Eve Dryer’s 2013 HBA STAR speech

Eve Dryer HBA 2013 STAR

Thank you all so very, very much. I’m incredibly honored, but I’m the one who should be thanking the HBA…for being my rock, for believing in my leadership skills and for giving me the opportunity to work with and learn from some of healthcare’s greatest leaders.

I’m just an ordinary person volunteering like so many. I’ll probably never be a CEO or US Secretary of Health, but I can tell you that when the time comes that I’m pondering my legacy, it’ll come down to two things, raising kids who make their own unique difference in the world, and the lives I’ve touched through volunteering.

Just a few weeks ago Steven Colbert asked Bill Clinton, “Why help other people? What’s in it for you?” Bill Clinton responded,“It makes me happy.” Four simple words… It makes me happy.

Many of us in this room will make very meaningful contributions without making it to the corner suite, and we have to keep in mind that leadership isn’t just about impacting on the workplace… it’s about making your impact count. That’s what brought me to the HBA so many years ago.

Though I play other volunteer roles that “make me happy” – serving as board chair for HealthyWomen is one– when I first learned about the HBA and its commitment to preparing up-and-coming women leaders to address the world’s most pressing healthcare challenges, I was hooked.

So let me go back and tell you how I got here. It’s the year 2000 and I’m at an HBA program hosted by Cathy Sohn, who later will be named the 2003 WOTY. It stands out as a Red Letter Day because Cathy takes me by the arm to an HBA board member and proclaims, “Meet Eve, your newest volunteer!” The next thing I knew, I was chairing an evening program, and by 2002 serving on the Metro chapter board. I then found myself helping to launch the Greater Philadelphia chapter, co-chairing two leadership conferences, and then being invited to serve on the HBA board.

And that brings me to my proudest and most enriching experience as an HBA volunteer, heading up stakeholder engagement and helping shape the mindful way in which we’ve expanded the HBA community to encompass all sectors of healthcare: manufacturers, payers, non-profits and more.  This in turn has helped our members develop strong cross-industry relationships, and broadened our thinking on how we approach the current issues in healthcare. Issues like patient empowerment, access to care, and the need to drive medical innovation.

It’s allowed the HBA to help foster the development of the unique perspectives and values that women as healthcare leaders, as volunteers, and as decision makers for our families, bring to the changing face of healthcare.

How has this impacted on me? Truth be told, I’d already found a couple of gray hairs by the time I found the HBA, but my exposure to such a diversity of individuals and their life experiences — and the scope of HBA roles I’ve been privileged to play — really guided me in refining and redirecting my own leadership focus. I wouldn’t be doing the patient engagement work I do today if it hadn’t been for the challenging and inspiring words I’ve heard from this very dais. You can’t work alongside visionary leaders like our past and present WOTYs and Honorable Mentors –which HBA volunteering makes possible –and not commit yourself 100% to the principle that it all starts and ends with the patient.

I know I haven’t even scratched the surface on the multitude of ways in which HBA helps build leadership paths. For me it’s the way it’s opened my eyes to the impacts that women healthcare leaders can make beyond the workplace. My personal passion is to help amplify the voice of the patient, and better engage them in decision-making. So in the spirit of serving the patient, the importance of which has been voiced by many of our WOTYs, I’d like to offer you a leadership appeal.

Tightening guidelines are having an unintended consequence on many of the patient advocacy groups that rely on corporate support and volunteers — to fulfill their missions. Many have cut programs, and some have even had to close their doors. The HBA does not enter the realm of politics or policy. But it is helping shape tomorrow’s leaders and giving women leaders a distinct opportunity to serve as agents of change. So I’m asking you all to use your abundant talents in ways that you can make a difference. I encourage you to consider how you can use your strong voice as a volunteer to support the advocacy groups and help them to keep their doors open to the patients we all strive to serve.

