandemic, and his thoughts on ESG, Health Equity, social responsibility, and how to build high-performing teams to ensure we deliver on our purpose. As leaders, our job is not to be superstars but rather shine through others, through our people’s greatness. Kindness is underused in the world, create a culture that demands it, treat people with respect, trust them, empower them, and help them succeed.
“Kindness is underused. Create a culture that demands it.”
MEET OUR GUESTMichael Ullmann, (Retired) Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Executive Committee Member, Johnson & Johnson
Michael Ullmann retired from Johnson & Johnson earlier this year after over 33 years with the Company. For the last 11 years, he served as a member of the J&J Executive Committee and the Executive Vice President, General Counsel leading a global organization of over 2,000 employees in 60 countries encompassing Legal, Government Relations & Policy, ESG Strategy, Intellectual Property, Corporate Governance, Data Privacy, Compliance and Security.
As General Counsel of the world’s largest Life Sciences company, he successfully guided JNJ through high-profile and high-risk situations, while helping to grow the business to annual sales of $94 billion, increase shareholder value and maintain its reputation as one of the most admired companies in the world.
Mike joined Johnson & Johnson in 1989 as a mergers & acquisitions attorney and held various management positions, including General Counsel of the Worldwide Medical Devices Group, before becoming the company’s General Counsel in 2012. Michael is a member of the Board of Directors of Americares and serves on the Columbia Law School Board of Visitors.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host, joined today by Mike Ullmann. Mike retired from Johnson & Johnson earlier this year after over 33 years with the Company. For the last 11 years, he served as a member of the J&J Executive Committee and the Executive Vice President, General Counsel leading a global organization of over 2,000 employees in 60 countries encompassing Legal, Government Relations & Policy, ESG Strategy, Intellectual Property, Corporate Governance, Data Privacy, Compliance and…
In this episode, we chatted with Melanie Ivarsson, Chief Development Officer at Moderna, who led teams in times the world was anxiously waiting for them to deliver us a hope with Covid Vaccine… and they did. How did they achieve this? How do you lead in such unprecedented times? How do you ensure this sense of purpose continues to live today? Hear all about those stories and about Melanie’s biggest leadership learning throughout this once-in-a-lifetime experience: Enable others to be the best they can be, and don’t get in their way.
“Hang on to your true self.”
MEET OUR GUESTMelanie Ivarsson Chief Development Officer at Moderna.
Melanie Ivarsson is Senior Vice President, Chief Development Officer at Moderna, where she leads the Clinical Development Operations department. In this role Dr Ivarsson and her team deliver all clinical programs within the Moderna portfolio.
Melanie has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Moderna, she was Head of Global Clinical Operations, at Takeda (following the acquisition of Shire) and spent 9 years at Pfizer in Clinical Development. She also held roles within the early clinical development group at Eli Lilly.
After receiving her PhD from the University of Bristol, she completed postdoctoral research at Lund University and New York University. Dr Ivarsson also holds an Executive MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host today, having the pleasure to be joined by Melanie Ivarsson Chief Development Officer at Moderna. In this role Melanie leads the Clinical Development Operations department and delivers with her team all clinical programs within the Moderna portfolio. Prior to joining Moderna, she was Head of Global Clinical Operations at Takeda and spent 9 years at Pfizer in…
Bringing the human voice to inform decisions in healthcare, nothing can be more impactful. Going beyond the facts and the sad reality of inequities, health misinformation, and tragic health outcomes to really deeply understand the “WHY” question. Sema Sgaier, CEO and Co-Founder of Surgo Health, has made this her purpose and focus of her work in the non-profit and for-profit organizations she led. In this episode, we discussed data, conspiracy theories, the power of stories, and the importance of understanding what people really need on the ground and the “why” behind their behaviors. You’ll also hear Sema’s story, her leadership beliefs, and about the “professional love language”.
“Be bold, step up, go after big ideas.”
MEET OUR GUESTSema Sgaier CEO and Co-Founder of Surgo Health.
Sema Sgaier is CEO and Co-Founder of Surgo Health, a healthcare technology company developing a revolutionary socio-behavioral analytics platform and generating novel, real-world data designed to inform and improve health equity and outcomes by enabling a greater understanding of the complex factors that influence how individuals engage in their healthcare.
Sema is a serial entrepreneur with close to 20 years of experience in healthcare. She co-founded and led Surgo Foundation and Surgo Ventures, where she led the development of analytic products that solve health problems with greater precision. She was Initiative Lead at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she brought innovations in data, consumer insights, and product introduction into large-scale health programs globally.
She has over 60 publications and is a frequent OpEd contributor to The New York Times and prestigious media outlets. She is an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Washington.
She completed her fellowship in Genomics at Harvard University, Ph.D. in Neuroscience from New York University, and M.A. in Neuroscience from Brown University. Sema is a member of the Board of Directors of the United States of Care. She was selected as a rising talent by the Women’s Forum for Economy and Society.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host, joined today by Sema Sgaier CEO and Co-Founder of Surgo Health, a healthcare technology company developing a revolutionary socio-behavioral analytics platform and generating novel, real-world data designed to inform and improve health equity and outcomes by enabling a greater understanding of the complex factors that influence how individuals engage in their healthcare. Sema is a serial entrepreneur…
Leadership is the ability to make decisions that benefit the whole system, it is those who go beyond personal benefit, beyond their own team’s benefit, and do the right thing for the community. In this chat with Amy Kimball, we discussed leadership in healthcare non-profits, and also in entrepreneurship. We talked about the key components of building a thriving culture of excellence, high performance, and people-centered service. Hear Amy’s inspiring journey, and her authentic thoughts about being “lonely at the top”, something we all experience as leaders at some point in our lives.
“It is about what you want for yourself.”
MEET OUR GUESTAmy Kimball Executive & Leadership Coach and former biomedical research CEO.
Amy Kimball is an Executive & Leadership Coach and former biomedical research CEO. Prior to launching her coaching business in 2022, she had been coaching professionals on the side for 15 years, while she held leadership roles in academic biomedical research.
During her tenure as CEO of a midsized biomedical research institute, she led a turnaround to rebuild a culture of excellence, high performance, and people-centered service. Prior to that, she held research administrative leadership roles at large, Boston-based academic medical centers.
She holds an Executive MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and has completed Georgetown University’s Leadership Coaching program. She coaches CEOs and other leadership positions that feel “lonely at the top;” mentors and advises start-ups; and serves in peer coaching roles within the helping professions community.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this episode, joined today by Amy Kimball an Executive & Leadership Coach and former biomedical research CEO. Prior to launching her coaching business in 2022, Amy had been coaching professionals on the side for 15 years, while she held leadership roles in academic biomedical research. During her tenure as CEO of a midsized biomedical research institute,…
Sharing our core values is essential; living by them is crucial. For Jason Dupuis, this is a key part of daily leadership. His values are Passion, Dedication, and Integrity. Passion is “love what you do”; Dedication is “Be there”; integrity is “Do the right thing”, a simple framework that Jason lives by and transmits daily to his people in healthcare. His words of wisdom are powerful for us in healthcare: always put “human first” and show-up!
“Showing up is a choice that every great leader makes.”
MEET OUR GUESTJason Dupuis a passionate Human Experience Strategist, Thought Leader, influencer, and speaker.
Jason Dupuis is a thought leader, speaker, and organizational behavior enthusiast who believes in the power of Human Experience as a key driver of organizational performance and strategy. Over the last 20 years, Jason has served as the Chief Experience Officer for PM Pediatrics Care as well as the Administrative Director for Admitting and Emergency Services at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Most recently, he joined Fidelum Health as a Consultant and Principal Healthcare Advisor to bring the Human Brand concepts of Warmth and Competence into the Human Experience in Healthcare. As a Core Value advocate and fanatic, Jason has devoted his career to successfully demonstrating that being “human first” and leading with personal and organizational core values can create efficient and profitable operations while simultaneously delivering an exceptional experience for patients, families, and care teams. In addition to his professional roles, Jason is an Adjunct Professor in the Hellenic College School of Leadership & Management as well as recently joining Boston College as an Adjunct Professor in their Masters in Healthcare Administration program.
Jason holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Management & Policy from the University of New Hampshire and a Masters of Health Administration from Simmons College in Boston, MA.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this podcast joined today by Jason M. Dupuis, a thought leader, speaker and organizational behavior enthusiast who believes in the power of Human Experience as a key driver of organizational performance and strategy. Over the last 20 years, Jason has served as the Chief Experience Officer for PM Pediatrics Care as well as the Administrative Director…
A diplomat who became passionate about innovation-driven entrepreneurship and ecosystems shares what it takes for communities, cities, and countries to become innovation hubs. Phil Budden’s work is centered on studying and creating those ecosystems grounded around 5 key stakeholders interconnected: Entrepreneurs, Government, Universities, Big Businesses, and Risk Capital. For him though, beyond all, it is about people and connecting those great minds together to create impact. His words of wisdom are powerful for all of us leaders: “be thoughtful about your leadership and its impact.”
“Leadership takes innovative tech to impact.”
MEET OUR GUESTDr. Phil Budden, Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan focusing on ‘innovation-driven entrepreneurship’ (IDE) and innovation ecosystems.
Phil Budden Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan focusing on ‘innovation-driven entrepreneurship’ (IDE) and innovation ecosystems. Phil’s approach combines academic, historical, and real-world perspectives on how different stakeholders can all contribute to building successful innovation ecosystems.
Prior to MIT, Phil had undertaken projects on innovation and entrepreneurship for the British Prime Minister’s office and served as the British Consul General to New England where he had been responsible for transatlantic business issues, including trade and investment, corporate/government affairs, as well as science and innovation.
Phil has held several diplomatic posts with the British government: British Cabinet Office; British Embassy, Washington DC; 1st Secretary and Adviser to the PM.
Phil holds a BA and MA in History from Lincoln College, the University of Oxford; an MA in History and Government from Cornell University; and a PhD in History and International Political Economy from the University of Oxford.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this episode joined today by Phil Budden Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan focusing on ‘innovation-driven entrepreneurship’ (IDE) and innovation ecosystems. Phil’s approach combines academic, historical and real-world perspectives on how different stakeholders can all contribute to building successful innovation ecosystems. Prior to MIT, Phil had undertaken projects on innovation and entrepreneurship for the British Prime Minister’s…
It is so rare to sit with a math genius leader who has won over the casinos and is now transforming venture capitalism through impact investment. Semyon Dukach, known for leading one of the MIT blackjack teams in the early 90s, featured in the movie Breaking Vegas, serial entrepreneur, and investor, shares with us his story and leadership beliefs. Semyon is focused on impact investing as a VC and more specifically backing exceptional immigrants. With his strong belief that “opportunity should be the same for everybody”, he is extensively working to improve equity and global impact through his leadership and investment philosophy.