I want to close by dedicating this award to my dearest friend Peggy Heller, and leave you with a story about how she used her voice as a volunteer. Peggy, who sadly lost a five year battle with ovarian cancer last fall, was a staunch volunteer for many organizations, including the HBA. In the final years of her life Peggy undertook the most meaningful volunteer role of all— she helped organize and served on a patient advocacy panel that spoke at many medical schools, helping new doctors to understand how important it is to really look at patients for who they are, and not as their disease. And through these hundreds of young doctors she touched, Peggy’s volunteer impact and legacy will be paying forward for years to come. Peggy, this award’s for you!

My dear HBA family, thank you again for this amazing honor. And for bringing me the joy of friendship with so many remarkable women and men

Kevin Rigby’s 2013 Honorable Mentor speech

Kevin Rigby
HBA 2013 Honorable Mentor

Good afternoon everyone! David, thank you for those generous remarks and for being such a strong mentor and role model for me and so many of us at Novartis. I also want to acknowledge our US pharma head and country president, Andre Wyss for all his support, guidance and leadership … and for nominating me.

And my sincere thanks to the HBA for this award, which I appreciate very much. And, congratulations to the HBA for the difference you have made since being formed in 1979, by five professional women who realized the enormous power of sharing, developing and mentoring each other. The fact that HBA now has nearly 7,000 members and over 100 corporate partners…is proof of how wise those five founders were.

I would say it’s also proof that mentoring still works. I know this first-hand. Without my mentors, I absolutely would not be standing here today. I have been blessed with many mentors. But three in particular greatly shaped my life. The first who touched me deeply was someone I came to know when I became the new mayor of River Edge, New Jersey. His name was Ron Hardiman, a council member from a different political party. As a brand new mayor, I had a lot I wanted to do, a lot of ideas I wanted to implement… right away.

But Ron shared with me that to be successful, never lose my sense of humor and most importantly, listen. Listen to what others are saying. Listen to what’s on their minds. As obvious as that may be, it was an incredible insight to me. That the best way to influence someone is actually by listening to and hearing what really matters to them.

Suddenly I understood that truly listening to someone was an important way to begin understanding the best steps forward in almost any situation–by truly listening, we both get to sort through and hear what the right path ahead should be. I have found that most individuals I have mentored already knew somewhere inside themselves what they actually needed to do. Over the years, listening to my mentees has been the most effective way to help them better understand and resolve their issues –so thank you Ron!

My second great mentor was Senator Bill Bradley, for whom I served as state director and ultimately chief of staff. One day when a multitude of issues were hitting all at once, and I was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed, the Senator looked at me and said, “You really don’t know how good you can be.” The Senator’s belief in me, the fact that he saw so much potential in me, and the fact that I’d come to know he was genuine and always said what he meant gave me the confidence to believe more of my own potential. That was a first-hand lesson in the power of someone’s belief.

When I mentor anyone today, I try to highlight the strengths I see, strengths that they may not see in themselves. A mentor who inspires self-confidence can help another achieve heights that they never dreamed possible.

But, a mentor must always be honest and authentic, which can mean expressing a truth that the mentee might prefer not to hear. I strive to be as truthful and real as possible. I have found that feedback, if shared with sincerity, will often be embraced and valued.

My third mentor was my son, Dan. At age 21, while a senior at Georgetown University, he passed away in an off-campus fire. His awards and trophies are now packed away. But what has endured is the impact he had on others. So many people came up to our family when we lost Dan. They still do, even to this day, letting us know how he touched their lives. They tell us what it meant that he believed in them, how he helped them confront a challenge, at home, at school or in life.

The effect my son had on others … taught me an important lesson. It’s not the titles, promotions or accolades that matter in the long run. Of far greater meaning is the impact we can have on others. Mentoring allows us that privilege–the ability to have a lasting, positive impact on someone else’s life.

At Novartis, I am very fortunate to be part of a work environment where mentoring is encouraged, valued and recognized.  Having here today, both Meryl Zausner,  our US Country CFO and former Woman of the Year and David Epstein, who you just heard from who was also a previous winner of this prestigious mentoring award, is an honor in itself.

And to those I have mentored, many of whom are here, I sincerely offer my thanks. You allowed me the privilege of getting to know you and the opportunity to impact your work or life. The magic of being a mentor is the people we meet and what we receive from them in return.

I’d like to congratulate Bridgette Heller on her Woman of the Year distinction , along with all of our Rising Stars  on the dais, particularly Lisa Deschamps and Liz McGee of Novartis. It’s obvious that each of you knows the importance of making contributions, not only to business success, but to the lives and the futures of others.

I close with a challenge to you: are you building and supporting a mentoring culture? To the men in the audience: are you mentoring the many incredibly talented women in your organization who would benefit from your mentorship? The only way to truly achieve a company’s full potential is by actively developing the potential of its people. I am confident that the time you devote to mentoring will be returned multi-fold, or your companies, your people, and you. The ultimate benefit of mentoring is not only to make your companies more successful, as you elevate the performance of your associates. It will also establish a legacy that is personal to you: making a real difference in someone else’s life.

Now before I close there is one very special person I want to recognize. Someone who has made an incredible difference in my life, and who I consider my number one mentor and best friend–my wife, Mary. I can’t thank you enough, Mary, for your patience, guidance, love and support over our many years together.

Once again, HBA –I thank you for this award. I salute you for all you do toward the development and advancement of women …which is the advancement of us all.

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Bridgette Heller’s 2013 HBA Woman of the Year speech

Bridgette Heller
HBA’s 2013 WOTY

Thank you, Ken, for that very kind introduction. I am deeply honored, thrilled, and humbled to stand before this impressive audience.

We’re all here today because we support HBA – its purpose and its work. This organization and its dedicated volunteers, like HBA STAR Eve Dryer, do a great deal to promote leadership development within our industry. HBA serves as a catalyst to help women in health care fields advance their careers worldwide. Founded nearly 35 years ago, HBA has made a very significant contribution to this industry. I know it has ambitious plans to grow and to become an even more powerful influence in the future. We all know that more is possible, and together we can help make what’s possible real.

Before sharing a few reflections, I’d like to do two things. First, I’d like to acknowledge what a true honor it is for me to share this celebration with so many wonderfully talented people: previous WOTY honorees, Rising Stars and Honorable Mentors. You inspire me.

Many previous WOTY honorees (like Carolyn and Catherine, Meryl and Freda) reached out to me personally following the announcement. This was a real reminder that we — women — lead and compete differently. Many of these women took time to prepare me for the year to come. They showered me with advice, counsel, flowers and sentimental well wishes – something most men wouldn’t do – and I am grateful.

Rising Stars, when I think of what you’ve accomplished early in your careers and then of the vast potential that lies ahead in your futures, I’m a little bit awestruck. There will be challenges on the journey but you will overcome; you will change the face of this industry.  Thankfully, you will not journey alone. You will have the support of many people, like Kevin, this years’ HBA Honorable Mentor, along the way.

Finally, I must give thanks to a few very special folks here today — thanks to Laurie Cooke and the HBA for this amazing celebration; to my friend and colleague Nancy Miller-Rich, thank you for introducing me to HBA and for caring enough for me and for our company to champion my nomination. Thank you to the many personal friends, mentors and sponsors who have so generously shared their wisdom and support throughout my journey. Thank you to my colleagues across Merck who allow me to bring my whole self to this work daily. And, of course, many thanks to my awesome family. I’m sure a few of you will acknowledge that we type A’s are often not easy to live with, even when we strive to put family first.

I have the great blessing of having been born into a village where love was abundant and standards were high. My mom and pops are joining me here from Florida. Both are celebrating birthdays this month so I want to say Happy Birthday to them! I also married into an extension of that village and I built upon that with enduring friendships. I am who I am largely because of this collection of people. They nurture me. Again, I am grateful.