“Love makes the world go round.”
MEET OUR GUESTSemyon Dukach Managing Partner, One Way Ventures, the venture capital fund backing exceptional immigrant tech founders who are building great companies like Brex, Momentus Space, and Chipper Cash.
Semyon Dukach, Managing Partner at One Way Ventures, the venture capital fund backing exceptional immigrant tech founders building great companies like Brex, Momentus Space, and Chipper Cash. Semyon is a refugee from the Soviet Union and was formerly the Managing Director of Techstars.
Prior to Techstars, he was a prolific angel investor and a friend of the startup community. Semyon has made over 100 angel investments, including early investments in Quanergy, SMTP.com, and Wanderu. Xconomy lists Semyon as a top angel investor in New England.
His philosophy has been to focus on helping his founders at all costs. Prior to becoming a full-time angel, Semyon co-founded several technology companies including Vert and Fast Engines. Fast Engines was sold to Adero in 2000. Beyond startups, Semyon is known for leading one of the MIT blackjack teams in the early 90s to beat the casinos.
Semyon earned his B.S. from Columbia University and M.S. from MIT, both in Computer Science.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this podcast joined today by Semyon Dukach, Managing Partner at One Way Ventures, the venture capital fund backing exceptional immigrant tech founders who are building great companies like Brex, Momentus Space, and Chipper Cash. Semyon is a refugee from the Soviet Union and formerly the Managing Director of Techstars (Boston). Prior to Techstars, he was a…
“How can I increase impact and prosperity for all” has been the guiding principle for Dina Sherif an impact-driven entrepreneur, Senior Lecturer, and Executive Director of MIT Legatum. Through this lens, we discussed impact, sustainability, social change, and the key ingredient to successfully building startups that will make the world a better place. A lot has to do with intentionality about the purpose and strong belief in human equality that “everyone is allowed”… One of the most powerful reactions to “Spread Love in Organizations” we heard here from Dina: “In a world filled with hate and unkindness, organizations need more love and real true kindness. When this culture is there, you’re lifting up the bar asking people to show up as the best versions of themselves.”
“Today more than ever, we need love and real true kindness on how we show up for each other in the workplace.”
MEET OUR GUESTDina Sherif Entrepreneur, Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan, and Executive Director of the MIT Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship.
Dina Sherif is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management where she also acts as Executive Director of the MIT Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship. Dina is also a Founding Partner of Cairo based Ahead of the Curve, which is the Arab region’s leading firms on issues related to sustainable business growth and impact-driven entrepreneurship. Most recently, Dina joined Disruptech, Egypt’s first Fintech-focused venture capital fund as a Partner, pursuing her passion in building a fund that will support technology being used as a critical tool in creating financial inclusion for a largely unbanked population, most specifically women.
Formerly, Dina was a Senior Advisor to Ashoka, providing support to their Global Venture/Fellowship Support arm and helping them reimagine new ways to identify the world’s leading social innovators. She also held the endowed Willard Brown Chair for International Business at the American University in Cairo (AUC), where she was also the Founding Director of their Center for Entrepreneurship. During the time she held the Brown Chair, Dina also taught classes on social entrepreneurship and business ethics. Prior to the above, Dina helped establish the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement at AUC.
Dina has been the lead author of several publications including the book From Charity to Social Change: Trends in Arab Philanthropy and key reports such as the 2015 UNDP Business Solutions Report and the first of its kind 7 country study on trends in responsible business practice in the Arab region, in addition to other key policy pieces and blogs on the importance of entrepreneurship and impact investing to building more sustainable and inclusive societies.
In acknowledgment of her dedication to creating a new way of doing business, Dina was given the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Egypt by the American Chamber of Commerce in 2016; was recognized by the Embassy of India as a “Woman of Substance” in 2016; was chosen as one of 10 United Nations Global Compact Sustainable Development Goal Pioneers in 2016; and was named as one of the top 50 most influential women by the Amwal Al Ghad Magazine. During her time at the Harvard Kennedy School, Dina was also a recipient of the prestigious Lucius Littauer Fellows Award in recognition of academic excellence and service. Dina is also an Eisenhower Fellow and was also a fellow at the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School as well as a Research Fellow at the New America Foundation.
Dina is currently a member of the Special Presidential Advisory Council for Economic Development reporting to the President of Egypt; a Global Advisory Board Member in the Eisenhower Fellowships; a member of the Board of Qalaa Holding, a member of the Board of Smart Medical Services, and a member of the Board of EducateMe.
Dina holds a Masters of Public Administration and Management from the Harvard Kennedy School, an MA in Economic Development Studies from the American University in Cairo, and a BA in Political Science and International Relations from the American University in Cairo. She is also a graduate of the non-credit leadership program delivered by THNK School for Creative Leadership in Amsterdam.
Areas of Expertise: Entrepreneurship | Development of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems | Sustainable Economic Development | Impact Investing | Strategic Philanthropy | Responsible Business Practices | Gender Equality and Economic Inclusion of Women | Qualitative Research
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I’m Naji your host for this podcast, joined today with Dina Sherif, senior lecturer at MIT Sloan, and executive Director of the MIT Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship. Dina is also a founding partner of Cairo based, Ahead of the Curve, which is the Arab region’s leading firms on issues related to sustainable business growth and impact-driven entrepreneurship. Most recently, Dina…
In this episode, I sat with Cathy Nolan, an experienced international healthcare business executive and leader who shared with me her secret recipe for building high-performing diverse teams: it starts with the clarity of vision, giving people a voice, and having fun! And if you’re not having enough fun, be courageous to make a change. For Cathy, trust is built when we help each other. Hear more stories, life-learning experiences, and powerful words of wisdom. She leaves us with great advice: trust your instinct, you are good enough.
“If you’re not having fun, make a change.”
MEET OUR GUESTCathy Nolan an experienced international business executive, and founding member at Chief.
Cathy has spent over 23 years in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, with nearly 20 years at Eli Lilly and Company, and 3 years at Aimmune Therapeutics. She is an experienced international business leader, creating value by delivering highly successful launch and growth strategies in Big Pharma, niche, and non-conventional biotech. She has extensive experience across US, UK, and Europe including multiple launches in Neuroscience, Oncology, and Immunology. She has a decisive, forthright and authentic leadership style with a proven ability to build and develop talented, diverse, and thriving commercial teams at a global, regional and local level.
Cathy is from a large Irish family and grew up on a farm in the west of Ireland. She is married to Jon from England, and lives in Twickenham, South West London, with Jon, their two boys, Lorcan (10) and Cormac (8), and their Labradoodle dog Ozzie. Cathy likes to spend time with her family and friends, stay fit and active, read, and watch movies.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this episode joined today by Cathy Nolan, an experienced international business executive. Cathy has spent over 23 years in the pharma and biotech industry, including Eli Lilly, and more recently Aimmune Therapeutics. As a leader, Cathy consistently created value by building and developing diverse talents globally and delivering highly successful launches and growth strategies in Big…
“Drive and determination to take care of patients” is what describes this week’s inspiring guest Dr. Cheerag Upadhyaya. As a neurosurgeon and leader, Cheerag shares his lessons from the operating room leading teams in a high-stress environment to the administrative roles leading strategy and transformation in this episode. The essential ingredients for him to lead high-performing cross-functional teams are grounded in setting high expectations, articulating them well, ensuring a safe place for people’s feedback, and being humble that it is teamwork. Several powerful insights, stories, and words of wisdom in this great chat we’re sure you will enjoy!
“Do not ignore mistakes. Own them. Acknowledge them. And think how could I and we have done better.”
MEET OUR GUESTDr. Cheerag Upadhyaya Clinical Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, Chief Transformation & Business Strategy Officer.
Cheerag D Upadhyaya, MD, MBA, MSc is Clinical Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, Chief Transformation & Business Strategy Officer. He completed neurosurgical residency at the University of Michigan, complex and minimally invasive spine fellowship at the University of California San Francisco, and research fellowships at the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes / National Institutes of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program resulting in a Masters in Science from the University of Michigan.
He recently completed his Masters of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is a member of the Executive Committee for the AANS/CNS Spine and Peripheral Nerve Section as well as a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, American Medical Association, American College of Surgeons, and Scoliosis Research Society.
He has been awarded the Scoliosis Research Society Edgar Dawson Traveling Fellowship and AANS/CNS Spine and Peripheral Nerve Outcomes Committee Award. Dr. Upadhyaya was elected to the Editorial Board of the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine in 2021.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this episode joined today by Cheerag Upadhyaya, Clinical Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, and Chief Transformation & Business Strategy Officer. Cheerag completed neurosurgical residency at the University of Michigan, complex and minimally invasive spine fellowship at the University of California San Francisco, and research fellowships at the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes / National Institutes of Health and…
Careers are a mix of decisions, serendipity, and chance. At least for Dr. Shahin Gharakhanian, this is his belief about his career reflecting his humility. Innovation is about “daring”. Through this chat, you’ll hear from a physician, a pharmaceutical expert, and a leader who lived through one of the most challenging outbreaks of HIV since its very beginnings and led teams who developed life-saving drugs. His deep belief is anchored in “doing well by doing good”, this is a constant motivation that we should all have in biotech. For Shahin, as biopharma leaders, we should have 3 facets: being an inspirational leader, a strong administrator, and a great manager. Hear more about the mix of those three capabilities, incredible other stories, and powerful words of wisdom in this episode!
Dr. Shahin Gharakhanian is a physician and Pharmaceutical Executive with expertise in Pharmaceutical Medicine, Leadership/Management, and operational experience both in the US & in Europe.
Shahin is specialized in HIV Medicine and Infectious Diseases and has practiced clinical medicine for over 20 years in AP-HP Hospitals in Paris France. Shahin joined the pharmaceutical industry in 1991, progressing to Vice-President of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, with roles in 3 main areas: Clinical Development, Medical Affairs, and Strategic Leadership including membership in the corporate Operating Council. Overall, within the industry, he has held positions ranging from General Manager of a Contract Research Organization to Program Executive leading product development, and regulatory approval/launch in multiple therapeutic areas across the world. Shahin has also founded, built, and organized full functional departments/units for biotechnology companies and hospitals and two LLCs as an entrepreneur.