Now, I’d like to share a few reflections that I hope you will find resonant, thought provoking and perhaps even inspirational. The beauty of an occasion such as this is that it gives you an opportunity to look into the rear-view mirror. As I did that, one theme jumped out at me with clarity –the power of authentic connections in nurturing my potential and in shaping my relationship to power.  In fact, I would go so far as to say that a couple of critical nurturing connections in my life truly enabled me to unleash my personal power. This was a revelation for me.

From early on, I don’t believe that my “power” was a concept that I have been comfortable thinking about, let alone talking about. I think this is true for many women, even those in powerful positions.

I will start with a little background. I spent my early childhood in the segregated South. I attended segregated schools until about 6^th grade. This was not a hindrance for me personally. In fact, remember that village I mentioned when I thanked my family? I’d have to say that the African American teachers from my early childhood were a part of that village, as were the people in our neighborhood.

My academic talents were evident early within our village, and everywhere I went it was made very clear that I was to embrace and to live into those talents. In other words, I was expected to achieve my potential. Genuine connections within the community made it very clear that power lay in education. Power was defined as an ability to provide for and to protect one’s family. Education provided access to better jobs, money and, hence, power by that definition.

School integration was a little unsettling because within my village the one true limitation to potential was believed to be skin color. In our environment, ethnicity definitely trumped gender on the power spectrum. Whites were powerful; blacks were not. Luckily, I met many white teachers –Miss Cogar (AP English), Mr. Nadar (high school drama) — who did not buy into that power stereotype. I also had white friends whose parents appeared as interested in my academic success as those within my village.

But, in 11^th grade, I had an authentic connection which must be counted as a setback. I ran into Mr. Oscher. I wanted to take an advanced math class and Mr. Oscher convinced me I could not. I won’t bother laying out the reasoning, suffice it to say, he convinced me I was not smart enough. As I look back at it today, I realize that Mr. Oscher used an authentic connection to stunt my power, to make me question it.

Now before you write that off to the sins of the past, let me assure you that this is not such an unusual scenario. In fact, it happens every day in our companies.

A high-potential young woman in our industry recently related a story to me about having taken a lateral assignment for three reasons: 1) she thought she could learn something; 2) the company needed her to do the job; 3) she truly believed she could help. The day she stepped into the role, the CEO said to her, “This is a great opportunity; don’t screw it up!”

Another woman spoke to me of a scenario where she was told by her manager that her biggest issue was that she was “too smart”; people could not relate to her. Seriously?

In effect –these managers are doing precisely what Oscher did: they are squashing potential; they are inhibiting these women from unleashing the full power of their knowledge and ideas to drive growth in the business.

As I thought about these situations, they reinforced to me that our greatest power as leaders comes from our ability to create space for all individuals to be comfortable with their personal power. To be clear, the definition I am using here is different than the way in which it was defined in my village growing up. In this context, what I mean by “power” is a capability, a strength, a force to make things happen, to pull people and teams together to bring about change and achieve goals.

In my life and career, I’ve been fortunate to have had outstanding mentors and sponsors. Each one of them saw power and potential in me that sometimes I did not see in myself. Every one of them encouraged me to step toward power – not to shrink from it — to capture and direct that force, that potential, instead of allowing self-doubt to put me on the safe path.

My first boss at Kraft asked me every single day “what did you do for the consumer today?” It was his way of creating a power framework for me that was very different than that of my peers. This guy truly believed I had the “power” to make a difference for consumers. By the end of the first week, I believed it, too! I believed it because every day we talked about it and we did it.

Very early in my career at Kraft, I was traveling with the division’s chief marketing officer, someone several levels above me. We were in a car, heading to a meeting with the ad agency and she turned to me and said, “You’re going to be a CEO someday; I’m just holding the door open for you to get to the chair.”

What an amazing example of power in leadership! Her name is Ann Fudge, our friendship is legendary. Ann is truly a “servant leader.” She has never felt threatened by up-and-comers; instead she always encouraged and enabled others to rise. As you can tell, Ken Frazier, my CEO, epitomizes that type of leadership. When you’re confident about yourself, you can see the power in others and help unleash it.

The way I look at it, the idea of helping women advance breaks down into three categories. One has to do with environment –where leaders of organizations purposely create workplaces that are conducive to women stepping up to take on higher-level positions and responsibilities.

Another element simply comes down to what women can do for themselves to move ahead, by making the most of their own strengths and capabilities, by recognizing the power that’s within each of us, and having the confidence to exercise it.

Finally, there’s what others can do to help. Here I’m talking about mentors and sponsors, the people like my friend Ann who generously give of themselves so that others can do better – and so the business can prosper for the long term. Kevin spoke about this aspect of power in leadership earlier.

We came here today to applaud the HBA and the progress women have made in the health care industry. But let’s be clear, we’re also here to signal how much farther women still have to go. Women make up 47% of the workforce, yet only 4% are CEOs.

So we need to pull together. We must recognize our inner strengths, have the confidence to go toward power, and use the power within all of us to unleash our potential, to change this industry for the better.

In closing I want to share two experiences that came to mind for me when I first learned that I’d been selected as the HBA Woman of the Year. Let me tell you about Bianca Baily. Bianca is a Girls Inc. girl. She grew up in Texas. Her mom died when she was two years old and unfortunately despite her father’s best efforts Bianca was often homeless and hungry. Last spring, Bianca graduated from Howard University with a degree in chemical engineering.

She credits her involvement with the Operation SMART Program at Girls Incorporated (Science, Math and Relevant Technology), for nurturing her love of science and helping her to survive some very difficult life circumstances. Bianca has gone on to pursue a PhD in engineering with a dream of working to improve the worlds’ access to clean water.  She is a brilliant young woman. She has been celebrated at the White House as an agent of change and she was named as a “Young Futurist” by her university. When you meet Bianca you are absolutely struck by the confidence and inner peace that she radiates. She brings her whole self to every situation and she seems to understand and embrace her own power. She inspires me. I find myself wanting to create an environment that attracts young people like Bianca to come to Merck; to change the world from within our company vs. outside of it.

The second experience is from a school retreat in Blairstown, NJ. My youngest daughter attends Princeton Friends School, a Quaker school. PFS provides for Sara the type of village I grew up with, where the love is abundant and the standards are high. Every year PFS hosts a three-day family retreat. This experience occurred during my first retreat. At the close of the retreat the entire community gathered in a send-off to the graduating 8th grade students. It was a big Quaker meeting format where we held the kids in silence and gradually anyone who was moved to could speak. When the 8^th graders spoke, typically to each other but a few to others in the community, I was awed.

These kids reflected a tremendous universal support for each other that I simply cannot describe. It was beyond inspiring.

In a world where the headlines are so often about middle school bullying, here was a group of kids professing the value of each individual, not regardless of their differences but because of their differences. The kids literally talked about people being accepted for who they are. They talked about uniqueness, diversity and different perspectives as assets of the community, making it richer and stronger and more vibrant. It was a powerful, emotional experience for me. I was moved to tears.

This is a true nurturing environment, free of prejudging, where students can express themselves without fear of being ridiculed or second-guessed. The result is that students and teachers build up each other’s confidence and self-assurance. And this enables students to recognize and tap their power and creativity – they’re able to unleash their potential.

Just think for a moment of what could happen in your business with this kind of nurturing environment. Just imagine the power that could be unleashed. Imagine the amazing things that could be accomplished by harnessing that collective support and releasing people’s confidence and creativity.

We are the leadership. We have the power to create this space and in so doing to make a true difference in the lives of the people we work with and, ultimately, to generate more value for the consumers, customers and shareholders we work for.

Thank you.