He is a member of several international societies. His passion is Patient-focused programs for drug & vaccine development, approval, and launch.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this podcast, having the pleasure to be joined by Dr. Shahin Gharakhanian, a physician and Pharmaceutical Executive with expertise in Pharmaceutical Medicine, Leadership/Management, and operational experience both in the US & in Europe. Shahin is specialized in HIV Medicine and Infectious Diseases has practiced clinical medicine for over 20 years in AP-HP Hospitals in Paris France.…
In this episode, you’ll hear from a serial biotech entrepreneur and incredible leader Pravin Chaturvedi. Many insightful words I kept with me from this episode as a leader in healthcare: Strive to Impact, not Impress. Life is short when you’re happy, long when you’re suffering. Never tolerate oppression of any form. Residual intellect. Powerpoint is useless :). Hear more about those leadership beliefs Pravin shared with us and also his experience in building biotech companies and teams. He left us with a powerful charge as healthcare leaders: “Never forget our huge responsibility: Patients rely on us to make their life better.” If this is not why you wake up every morning and strive for, you’re in the wrong industry.
“Hope is not a strategy to solve problems.”
MEET OUR GUESTPravin Chaturvedi Co-Founder & CEO at Oceanyx Pharmaceuticals.
Pravin Chaturvedi is a veteran drug developer, serial biotech entrepreneur, and seasoned CEO. CSO and/or Board member of many life science ventures. Over his 30+ years in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, he has participated in and led the drug development teams for multiple drugs across the therapeutic areas of central nervous system (CNS), HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV), cancer, and gastrointestinal disorders. He has participated in the successful drug approval and commercialization of seven drugs.
Pravin serves as the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) for Napo Pharmaceuticals and Jaguar Health. He is also the co-founder and CEO of IndUS Pharmaceuticals and Oceanyx Pharmaceuticals. He is also the Executive Chairman of Cellanyx and Chair of the Board for Enlivity. He currently serves on the boards of several organizations including IndUS, Oceanyx, Cellanyx, Enlivity, and Sindu Research Laboratories. He has previously served as the President, CEO, and Board of Director for Pivot Pharmaceuticals and Scion Pharmaceuticals and has also served on the boards of Pivot, Scion, Bach Pharma, PRADAN USA, FuelEd Schools, Sindu Pharmaceuticals, TiE Boston, and ResoluteBio. Over his career, he has also been a part of multiple national and international strategic partnerships with large pharmaceutical companies as well as governments and has served on several advisory boards.
Prior to his current leadership responsibilities as (President/CEO/CSO roles in various companies), he served as the Head of Lead Evaluation at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. He held scientific positions at Alkermes and Parke-Davis/Warner-Lambert (now Pfizer). He also contributes significant time to teaching and serves as an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown Medical School. He holds a doctoral degree from West Virginia University and an undergraduate degree in pharmacy from the University of Bombay.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this podcast, having the pleasure to be joined by Dr Pravin Chaturvedi a veteran drug developer, serial biotech entrepreneur, and seasoned CEO/CSO, Board member of many life science ventures. Over his 30+ years in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, he has participated and led the drug development teams for multiple drugs across the several therapeutic areas.…
“I am not as good as they think I am”; “I’ll be uncovered at some point”, “They certainly made a mistake having me here”, etc, etc. You might think you’re the only one having those thoughts but you’re not. 70% of people and leaders have them. Hear in this episode what this means to you, your people, and your teams, and how to manage this for success. Professor Basima Tewfik shares with us here years of research on impostor thoughts and also request-declining at work. A great chat many of us need!
“Work is about relationships.”
MEET OUR GUESTBasima Tewfik Career Development Professor and Assistant Professor of Work and Organization Studies at MIT Sloan.
Basima Tewfik is the Class of 1943 Career Development Professor and an Assistant Professor of Work and Organization Studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Her main stream of research examines the psychology of the social self at work. In particular, she seeks to define new conversations around two underexplored phenomena in the organizational literature that implicate the social self: Workplace impostor thoughts (popularly known as impostor syndrome), defined as the belief that others overestimate one’s competence at work, and request-declining at work, defined as the active decision not to help others at work. In a secondary stream of work, she examines effective employee and workgroup functioning in the modern workplace, an increasingly important topic given the rising complexity of work.
Her dissertation, entitled “Impostor thoughts as a double-edged sword: Theoretical conceptualization, construct measurement, and relationships with work-related outcomes” was named the winner of the 2018 INFORMS Dissertation Proposal Competition. Her work has additionally received recognition from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the International Association for Conflict Management, and the Academy of Management. She was named by Poets & Quants as a “40 Under 40” Best Business School Professor in 2021 and by Thinkers50 as one of 30 thinkers to watch in 2022.
Prior to her graduate studies, Basima worked as a management consultant at Booz & Company, engaging with national as well as global clients across a wide range of industries including financial services, healthcare, education, and aerospace and defense.
She received her PhD in management (Organizational Behavior) from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and her AB, summa cum laude, in psychology with a secondary degree in economics from Harvard University.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this podcast, having the pleasure to be joined by Basima Tewfik Career Development Professor and Assistant Professor of Work and Organization Studies at the MIT Sloan. Basima main stream of research examines the psychology of the social self at work. In particular, she seeks to define new conversations around two underexplored phenomena in the organizational literature that…
My mantra has always been “Love and Discipline”, and here I am talking to an incredible physician, leader, and healthcare executive who believes in Love and thinks of success as being disciplined with a process in order to create the right habits. For Dr. Amre Nouh, leadership is about creating a common vision for the team and executing it, it is nurtured by influence and maturation of frameworks. One of the biggest mistakes in leadership for Amre (that, unfortunately, happens way more frequently than we realize) is to search for “who” is right instead of “what” is right… So many great bits of wisdom, practical examples, and great advice in this chat with Amre.
“Mental maturity is a shift of frameworks nurtured by experience. Leadership is a maturation of frameworks nurtured by influence.”
Dr. Amre Nouh is a physician leader, healthcare executive, clinical researcher, and innovator with a proven track record of developing and executing strategy, leading multidisciplinary teams, and implementing system practices to improve patient outcomes. Dr.Nouh joins Cleveland Clinic Florida as the Regional Chairman of Neurology, leading neurology care for the clinic’s neuroscience institute in the state of Florida and beyond.
Amre is a board-certified neurologist and vascular neurologist. Over the past decade, Nouh has led stroke care in CT in various roles at Hartford HealthCare, most recently as System Director of Stroke and Cerebrovascular disease. During his tenure, he also served as core faculty at the University of Connecticut, Associate professor of neurology, vascular neurology fellowship director, and currently is Chair of the Northeast Cerebrovascular consortium, an AHA-sponsored consortium for stroke care encompassing 8 states. Dr.Nouh has authored and co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, abstracts, and book chapters. Dr.Nouh is a fellow of the American heart and Stroke Association and has led statewide legislative efforts to improve regional stroke care focused on patient advocacy and recognition of stroke center designation for optimal patient care. He has also led the scientific statement committee on in-hospital stroke for the AHA and published best practice recommendations on behalf of the AHA as a subject matter expert.
Amre earned his executive MBA from MIT Sloan school of management and has served as a key opinion leader and consultant in neuroscience and stroke for various innovative projects within the neurologic care space. His special interests include in-hospital stroke, stroke in the young, AI and machine learning for predictive modeling in neuroscience, and cultivating growth opportunities that marry technology with clinical care to improve patient outcomes and sustainable impact.
He is a father, husband, son, and brother. In his spare time, he is a fisherman, musician, and avid reader.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host, having the pleasure to be joined by Dr.Amre Nouh is a physician leader, healthcare executive, clinical researcher and innovator with a proven track record of developing and executing strategy, leading multidisciplinary teams and implementing system practices to improve patient outcomes. Amre joins Cleveland Clinic Florida as the Regional Chairman of Neurology, leading neurology care for the clinic’s…
Leadership starts with passion: passion for your purpose, passion for your people, passion to do things well. Adding to this, two philosophies Dr. Jennifer Kherani believes in: “Be a YES person (then figure it out)”, and “no job is too small for a big enough person”. These are some bits of the incredible chat we had about leading teams from the Emergency Room to biotech and entrepreneurship. Hear Jen’s stories and lessons learned moving through her different experiences while always keeping her passion to help patients at the center.
“Tackle problems with humility.”
MEET OUR GUESTDr. Jennifer Kherani an Emergency Physician and former Head of Clinical Safety at Loxo Oncology.
Dr. Jennifer Kherani received her BA in Neuroscience in 2000 from Colgate University, completed her pre-medical post-baccalaureate studies at Columbia University in 2004, and her M.D. from Duke University in 2008. She subsequently completed her residency training in emergency medicine in the combined Cornell/Columbia program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where she served as Chief Resident in her final year.
Until August 2022, she served as Head of Clinical Safety at Loxo Oncology, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company. Jen is also a founder of Summus Global, a subscription-based healthcare advisory company aimed at restoring the human connection between patients and healthcare providers.
Jen is currently serving on the Rye Country Day School (RCDS) Board of Directors (July 2021-current) and is a member of the Medical Committee, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee, the Education Committee, and the Marketing and Communications Committee. She also serves on the DukeNY Board of Directors (2018-present), serving as Co-Chair of the Nominating Committee as well a member of the DEI Committee, the Women’s Impact Network (WIN) Leadership Counsel (2021-present), and as a mentor on the Reimagining Medicine (ReMed; 2019-present) course.
She lives in Rye, NY with her husband, Dr. Aftab Kherani, and their two sons Zayd (grade 5) and Rizq (grade 3).
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this podcast, having the pleasure to be joined by Dr Jennifer Kherani. Jen received her M.D. from Duke and subsequently completed her residency training in emergency medicine in the combined Cornell/Columbia program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where she served as Chief Resident in her final year. Until August 2022, she served as Head of Clinical Safety…
From leading teams on the front lines to now building organizations with a focus on culture, leadership, clinical innovation, and value maximization, we discussed in this episode with Dr. Dominic Abrams his story and leadership learnings. Dominic defines leadership with 3 words: value, purpose, and belonging. As leaders, we have to create an environment where everyone can be at their best, be part of a community, and feels this deep sense of belonging to constantly deliver on our common purpose for the patients we serve.
“Being kind makes a difference on people’s day, and life.”
MEET OUR GUESTDr. Dominic Abrams Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School. Cardiovascular genetics and cardiac electrophysiology.
Dr. Dominic Abrams is Associate Professor, at Harvard Medical School, Cardiovascular genetics and cardiac electrophysiology expert. Dominic specializes in cardiovascular genetics and cardiac electrophysiology at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and is active in both clinical medicine and scientific research.
With his team, Dominic provides personalized, multidisciplinary care to individuals and families, and drives novel research strategies in varying aspects of cardiovascular genetic disease.