2012 in review

The WordPress.com prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 6,300 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 11 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Finding your path with WLI and HBA

Christa Heydt

This blog post was written by Christa Heydt for the J&J Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI)  blog and is reprinted here with permission. We thank everyone from the ACE award winning Johnson& Johnson WLI for sharing this post.

Dear Colleagues,

I am honored to share with you some of my experiences, as well as those of colleagues, from last week’s Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association’s (HBA) Leadership Conference.  Earlier this year, Kathy Fitzpatrick, director credo and workplace engagement at Johnson & Johnson, blogged about getting more than you give when getting involved in community groups illustrated by her involvement with HBA.  The HBA is a global non-profit, professional organization with 15 chapters across the United States and Europe and is dedicated to furthering the advancement and impact of women in healthcare globally.  This is very much in line with our own Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) commitment to the development, advancement and retention of women leaders with a vision to “grow women to grow the business and our world.”  It’s no surprise that Johnson & Johnson is one of approximately 130 corporate partners of the HBA.

This year our Global WLI Steering Committee decided to pair our end-of-year Celebration of Women session with the 2012 HBA Leadership Conference in Orlando.

On Nov. 7, colleagues from each of our Johnson & Johnson sectors, including a group of “local” employees from our Vistakon facility in Jacksonville, FL as well as other colleagues based in Florida, came together in person to celebrate Vernette Daniel, commercial contract improvement manager, site readiness of Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc. Participants listened in on a fireside chat between Vernette and Debra Bass, worldwide vice president of global marketing at DePuy Synthes Companies and MD&D WLI co-chair.

Vernette shared with us her experience in identifying roles she was interested in and being bold enough to reach out to leaders in the organization to learn more. Her insights were an empowering example of the value of knowing what you want and taking the risk to go after it.  In some instances all it took was an email to someone in the J&J family asking for a few minutes to chat. It really is that simple. The discussion was followed by an overview of the J&J/HBA relationship and benefits of membership by Julie Weber, SE region business director at Vistakon and 2012 secretary and the newly elected 2013 vice president for the HBA Florida chapter along with Lynda McDermott, president & CEO of EquiPro International, Ltd. and founding president of the HBA Florida chapter. In addition to the in-person participants, colleagues around the globe were invited to participate virtually.

Following our Celebration of Women session, around 20 employees went on to participate in the 2.5 day HBA Leadership Conference.  The conference featured three main plenary sessions for all participants with 14 different interactive workshops to choose from at specific times between them.  Topics ranged from Coaches, Mentors & Sponsors: Why You Need This Trio on Your Professional Journey to the Summit (in line with the Global WLI launch of MentoringWorks!) to Harnessing the Increasing Influence of Patient and Professional Advocacy Groups to Personalized Medicine – Implications for the Healthcare Ecosystem.  Our own Christine Hopkins, product director of DePuy Synthes Companies, reflected, “The workshop, Finding Your Leadership Voice: The Role of Influence by Beth Gullette resonated with me.  It enabled me to realize what tendencies I naturally gravitate to and where I need to balance those traits to be a more rounded leader.”

These workshops and networking sessions made for an experience rich with ideas to develop attendees personally and professionally. Vernette Daniel commented: “The HBA conference is uniquely tailored to the needs of women in business and specifically the women in healthcare.  That comes through when you sit down for any of the sessions because the material immediately hits home and makes it easier for you to connect.  As a first time attendee I found both the connections that I made and the materials I received to be invaluable.”

In the first plenary session we heard 2012 HBA Woman of The Year (WOTY), Carolyn Buck Luce, speak about “The new healthcare ecosystem: From developing new medicines to delivering healthy outcomes.”  Carolyn noted that the future of healthcare will be more about patient behavior not product behavior.  How can we better enable our customers not only to seek the medical care they need, but actually adhere to directions without fail?  She continued by highlighting a report by Ernst & Young illuminating “the third place” – where the digital world comes together with traditional healthcare to provide solutions for social health.  We as a company are starting down the path with programs like Text4Baby and OneTouch® Ping™ Glucose Management System.  Who will be next to launch our products into the digital world?