He has developed clinical programs in both the UK and US, focusing on organizational culture, leadership, clinical innovation, and maximizing value to multiple stakeholders. Dominic has developed excellent collaborative relationships with individuals and organizations within the healthcare ecosystem.
Naji: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host, having the pleasure to be joined by Dr Dominic Abrams Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School, Cardiovascular genetics and cardiac electrophysiology expert. Dominic specializes in cardiovascular genetics and cardiac electrophysiology at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and he is active in both clinical medicine and scientific research. With his team, Dominic provides personalized, multidisciplinary care to individuals…
Many talks about authenticity in leadership, being true to self, and vulnerability, Lisa Matar exemplifies this leadership style and added to those words “imperfect” leadership. From a childhood spent in bomb shelters to being the first woman serving on the Board of Directors of Innovative Medicine Canada, Lisa summarizes her success through hard work to bring some normalcy to life, and resilience. “Succeeding is easy when it is the only option you have, adversity shapes your identity thanks to resilience”. Hear incredible stories, learnings, and how Lisa challenged a system that was not made for her to succeed while challenging her own limits to excel in all she does toward her purpose in healthcare.
“Leaders with grit run a successful business, Leaders paying it forward leave a better legacy.”
MEET OUR GUESTLisa Matar Global Life Science senior executive.
Lisa Matar is a Global Life Science senior executive with more than 25 years of experience leading organizations and driving significant growth, profitability, and launching excellence across the globe.
Lisa served as President and General Manager of Eli Lilly Canada from 2013 to February of 2020 and was a member of the North American executive committee at Eli Lilly. Lisa served on the Board of Directors of Innovative Medicine Canada from 2013 until early 2020 and chaired the Ethics and Compliance committee from 2018 to 2020.
Lisa currently serves on the boards of Directors of Delphi Diagnostics Inc and Starpax Biopharma Inc. and chairs the compensation and governance Committee of Delphi Diagnostics Inc. a breast cancer diagnostic company with an exclusive license to commercialize SETTM (Sensitivity to Endocrine Therapy) test to guide personalized Breast Cancer Treatment. Starpax Biopharma Inc. is a biopharma/MedTech company that has developed a revolutionary platform for 3D precision delivery of cancer drugs in solid tumors using Magnetodrones TM.
Lisa earned a Doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Saint Joseph in Lebanon.
Naji: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I’m Naji, your host for this podcast, having the pleasure to be joined today by Lisa Matar, a global life science senior executive with more than 25 years of experience leading organizations and driving significant impact across the globe. Lisa served as President and General Manager of Eli Lilly Canada for several years and was member of the North American Executive Committee. She…
A single question Maheen Junaid thinks of daily as she leads her teams in her executive role: “What can we do for patients?” Having this as the true north for a healthcare company and living it is crucial as it ultimately simplifies decision-making. In this episode, Maheen shares her immigrant story, her leadership beliefs, and her learnings building a company from 4 to 1400 employees. Empathy and DEIB are her core leadership elements. And her words of wisdom are so powerful: Become comfortable being uncomfortable.
“Home is an environment of inclusivity, acceptance, love, and opportunity for growth”
MEET OUR GUESTMaheen Junaid, General Counsel, Chief Human Resources Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer for KabaFusion.
Maheen Junaid is General Counsel, Chief Human Resources Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer for KabaFusion, a home infusion pharmacy provider. Maheen holds a JD/LLB from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from MIT. In her executive role at KabaFusion, she is committed to fostering a positive work environment that celebrates diversity and inclusion. She also loves working for an organization that promotes a culture of prioritizing quality and compassionate patient care while being innovative and entrepreneurial.
Maheen has also worked in the non-profit sector, providing training and legal assistance for minority communities within the greater Boston area. She is passionate about empowering and enabling marginalized people through advocacy, and support.
Maheen was born in Pakistan and was raised in England and Canada. She currently resides in Massachusetts with her family.
“What really matters is impact”. Marcello Damiani started with this statement, and we all know now the impact he and his teams at Moderna had on humanity over the past years. He has led teams through those times, delivered on an incredible challenge that became a hope, then a reality: Covid vaccines. Hear him share those stories, his learning, the role of leadership, digital, innovation… From the focus on purpose to the culture and mindset to deliver on it, Marcello gives us great words of wisdom as we continue to navigate times of uncertainty and change. Let’s “not be shy to take risks to impact the world”!
“A leader alone doesn’t serve any purpose”
MEET OUR GUESTMarcello Damiani, Chief Digital and Operational Excellence Officer at Moderna.
Marcello Damiani is the Chief Digital and Operational Excellence Officer at Moderna, where he builds the technology, processes, and digitization landscape required to advance a new class of medicines based on mRNA science. Marcello has a wealth of experience from both Tech and Life Science companies, with a true passion for making digital a reality. He has 20years experience working in the IT field, with the last 10years being spent in leadership roles for multinational companies in Europe and the USA. Prior to joining Moderna, he worked at diagnostics firm bioMérieux and before that at Motorola.
Marcello has a Master of Science degree in Information and Communication Systems Architecture from the University of Toulouse in France, and an Executive MBA through TRIUM.
We have read a lot about leading in crisis. Andrew Bunton has definitely done so, leading his teams during the Covid pandemic and reinventing patient experience in one of the largest retail pharmacies in the US. Hear his thoughts and takeaways also on leading transformations including omnichannel and how focusing on purpose, empowering diverse talents, and helping them grow will lead to exploring the art of possible!
“It’s not just the output, it is about your people’s journey”
MEET OUR GUESTAndrew Bunton Vice President of Pharmacy Omnichannel Customer Experience at CVS Health
Andrew Bunton is the Vice President of Omnichannel Customer Experience at CVS Health, where he leads the efforts to create a differentiated frictionless pharmacy experience leveraging CVS’ digital and physical assets. Andrew has worked at CVS Health for 10 years, including leading the retail pharmacy’s development and management of clinical services to improve patient adherence, Enterprise Workforce Management where he led all aspects of resource planning, labor budgeting, and scheduling for CVS Health’s retail business, Omnicare, MinuteClinic, and Coram, and Retail Health Services Strategy and New Product Development, where he led all aspects of strategic planning as well as the discovery, design, incubation, and scaling of new business lines.
Prior to CVS, Andrew was a Case Team Leader and Consultant at Bain & Company in Boston and a Vice President in the Corporate & Investment Banking Group at Bank of America. Andrew holds a BA from Bates College and earned an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
Naji: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I’m Naji your host for this podcast, joined today by Andrew Bunton Vice President of Omnichannel customer experience and at CVS Health, Andrew leads the efforts to create a differentiated, frictionless pharmacy experience leveraging cvs, digital and physical assets. He has worked at CVS Health for 10 years, including leading the retail pharmacies, development, and management of clinical services, retail health…
We all strive to have an impact on this world, to make life better for people, one at a time… Bridget Akinc exemplifies what leading with impact means through her daily work with nonprofit organizations. In this episode, Bridget shares her story, and sobering lessons we can all learn from as leaders leading in moments of crisis serving communities who experienced a much greater degree of loss; loss of lives, jobs, housing, freedom, financials… For her, we can’t understand “belonging” if we don’t understand being “othered”. Belonging is the crucial next step of DEIB and a key component to focus on as leaders.
“Take a moment to think and facilitate discussions that bring back humanity in all of us”
MEET OUR GUESTBridget Scott Akinc Chief Executive Officer at Building Impact.
Passionate about innovation and finding new ways to work toward solving complex social challenges, Bridget leads Building Impact, a nonprofit organization that engages leading companies and brands in local communities through volunteering and capacity-building.
Prior to this role, Bridget led dynamic teams focused on accelerating growth and innovation enabled by technology across multiple sectors including finance, retail, automotive, high-technology, and education. She led strategic consulting and marketing teams for high-growth Silicon Valley-based software companies like BEA Systems and Oracle, as well as leading non-profit organizations like The New Teacher Project.
Bridget also serves on the faculty of MIT Sloan, teaching the “Leading With Impact” course I had the privilege to be part of. Bridget is a marathon runner, youth soccer coach, and an avid visitor to national parks with her family.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this podcast, having the honor to be joined today by Bridget Scott Akinc CEO at Building Impact. Passionate about innovation and finding new ways to work toward solving complex social challenges, Bridget leads Building Impact, a nonprofit organization that engages leading companies and brands in local communities through volunteering and capacity-building. Prior to this role, Bridget…
This episode is special and the second in a series of three. In partnership with ESCP Business School, I’ll be giving the mic to students, the leaders of tomorrow, to discuss with seasoned healthcare executives about their journeys and leadership beliefs. We welcomed in this second episode, Olivier Nataf, President of AstraZeneca France who shared his story, experience, and words of wisdom. Olivier characterizes leadership by 3 elements: well-rounded leader, learn & perform, and being set up for success. Nevertheless, the key leadership trait for him is vision. Vision has to be aspirational, then break down the problem, turn each and every stone, define a goal even if it sounds impossible at first, fail fast then go back on your horse and move forward. Not much is fundamentally impossible.
“What’s right for the patient is right for the business”
MEET OUR GUESTOlivier Nataf, President of AstraZeneca France.
“Well rounded leader” is surely the best way to define our guest of the day, an inspiring leader: Olivier Nataf. Olivier values curiosity, agility, precision, result-orientation, bold collective ambitions. He believes in the simple power of purpose, clarity in what we are trying to achieve and why, as key drivers of teams’ motivation and success. He encourages people to develop through « learning and performing » (vs. box checking and title chasing).
Olivier first pursued scientific training in cellular and molecular biology and then a master’s degree specializing in pharmacology and oncology. He completed his scientific training at the ESCP Business School: Specialised Master in Biopharmaceutical Management.
He started his career at AstraZeneca as a trainee in 2001 and then successfully moved up the ranks both in France and in the USA. He has held many different positions: he began as a product manager and then changed his position on average every 2 years. He is now General Manager, Country President of France.
This episode is special and the first in a series of three. In partnership with ESCP Business School, I’ll be giving the mic to students, the leaders of tomorrow, to discuss with seasoned healthcare executives about their journeys and leadership beliefs. We welcomed in this first episode, Jean Jacques Bienaimé, CEO of BioMarin who shared his story, experience, and words of wisdom. “Love is an infinite resource that will have a tremendous impact on people”, this summarizes beautifully JJ’s leadership beliefs that helped him build high-performing teams delivering successful innovations to patients across the world.
“Employees are the oxygen of any company; its most important component.”
Jean-Jacques Bienaime joined BioMarin in 2005 as Chief Executive Officer and member of the board of directors, bringing with him over 25 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Under his leadership, the market capitalization of BioMarin went from around $450 million in 2005 to approximately $14 billion in 2021. Before being the CEO of BioMarin, Jean-Jacques held several senior management positions in the biotech industry including CEO and chairman of Sangstat Medical Corporation and Genencor.
Mr. Bienaimé currently serves on the boards of Incyte Corporation, a biotechnology company, PhRMA, and The Biotech Industry Organization. He received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a degree in economics from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP Business School).
Love driven leadership won’t have to deal with retention! People will thrive through the sense of belonging created. Leadership is truly about creating this environment and culture. Authentic impact is another responsibility for leaders. It should be deliberate and measured. It can’t be focused only on profits, it should seek to move communities forward. When asked about equity, Geoffrey Roche talked about creating a structure and system that meets people’s needs where they are. Several other words of wisdom to discover in this episode!
“If you really want to move the needle, do it with authenticity.”
MEET OUR GUESTGeoffrey Roche Senior Vice President, National Health Care Practice & Workforce Partnerships at Core Education PBC.
Geoffrey M. Roche, MPA, is an accomplished leader with steadfast commitment and passion for healthcare innovation, future-focused strategy, transformation, cultural change, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and workforce impact. His professional career has included over nine years in hospital administration where he served as a strategic advisor to the President and CEO and department director of various departments, including Business Development and Planning, Government Affairs, Community Health, and Public Relations, for Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono. Geoffrey also has served in senior leadership roles at two academic institutions where he led strategic partnerships, organizational strategy, and business development for both Lebanon Valley College and Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. Roche also has served as Senior Vice President, Business & Workforce Development at Dignity Health Global Education, where he led national conversations and initiatives to develop innovative diversity, equity, and inclusion solutions for the healthcare workforce.
He has extensive experience creating high-impact partnerships. He is also an Adjunct Instructor of Health Administration in the MBA/MHA Program at Moravian University, serves on the United Way of Lebanon County and United Way of Pennsylvania Board of Directors, IU 13 Board of Directors, Leadership Council for Moravian College, Patient Safety Committee for WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital, and as an elected School Director of Annville-Cleona School District. Roche earned his Master of Science degree in Management and Leadership: Public Administration at East Stroudsburg University and his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at Moravian University. Given his robust focus on continued education and leadership development, he has also earned a Mini-MBA in Healthcare from the University of Arizona, Eller College of Management, Certificate in Innovation in Healthcare Management from Arizona State University, Thunderbird School of Global Management, Certificate in Healthcare Leadership from Duke Corporate Education, and a Certificate in Heroic Leadership from Santa Clara University.
Nimble Organizations, Agile, X-Teams, Leadership… You will learn about all those in this incredible chat with Prof. Deborah Ancona! Vision, mission, and objectives are key but constitute only half of the story for a high-performing team. What differentiates high-performing teams is their ability to reach out and understand the larger organization, the wider ecosystem, new trends, new technologies… This is X-Teams. A nimble organization is usually referred to as an organization able to adapt fast, it is also a culture that embraces freedom and people’s ability to be full fledge members of this community. The underlying success factor is respect with a learning mindset: tough on ideas, respect for people. Enjoy learning about years of research and those concepts and tools to make our organizations and teams high-performing to deliver on our companies’ purposes.
“Open up your mind to receive and update your view of the world.”
MEET OUR GUESTDeborah Ancona Professor of Management and founder of the MIT Leadership Center.
Deborah Ancona is the Seley Distinguished Professor of Management, a Professor of Organization Studies, and the Founder of the MIT Leadership Center at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Deborah’s research and work led to the creation of multiple powerful models, tools, practices and concepts, including X-Teams as a vehicle for driving innovation within large organizations, and also the concept of distributed leadership that enable organizations to foster creative leadership at every level.
She has also served as a consultant on leadership and innovation to several companies including healthcare.
Deborah is the author of the book, X-Teams: How to Build Teams That Lead, Innovate, and Succeed along with several other publications and articles in prestigious reviews. One of my favorites is “Family Ghosts in the Executive Suite”.
Below are some incredible tools and concept resources shared by Prof. Ancona in this episode:
Readings (Don’t hesitate to reach out for more information) – The 4-CAPS+ model: In Praise of the Incomplete Leader, HBR. – Sensemaking: Framing and Acting in the Unknown, chapter. – Challenge-Driven Leadership – The X-Factor: Six Steps to Building High-Performing X-teams, Organizational Dynamics. x-teams: How to Build Teams that Lead, Innovate and Succeed, Harvard Business School Press.
Tools: Tools to help move organizations from bureaucracies to more nimble forms. These can be found at xLEAD.co.
Tools include: x360—a 360-degree leadership development tool based on the 4-CAPS+ model xCHANGE—is a simulation aimed at helping individuals and teams to learn how to use xTEAMS for effective change and innovation. xCARDS—this is an exercise that can be used to assess how well your organization practices nimble leadership. There is also a card exercise to help individuals, teams, and organizations understand their leadership signatures, team identities, or organizational cultures.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this episode joined by a distinguished Professor of Management and founder of the MIT Leadership Center Deborah Ancona. Deborah’s research and work led to the creation of multiple powerful models, tools, practices and concepts, including X-Teams as a vehicle for driving innovation within large organizations, and also the concept of distributed leadership that enable organizations to…
Lowering your walls spreads love. People follow inspirational leaders because of love; they feel safe, they feel lifted up and not held down. Hear from Phil Johnson about his work and belief on emotional intelligence. There are two sources of motivation that will cause us to do the emotional labor and leave our comfort zone: One is pain, and the other is passion. For him, emotional intelligence is this experiential process. We must take the leap of faith to begin the journey so that we see its value in our life.
“Leadership is not a title or position; it is a choice that each of us needs to make.”
MEET OUR GUESTPhil Johnson Founder & CEO of Master of Business Leadership program.
For the past 21 years, Phil Johnson has been an executive coach, teacher, and mentor dedicated to helping executives and organizations achieve remarkable results. His program touched leaders across the globe and in different industries. Phil was a corporate executive in the semiconductor industry for 20 years before founding MBL.
Success is not how high you climb but how you make a positive difference in the world and even more specifically how you make a positive difference in people’s lives and anyone who came across your path. This says a lot about my discussion with Myriam Hakim, an accomplished leader in the pharma industry. From growing up with incredible women as her role models to now being an example herself to many in the Middle East and beyond, Myriam shares her personal story, her key learnings building teams and affiliates from scratch, while always being passionate about people, patients, and business.
“Every day is an opportunity to learn something new if you listen to others.”
MEET OUR GUESTMyriam Hakim Cluster General Manager at Kyowa Kirin Gulf Countries.
Myriam Hakim is an experienced pharma executive with 20 years of successful career in various key roles in the pharmaceutical industry in Europe and the Middle East. Her main focus has always been tocreate and add value to patients and medical communities in various therapeutic areas and particularly in rare diseases and Oncology. With her entrepreneurial spirit and results-orientation, Myriam has built, established, and grown teams to deliver profitable business covering the entire GCC and the middle east region.
Myriam is a fervent supporter to drive diversity and inclusion mainly around women in the workplace and in leadership positions within the pharma industry. She is a strong believer in leading with courage, passion, and love.
Leadership for John Sterman means distributed responsibility. Each of us has influence and some ability to change the system. In this timely episode, while we see some places melting because of climate change, and some populations risking their existence, we should take our responsibility as leaders, humans, and global citizens, we should stand up, and take action through visioning, networking, truth-telling, learning, AND loving. John remains hopeful and believes that climate change is tough but solvable. We can solve for many sustainable problems by leading from a basis of love; love is more than empathy, more than care, it is the belief that we have the capacity for good, we have the capacity to sacrifice for the common good, and that we can nurture that! And if people believe this is naive, so be it. In this episode hear about the beer game, climate change, leadership, system dynamics, healthcare, and a call for us as leaders to GET BUSY!
“As a leader, design a system so that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.”
MEET OUR GUESTJohn Sterman Professor of Management at MIT Sloan in the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society; Director of the MIT System Dynamics Group and the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative.
John is a Professor of Management at MIT Sloan in the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society. He is also the Director of the MIT System Dynamics Group and the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative. John’s research centers on improving decision-making in complex systems, including corporate strategy and operations, energy policy, public health, environmental sustainability, and climate change. His work ranges from the dynamics of organizational change and the implementation of sustainable improvement programs to climate change and the implementation of policies to promote a sustainable world. Sterman pioneered the development of “management flight simulators” for corporate and economic systems which are now used by corporations, universities, and governments around the world.
He is the author of many articles on the challenges and opportunities facing organizations today, including the book, Modeling for Organizational Learning, and the award-winning textbook, Business Dynamics.
John has received multiple awards and recognitions around the globe and has been featured in several media for his innovative use of interactive simulations in management education and policymaking, particularly in climate change and energy policy.
I had the privilege to be John’s student, and I see the world now differently…. Definitely through a system dynamic lens but also through a lens of responsibility we all have as leaders to make the world a more sustainable and healthier place.
Learn more about climate solutions through En-ROADS an online simulator where John Sterman is Senior Advisor and Dr. Elizabeth Sawin is co-founder and Senior Advisor.
Leading through pandemics, crises, innovation breakthroughs, and transformations is Dr. Doug Bruce’s specialty. From HIV pandemic management in most hit countries to leading large transformations in the US healthcare system, Doug will share his key learning from overcoming silos to reaching the “truth” in moments of crisis and change. His leadership lessons are insightful for all of us whether in public health, private sector, or NGO: be creative, be a listener, and be humble. Doug spreads love by treating people with dignity, ensuring they know and perceive their value, and this spreads to patients…
“We build trust through transparency, humility, and honesty.”
MEET OUR GUESTDr. Doug Bruce associate Chief of Clinical Affairs at Boston University School of Medicine.
Dr. Robert Doug Bruce is Associate Chief of Clinical Affairs at Boston University School of Medicine and Director of Primary Care at Boston Medical Center (BMC). Prior to those roles, Doug transformed healthcare in the New Haven community focusing on the largest health center in new haven on quality and value-based care which resulted in significant savings for CT Medicaid and the community. Doug was also Chief of Medicine at Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center and Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Yale University.
Doug is a global expert in substance use disorders in people with HIV and hepatitis C. He has published widely on the topic of substance use disorders and HIV. He has provided technical assistance to CDC, NIH, and the United Nations.
In September 2020, Doug moved to Boston to join BU and BMC to continue practice transformation, innovation, and quality improvement within a safety net organization’s large academic medical practice.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this podcast, joined today by Dr Robert Bruce Associate Chief of Clinical Affairs at Boston University School of Medicine, and Director of Primary Care at Boston Medical Center (BMC). Prior to those roles, Robert transformed healthcare in the New Haven community focusing in the largest health center in new haven on quality and value based care…
When we think of inspiring leaders, we remember those we learned from by watching how they did what they do. It is those we want to follow and be like. It is those who made us feel valued and heard, those who made us grow after each interaction even when it is an unpleasant conversation. Because people remember how they felt when you left the room, lead from a place of genuine care and love. Hear more from Susan Silbermann, her journey, and more of those incredible insights and learning she’s sharing with us.
“Ask the questions because you want to move the ball forward.”
MEET OUR GUESTSusan Silbermann, an accomplished, global senior business executive, with broad experience in healthcare across multiple geographies.
Curious by nature, Susan is an authentic and communicative leader who is adept at leading remote, diverse teams and who excels at working cross-functionally. This reputation extends to interactions in the policy, government affairs, and public health arenas.
She is a Board Director at HilleVax Inc (Comp Chair) and LianBio (NomGov Chair) and was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of IAVI, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. She is also a member of the board of Meet the Writers, a non-profit organization bringing together authors and students in low-income NYC public schools. Previously Susan served on numerous not-for-profit and NGO boards, including Gavi, the Vaccines Alliance (member of Governance Committee); Catalyst Inc; and the Council of the Americas. In March 2021, she stepped down as Vice-Chair of the President’s Council for Doing Business in Africa.
Before retiring from Pfizer last year, Susan led a then $8B revenue, 10,000 colleagues Emerging Markets division, and Pfizer’s internal Global COVID-19 Task Force, ensuring the safety and well-being of 75,000 employees, facilities, and medicine and vaccine supply chain. In her prior role, Susan was the Global President of Pfizer Vaccines, leading operations, commercial, and business development.
Susan is looking forward to whatever lies ahead — and looking backward doesn’t really lead you anywhere new, does it?
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and don’t forget Belonging. Belonging is one of the most crucial aspects we talk less about but greatly impacts us. We also talked about Health Equity, what it means, and what we can do as healthcare leaders – it starts by raising the problem for us to start solving it! Hear why quality is about love and other incredible insights in this conversation with a Top Voice in healthcare, Dr. Umbereen Nehal.
“You have to raise a problem for it to be problem-solved.”
MEET OUR GUESTUmbereen S. Nehal, MD, MPH is a Dean’s Fellow and Sloan Fellow at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Her work is at the intersection of technology, policy, and healthcare delivery to diverse populations.
Umbereen is a recognized thought leader on human-centered health information technology (HIT) design, ethical artificial intelligence (AI), payment reform, quality, and reducing disparities. Educated at Aga Khan University Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Nehal trained at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine followed by the Harvard Pediatric Health Services Research Fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. Four times Dr. Nehal has been named “LinkedIn Top Voice” for “Healthcare” and as a “Top Female Voice” on International Women’s Day. As Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs of Community Healthcare Network, Dr. Nehal led a 14-site multi-specialty certified Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) serving 85,000 New Yorkers including behavioral health integration and telehealth. She had oversight of over 700 staff and a $100 million operating budget.
Dr. Nehal served as Associate Medical Director of MassHealth — a Medicaid program serving 1.6 million members and accounting for 40% of the state budget — providing leadership on program development and evaluation, cost effectiveness evaluation, population health initiatives, and state-wide information “HIway” for intraoperability. Dr. Nehal served as clinical lead for the 5-year restructuring to create new Accountable Care Organization (ACO) models, co-leading a successful bid for $1.8b in new investment from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Dr. Nehal has expertise in leading multi-disciplinary teams for change management. She designed novel HIT for Medicare Advantage plans to track and rank new forms of data used for payment by CMS and contributed to a Series C fund raise for a client that offers an integrated cloud-based medial data and extraction platform enhanced by AI and natural language processing (NLP). As an MIT Sloan Fellow Dr. Nehal led an AI-focused hackathon, drawing hundreds of innovators from around the world, for human-centered design solution in the age of COVID-19 and was an invited senior author on a chapter on business models, payment metrics, and business ethics for medical AI.
Dr. Nehal served as co-chair of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Healthcare Delivery and Disparities Research advisory panel, she informed national funding priorities for a portfolio of over $300 million clinical effectiveness evaluations. She co-authored national curriculum on the Patient-Centered Medical Home, now disseminated to over 8,000 residents. She is published on use of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) to promote transition planning for children with disabilities. She provided expert review to the Connecticut Department of Public Health’s medical home curriculum. Elected by her peers, she served as district representative and on the board for the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. A frequent invited stakeholder to the White House, CMS, HHS, and NIH, she was asked to moderate a panel for U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin. Dr. Nehal served as the Principal Investigator of a community health grant to partner with community-based organizations and faith groups in low-resourced communities to promote improved heart health aligned with the Culture of Health. Dr. Nehal’s national leadership on community engagement won recognition from President Obama.
In this episode, I had a great conversation with a leader in Mindset: Aden Eyob. Aden is a clinical neuroscientist and author of the Book on Mind Training: The Secret for Positive Living. She is the founder and CEO of Mind Medication, a fusion of neuroscience-psychology and spirituality-based mindset consulting and speaker service that helps uncover people’s “why”, unlock potential, and free limiting beliefs to achieve the impossible. Aden’s mission is a world free from limiting beliefs. Her formula is straightforward: Change your thought for it to be positive, it brings positive emotions and leads to the correct behavior. Hear about her great CALM framework: Clarity of the why, Accountability of goals, Love and self-care, and Motivators.
“Thought + Emotion = Behavior”
MEET OUR GUESTAden Eyob, Founder & CEO at Mind Medication, Author, Speaker, and Clinical Neuroscientist.
Aden has over ten years of business experience working with Fortune 500 companies, including Gilead Sciences, Kite Pharma, Medpace, Kantar Health, Ogilvy Healthworld, and academic institutions such as UCLA and Charles R. Drew University. Currently, Aden is the founder and CEO of Mind Medication, a fusion of neuroscience-psychology and spirituality-based mindset consulting, coaching, and speaker service that helps organizations uncover their why, unlock potential; and free limiting beliefs to achieve the impossible.
Before beginning her business, Aden spent most of her career in Biotechnology, most notable, three years at Gilead Sciences / Kite Pharma. She worked as a Clinical Trial Management professional within the oncology therapy unit. She also led Gilead’s Leadership Organization of Black Employees (GLOBE) Community Outreach Pillar, which engages in philanthropic endeavors and investments that provide opportunities to give back to the UK communities in which Gilead operates.
Aden’s innovative thinking and mindfulness approach towards her career, health, and personal commitments were recognized by her peers and awarded the Women at Gilead Life Balance Award for 2018. Moreover, Aden is the recipient of Brainz CREA Global Awards 2021 in recognition of her innovative ideas, adaptability in business, and contribution to mental health projects.
Naji: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership and love. I’m Naji your host for this episode and I have the pleasure to be with Aden Eyob, a leader in mindset. Aden is a clinical neuroscientist and author of the book on mind training, the secret of positive living. She is the founder and CEO of mind medication. A fusion of neuroscience, psychology and SP spirituality based mindset consulting and speaker service…
Zen Chu built and invested in several successful medical and healthcare companies, his key to success: People first. When reflecting on the investor side, this doesn’t change either, it starts with people. For Zen, the best leaders and investors are those focused on impact, and when love is in their life, it allows them to be laser-focused on the impact they bring. In this episode, hear Zen’s incredible personal story and journey, his insightful advice, and lessons learned from leading turnarounds to building extremely successful ventures!
“Love in your life allows you to focus purely on impact.”
MEET OUR GUESTZen Chu, Health Tech Serial Entrepreneur, and Investor.
Faculty Director for the Healthcare Ventures graduate courses and Hacking Medicine student teams at MIT, Harvard Medical School and UCLA.
As founder of four medical companies and Hacking Medicine Venture Capital fund, Zen has 25 years of experience building early-stage medical technology and healthcare service companies, usually serving among the first investors in companies like PillPack.com, Abridge.com, FeelMore Labs, Nurx.com, Aptible, Luminopia, Molecule.to, MycoMedica, DirectDerm and a few others still in stealth mode.
Zen cofounded and served as CEO for 3D-Matrix Medical Inc. a venture-backed MIT regenerative medicine company with a successful IPO in 2011. 3D-Matrix has wound-healing and drug-delivery products on the market outside of the US and multiple human clinical trials in process.
I met Zen through the MIT Healthcare Ventures, a course that teaches entrepreneurship, business models, and venture creation around technology that can transform healthcare. Zen actively consults companies in pharma, health tech, and healthcare systems struggling to adapt to global digital healthcare transformation and emerging markets.
You rarely chat with a leader with such extensive successful experience, from building companies to being on boards of large institutions, whose purpose is to make people happy. Through his humility and focus on mutual respect, transparency, and honesty, Jim Dougherty believes that one of the most important keys to success is the culture you create in a company. For him, culture should be created strategically in every company including startups, and not only be words on a wall or a slide. You’ll hear incredible advice on how to lead turnarounds while engaging teams to thrive and be at their best. In the end, people will remember how they felt with you, and this is the legacy that will remain…
“People want to work with you because they want to learn how to behave like you.”
MEET OUR GUESTJim Dougherty Executive Chairman and Co-Founder at Madaket Health.
Jim is an entrepreneur, senior executive, and also Senior Lecturer in Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management at MIT. He has extensive experience working directly with investors to execute highly successful turnarounds of troubled companies. He has stabilized and recapitalized such companies as Gartner, IntraLinks, Prodigy, and Small Business ISP. At Lotus Development Corporation, Jim was the founder of eApps (Internet Division), and he created the NOTES: NEWSSTAND business publishing service which was later sold successfully. He is also an Adjunct Senior Fellow for Business and Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. He sits on the board of different institutions too.
Jim is on the Board of Trustees for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he Chairs the Research Oversight Committee, Bright Spirit Children’s Foundation, and the Foreign Policy Association in New York City.
Jim holds a BA in government from Framingham State University, an MA in international economics from Columbia University, and a Graduate Certificate of Special Studies in finance and administration from Harvard University.
Here are the great articles from Jim Dougherty we mentioned in the episode published in Harvard Business Review – HBR.
AI is simply the future, more explicitly Dimitris Bertsimas likes to talk about analytics which is for him the science of using data to build models that lead to decisions that impact the world positively. Personalized medicine is the aspiring future that we will get to soon. As leaders, we will have to drive those changes. This needs courage and openness to what data tells us. Hear from a leader who changed medical practices through data, models and decisions and impacted positively thousands of lives. “The beauty of computers is they don’t get tired”, but they can’t replace humans, hear more about it in this episode.
“Love is the most significant aspect of human happiness”
MEET OUR GUESTDimitris Bartsimas Associate Dean of Business Analytics, Boeing Professor of Operations Research, and faculty director of the Master of Business Analytics at MIT.
Dimitris is Global Operations Professor of Management, a Professor of Operations Research, and the Associate Dean for the Master of Business Analytics at MIT.
A faculty member since 1988, his research interests include optimization, stochastic systems, machine learning, and their application. In recent years, he has worked in robust optimization, statistics, healthcare, transportation, and finance. Dimitris is also a serial entrepreneur and was a co-founder of Dynamic Ideas, sold to American Express. He is also the founder of Dynamic Ideas Press, a publisher of scientific books, the cofounder of Benefits Science, a company that designs health care plans for companies, Dynamic Ideas Financial, a company that provides financial advice to customers, of Alpha Dynamics, an asset management company, P2 Analytics, an analytics consulting company, and of MyA health, a personalized health care advice company.
Dimitris has coauthored more than 200 scientific papers and several books.He is the former department editor of Optimization for Management Science and of Operations Research in Financial Engineering. A member of the National Academy of Engineering and an INFORMS fellow, he has received numerous research awards, including the Harold Larnder Prize (2016), the Philip Morse Lectureship prize (2013), the William Pierskalla best paper award in health care (2013), best paper award in Trapsoration (2013), the Farkas Prize (2008), the Erlang Prize (1996), the SIAM Prize in Optimization (1996), the Bodossaki Prize (1998), and the Presidential Young Investigator Award (1991–1996). He has also received recognition for his educational contributions: The Jamieson prize (2013) and the Samuel M. Seegal prize (1999).
Dimitris holds a BS in electrical engineering and computer science from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, as well as an MS in operations research and a PhD in applied mathematics and operations research from MIT.
Naji Gehchan: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I am Naji, your host for this episode joined today by Dimitris Bertsimas Professor of Management, Operations Research, and Associate Dean for the Master of Business Analytics at MIT. A faculty member since 1988, Dimitris’ research include optimization, stochastic systems, machine learning, and their application in different sectors including healthcare. Dimitris is also a serial entrepreneur, he cofounded several companies like Dynamic…
We’ve been hearing a lot lately about empathy and its importance in leadership (finally!), have you heard about compassionate leadership? Marissa Afton will take us through her work and research on what compassionate leaders do to build and engage high-performing teams and deliver success. You’ll also hear about self-care and the importance of “kindness to self” with great practical tips for us to fit in our daily schedules, like performance breaks and self space.
“Do Hard Things in a Human Way”
MEET OUR GUESTMarissa Afton International Partner & Head of Global Accounts at Potential Project
Marissa is a Partner and Head of Global Accounts at Potential Project. She is a driving force behind leadership development and change initiatives at multinational companies, helping leaders and organizations unlock their potential to create cultural excellence and superior performance, resilience, and innovation.
A mindfulness practitioner for over 25 years, Marissa is recognized for her breadth of knowledge and deep experience in transforming organizations by transforming the mind.
She is a sought-after speaker at leadership conferences about the impact of mind training on high-performing cultures, as well as the mental qualities of excellent leaders. She works with many Fortune 500 companies including Bloomberg, Cisco, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and White & Case, among others.
VC and Love? Can those two words coexist? For Richard Kivel, a renowned VC in healthcare, the most valuable VCs in the end, are those who are empathetic and direct at the same time. They are with you when there are problems, and point them out recognizing that things don’t usually go as planned. For him, it is the love versus fear concept. When investing in companies, he looks for devoted CEO, truthful and focused, with a vision and passion for the company, a CEO who is loved rather than feared! “If people feel valued, they feel loved, if they feel loved they are going to be committed, If they are committed, the organization will have a higher probability of success.” So, it really comes down to LOVE.
“Look for a CEO who is loved, not feared.”
MEET OUR GUESTRichard Kivel Investor & Board Director in Technology and Healthcare.
Richard serves as the Managing Director of GrayBella Capital LLC, a Pan-European venture capital firm based in London, investing in growth-stage technology and healthcare companies.
Since 2021 he has served as a Board member of Lottery.com, a publicly-traded (Nasdaq: LTRY) leading technology company that is transforming how, where and when lottery is played. Since 2018, Richard has served as Chairman of the Board of BC Platforms, a Zurich, Switzerland-based bio-computing leader.
Before this, Richard was Executive Chairman of the Board of ViS Research Inc., leading to a successful acquisition by IMS Health. In addition, he was a Board Director and Chairman of the nominating committee of Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: RNN) from 2010 until 2013.
Richard’s executive management experience also includes a Senior Management position at Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund, and two Chief Executive Officer positions: TheraGenetics, Ltd. from 2006 until 2009, and MolecularWare, Inc. from 2001 until 2004. Both companies were successfully acquired.
He has served various roles at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, including as the Chairman and President of the MIT Enterprise Forum, a Board member of the MIT Alumni Association, and is a regular Lecturer at MIT and other schools. He is also a Trustee of Bankinter Innovation Foundation, a technology think-tank based in Madrid.
When Bob heard the word love, he was really not sure… Hear his thoughts on the true meaning of spreading love in organizations from helping others realize their dreams to giving space for your people to thrive. Leadership is courage, entrepreneurship is loneliness, and if you go that route make sure the need is unmet, customers really think what you are providing is better, and ensure the sustainability of your venture.
“Help them connect the dots to the purpose, inspire them, and get out of the way!”
MEET OUR GUESTBob Jones Entrepreneur, CEO, Speaker, Author of “The Start-Up Starter Kit”.
Bob is CEO of Scientific Nutrition Products, Inc. The company addresses medical conditions by creating and selling nutrition-based products. Bob was previously a Principal at Scientia Advisors, a strategy consulting firm, where Bob led the Nutrition and Wellness practice. Prior to Scientia, Bob was President and CEO of Vitasoy USA, Inc., the nation’s largest marketer and manufacturer of tofu and the pioneer of soymilk in America. This was a management turn-around.
Before joining Vitasoy, Bob launched three start-ups in the medical nutrition field. Each company addressed chronic medical disorders such as diabetes via specifically targeted nutrition products (rather than drugs). All three start-ups were with staff and faculty at Harvard Medical School. Each company turned leading-edge science into consumer products that were sold through retail pharmacies.
Bob has held executive positions at several other companies, including Abbott Laboratories and Baxter International. He has two awarded patents in the field of nutrition. He is an active mentor with MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service and has served as a judge in MIT’s 100K Business Plan Competition. He has an A.B. in biology from Princeton University and an MSM from MIT Sloan.
After hours, Bob plays in a blues band in the Boston area and is a springboard diver, and an enthusiastic motorcyclist.
Naji: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I’m Naji, your host for this episode joined today by Bob Jones, serial healthcare industry, entrepreneur. Bob is founder and currently CEO of scientific nutrition products, a company addressing medical conditions by creating and selling nutrition based products. Bob was previously a principal at CIA advisors, a strategy consulting firm, where Bob led the nutrition and wellness practice. Prior to that, Bob was…
We hear a lot about transferable managerial skills from sports to corporate and entrepreneurial world, Ben Shields summarized those to two key components: common goal for teams and measurable performance. Along those comes a crucial leadership skill of creating and maintaining a winning culture, which is a collective set of actions and behaviors that defines it, and best teams are obsessive about ensuring the culture is sustainable daily. This starts by building a learning culture based on mutual understanding. On a more individual level, success for Ben is driven by passion, hard work and luck. What about data and decision making? “Data can help you be less wrong in your decisions.”
“Great leaders make those around them better.”
MEET OUR GUESTBen Shields Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management.
Ben Shields is a Senior Lecturer in Managerial Communication at the MIT. He studies the multibillion-dollar sports industry to identify broadly transferable management lessons in areas such as leadership communication, data-driven decision making, and innovation.
Ben authored three books, Social Media Management: Persuasion in Networked Culture (Oxford University Press, 2016), The Sports Strategist: Developing Leaders for a High Performance Industry (Oxford University Press, 2015), and The Elusive Fan: Reinventing Sports in a Crowded Marketplace (McGraw-Hill, 2006), teaches and directs a number of courses and programs.
Prior to MIT, Ben served as the Director of Social Media and Marketing at ESPN. He oversaw social media strategy for the ESPN brand and collaborated across the enterprise to develop and implement company-wide social strategy. He also worked on marketing strategy for several ESPN brands and sub-brands, including the SportsCenter “DaDaDa” campaign and the Emmy Award-winning “It’s Not Crazy, It’s Sports” brand campaign.
Ben holds a BS and MA in communication studies and a PhD in media, technology, and society, all from Northwestern University.
Naji: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I’m Naji your host for this episode, joined today by Ben Shields, senior lecturer in managerial communication at the MIT. Ben studies the multibillion dollar sports industry to identify broadly transferable management lessons in areas such as leadership, communication, data driven, decision making and innovation. Ben teaches a number of courses. And I had the privilege to be in one of those where…
What if we start as leaders by sharing our own challenges, our vulnerabilities, our stories with our people? This might be the first step to bringing back humanity into leadership and building empathy with our teams. From engineering and technical expertise to leadership, executive coaching and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion role model, Angelique Adams shared her story, experiences, and learning with us. Focus on people, on their entire well-being and results at the same time, and most importantly care for the whole person they are. Finally, don’t forget to celebrate more your team, even the small wins!
Angelique Adams is an author, speaker, and executive coach focusing on leadership development for scientists and engineers. Angelique is an engineer with 25 years of experience in operations, strategy, and innovation. She was Director of R&D at aluminum giant Alcoa, and Chief Innovation Officer at multibillion dollar steelmaker, Aperam. After leading hundreds of scientists and engineers around the world, she discovered her true passion is developing people, not products.
Following the successful publication of her first book for women in STEM in 2021, she launched Angelique Adams Media Solutions, a distribution platform for her books, online courses, and coaching programs. Her second book, for women executives in college athletics will be out this summer.
Angelique lives in Knoxville with her husband and 2 children. She serves on the board of several local nonprofits and volunteers her time to mentor entrepreneurs. She has a Ph.D. from Penn State and an MBA from MIT.
Naji: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I’m Naji your host for this episode joined today by Dr. Angelique Adams, an author speaker, and executive coach focusing on leadership development for scientists and engineers. Angelique is an engineer with 25 years of experience in operations strategy and innovation. She was director of R and D. At aluminum, giant OAA and chief innovation officer at multibillion dollar steel maker, ARA after…
Sustainability is all about: how are we on this planet and how are we with each other? We can’t continue living on this planet looking at the world as a “pyramid”, a lens of supremacy and extraction of natural resources and labor. Every year of delay means losses and communities we can not recover… Thinking of the world as an interconnected web is the most important action we can take as leaders in each of the decisions we make. Think of it in a staff meeting ensuring all voices are being heard, while building your next manufacturing site ensuring it includes all lives and flows, think of circular economies…. The most impactful projects are the small ones who started to fix a problem that resolved another and entered in a positive loop of change improving the broader environment and community. The key for leaders is to keep a role of learners as we tackle these issues and make disruption of inequities part of our priorities.
“Lead by thinking of the world as an interconnected web.”
MEET OUR GUESTElizabeth Sawin Founder and Director of the Multisolving Institute.
Elizabeth Sawin is the Founder and Director of the Multisolving Institute. Beth is an expert on solutions that address climate change while also improving health, well-being, equity, and economic vitality. She developed the idea of ‘multisolving’ to help people see and create the conditions for such win-win-win solutions.
Beth writes and speaks about multisolving, climate change, and leadership in complex systems for both national and international audiences. Her work has been published widely, including in Non-Profit Quarterly, The Stanford Social Innovation Review, U. S. News, The Daily Climate, and System Dynamics Review.
She has trained and mentored global sustainability leaders in the Donella Meadows Fellows Program and provided systems thinking training to both Ashoka and Dalai Lama Fellows. Since 2014, Beth has participated in the Council on the Uncertain Human Future, a continuing dialogue on issues of climate change and sustainability among a select group of humanities scholars, writers, artists, and climate scientists.
Beth is also a member of the advisory board to the Kresge Foundation’s Climate Change Health and Equity Program. A biologist with a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Beth co-founded Climate Interactive in 2010 and served as Climate Interactive’s Co-Director from 2010 until 2021. While at Climate Interactive, she led the scientific team that offered the first assessment of the sufficiency of country pledges to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2008. Beth also led Climate Interactive’s efforts to integrate measures of equity, health and well-being into decision support tools and computer simulations.
Beth trained in system dynamics and sustainability with Donella Meadows and worked at Sustainability Institute, the research institute founded by Meadows, for 13 years. She has two adult daughters and lives in rural Vermont where she and her husband grow as much of their own food as they can manage.
Naji: Hello, leaders of the world. Welcome to spread love in organizations, the podcast for purpose-driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership, and love. I’m Naji your host for this episode joined by Elizabeth Sawin founder and director of the Multisolving Institute. Beth is an expert on solutions that address climate change while also improving health, wellbeing, equity, and economic fire fatality. She developed the idea of multisolving to help people see and create the conditions for such win-win solutions. Her work has been published widely. She…
Driven by curiosity, trying, failing, trying again while exploring the world, is what shaped Yacine Hadjiat’s incredible leadership journey. This curiosity led him to reinvent himself constantly, putting himself in vulnerable positions that taught him lessons we all should learn from: listen, ask, observe, understand, be open, stay humble and most importantly be benevolent as a leader. Start with the “who”, the people, the team to deliver exceptional innovations. Hear Yacine’s thoughts on digital health and innovation crystallized beautifully with his words “what excites me is what I don’t know yet, new vectors, new possibilities… digital will bring to health what internet brought to tech”.
“Define your why, bring the who, and work on the what.”
MEET OUR GUESTDr Yacine Hadjiat Global Head of Biogen Digital Health Solutions
Dr Yacine Hadjiat holds medical degree with a specialization in Pain Management and supportive care (from both Paris Medical University and McGill University), as well as a MBA in Health Management. He has also completed several training courses and specializations in addiction, pediatric pain management, clinical research, health economics and Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare.
Throughout his career, he has covered several senior leadership positions in the pharmaceutical industry as well as clinical practice and academic medical research in Europe, US and Asia.
He started his journey in the pharmaceutical industry in France with Sanofi-Aventis in the Strategy and Public Affairs department before joining Grünenthal in Medical Affairs. He joined Mundipharma in 2011 in Paris where he served as Head of Medical Affairs for France, and then as Head of Medical Affairs for Europe based in Cambridge, UK, before moving to Singapore as Chief Medical Officer for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Latin America and Global Head of Medical for Consumer Healthcare. Currently, Yacine is the Global Head of Biogen Digital Health Solutions & Chief medical Officer. Based in paris, France.
Along with his career in the industry, Yacine had several years of clinical practice in pain and cancer care management including NGO work with Pain Without Borders especially in Africa and Asia and also fundamental and clinical research experience in the US at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Washington DC. He is also currently part of the French Health Institute (INSERM) in Public health research program.
Yacine also holds non-executive positions as advisor for governmental agencies in Singapore like the National Health Innovation Center (NHIC) and Entreprise Singapore, as well as MedTEch/healthTech incubators. He’s an author of several scientific publications from fundamental research science to clinical research projects, digital heath and health economics.
Yacine was recognised in 2018 as Top 50 Healthcare leaders at the SmartHealth conference in Dubai as a recognition for his work on equity in health and education. In 2019, he has also been awarded by the Association of Pharmaceutical Medicine Singapore (APMS) with the “Excellence in Medical Affairs Award” APMS is a chapter the International Federation of Associations of Pharmaceutical Physicians and Pharmaceutical Medicine (IFAPP).
We don’t get to sit every day with someone like Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi. His journey was inspired by incredible leaders he was fortunate to meet along the way. Noble prize laureates, or powerful figures in their community, who triggered questions around how to live a meaningful life. For Venerable Tenzin, in the history of humanity, the challenge of leadership is today more crucial than ever. Despite so many leadership programs thought in the best schools around the world, we suffer from a lack of ethical leadership… When we look around us, we are living in a society increasingly marked by a sense of polarization. More fear and hate than love and compassion. The world has quite often chosen to operate from a place of despair rather than from a place of hopefulness. “Hope is a game-changer”.
No matter how small we think we are, individuals must recognize that they do have a voice, and need to exercise it; quoting Dalai Lama “if you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” In a world where nothing is constant, maintain a healthy sense of curiosity and hopefulness, talk more with people who don’t believe in what you do …This is a powerful tool to value perspective in the complex society we live in.
This episode couldn’t have been timelier and resonate with the tense environment we are living in today.
“Aspiration + Reality = Hope.”
MEET OUR GUESTVenerable Tenzin Priyadarshi president and CEO of the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Venerable Tenzin is an innovative thinker, a philosopher, an educator, and a polymath monk. He is Founding Director of The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a center dedicated to inquiry, dialogue, and education on the ethical and human dimensions of life. The Center at MIT has 6 Nobel Peace Laureates as its founding members and its programs run in 8 countries and expanding.
Venerable Tenzin’s unusual background encompasses entering a Buddhist monastery at the age of 10 to receiving graduate education at Harvard with degrees ranging from Philosophy to Physics to International Relations.
Venerable Tenzin serves on the Board of several academic, humanitarian, and religious organizations. He is a recipient of several recognitions and awards, including a 2013 Distinguished Alumni Award from Harvard for his visionary contributions to humanity.
Have you heard the latest word defining great Leadership? Humbitous. For Amer Kaissi, award winning Professor, exceptional leadership is all about humility and ambition combined.
While ambition might sound familiar, humility comes in 3 layers. First, relationship with ourselves: it’s about self-awareness, being aware of our strengths and areas of improvements, and looking at our capabilities as accurately as can. Second, relationship with others: it’s about generosity and giving time and effort to grow others. Finding appreciation to the intelligence of the group and having a growth mindset to go into every conversation with curiosity and assumption to learn something new. Lastly, relationship with the world: Taking the time to ponder in the grand scheme of things and acknowledge how small and insignificant we are. This layer comes as an “ego dissolver”.
When thinking of ambition in leadership, it is not narcissism. Unfortunately, narcissists tend to be chosen more for leadership position, however in the long run, they are ineffective leaders because they are self-centered, and not good team players: short term turn around but no long-lasting impact.
I will leave us as healthcare leaders with this last statement from Amer ”In Healthcare, humility is amplified by 100 because we are in the business of compassion and empathy.”
“Humility is looking at your capabilities as accurately as can.”
MEET OUR GUESTAmer Kaissi an award-winning professor of health-care administration at Trinity University, a Top-15 program.
Dr. Amer Kaissi is a professional speaker and a certified executive coach. His most recent book is “Humbitious: the power of low-ego, high-drive leadership.” He is an award-winning professor of health-care administration at Trinity University, a Top-15 program. His previous book, Intangibles: The Unexpected Traits of High-Performing Healthcare Leaders, won the 2019 ACHE Book of the Year Award.
He is a national speaker and a faculty member with ACHE, the University of Colorado Denver, and Boston College. Amer is the director of the Executive Program at Trinity University, where he teaches courses in leadership, professional development, and public speaking. Amer works with MEDI — a division of Navvis — and with the Leadership Development Group as an executive coach, and consults with hospitals and other organizations in their strategic planning efforts. Amer is also a certified executive and physician coach. He lives in San Antonio, Texas, with his wife and their two teenagers.
Naji: Hello leaders of the word. Welcome to spread love in organizations, a podcast for purpose driven healthcare leaders, striving to make life better around the world, by leading their teams with genuine care, servant leadership and love. I’m Naji, your host, having the pleasure to chat today with Professor Amer Kaissi and discuss his most recent book Humbitious: The Power of Low-Ego, High-Drive Leadership. Amer is an award winning professor of healthcare administration at Trinity university, the top 15 program. His previous book Intangibles: The Unexpected Traits of High-performing Healthcare Leaders won the 2019 ACHE book of…
Looking back into your past, do you regret not taking the time to pause and cherish precious moments with your loved ones? Or not being there when they needed you the most? It is unlikely to listen to Christi Shaw and not pause and reflect on your personal story.
What strikes us is the strong sense of care, love, family and the desire to make an impact she conveys when sharing genuinely her story with us with all its highs and lows. Christi shares her lifelong learning and leadership philosophy “Never let success go to your head; never let failure go to your heart”. Because when you are at your best, you help people be at their best. For her, leadership is all about enabling others to move forward by leveraging what everybody brings to the table. It is about leading without labels, without hierarchy, and barriers to collaboration.
Listening to Christi, beyond respect, you can’t but admire her strength from miles away and the genuine soul behind the incredible leader she is… As she says, life is too short, and “we spend too many hours at work just to be respected and not loved”.
“My biggest learning: being compassionate and spreading love and caring at work is a good thing.“