From there Carolyn spoke about finding the courage to lead.  Debra Bass reflected, “Statistics show that women have stronger business competencies than men, but have leadership obstacles that impede them from fully capitalizing on those competencies.  We need to turn these obstacles into leadership advantages and be more explicit about what these leadership advantages are and how we unlock them in the workplace.”  Carolyn shared many tips and examples to help us do this including having a 10-year plan and reference to a McKinsey report highlighting the “Centered Leadership Model.”

The conference continued the next day with a plenary session featuring Pat Mitchell, the first woman president and CEO of PBS, and currently is the president and CEO of the Paley Center for Media. Pat shared some of her experiences when she was starting out in broadcasting and the women in the industry were told to “wear ugly suits and lower your voice” to appear more like men. Our own Kendall O’Brien, vice president, group finance, global surgery at MD&D and global co-chair of WLI, reflected, “Pat Mitchell spoke about how we as women can really make a difference because we are different. I am personally inspired to be bolder in driving greater recognition of our individual and collective strengths as women but also for men. This HBA conference will strengthen our ability to grow women to grow our business and the world.” While women’s rights and empowerment have come a long way since Pat had these experiences, women still run only 3.6% of Fortune 500 companies. According to Pat, “The single biggest leadership lever for us is women helping other women.”

Noreen Fraser, award winning television producer, responded to her diagnosis of stage IV metastatic breast cancer by a co-creating and co-producing the 2008 Stand Up 2 Cancer network television special was the second plenary speaker. Noreen shared a montage video she produced featuring celebrities and doctors wishing everyone a happy Mother’s Day and reminding them to schedule their mammogram and pap smear. Picture Jack Black volunteering to have a mammogram. Needless to say, the combination of stars like Zach Galifianakis, Will Farrell and Sarah Silverman among many others reminding women to have preventative tests in only the way they can, had the crowd laughing. But it wasn’t all fun and games. The montage also included doctors explaining that cancer kills more people each year than HIV/AIDS.  Noreen noted that one in every two men and one in every three women get cancer each minute. When you look at your teams can you imagine who might be affected?

Noreen went on to explain her experience of being diagnosed, how the treatments affected her quality of life and her choice to carry on and help others rather than let cancer have the best of her. Noreen closed the emotional session with, “the role of women in the world is constantly growing and changing… All of us in this room can use our leadership skills to make a contribution and don’t give up!”  As she left the stage she shared an inspiring video from the Stand Up 2 Cancer fundraiser.

The last plenary speaker was Bonnie St. John, a highly successful author, Rhodes Scholar, White House official, Olympic athlete and an entrepreneurial businesswoman. Bonnie and her daughter, Darcy, wrote the book “How Great Women Lead” where they take a look into the lives of women leaders around the world. Bonnie noted “We don’t start out courageous and as leaders.  Courage is a muscle you can develop to become great leaders.” Women need to make choices about what is right for them and the courage to take those risks. Darcy gave a TED interview (which you need to hear) on how her worldview changed as a result of this journey with her mother. Wow. There’s an idiom: out of the mouths of babes oft times come gems, meaning children can say profound and wise things. Darcy really sums up the messages heard through the course of the conference that leadership is unique. Each of us needs to identify what the future will look like for us, have the courage to stand up and go after it, do it together, helping each other along the way and most importantly – don’t give up.

Additional thoughts were shared from some of our J&J colleagues (also past J&J HBA Rising Stars), including:

Kassy McGourty, director of communication and public affairs at MD&D Supply Chain: “The conference offered a great time for learning, networking and reflection – both on what I can give and get as a female leader in healthcare and at J&J. For me, the overriding message from the week is that women’s leadership is derived from a masterful combination of capability, credibility and visibility. Now, my accountability is to pay it forward by taking the message back to other women at J&J, as well as playing an active role in advancing the J&J women’s leadership agenda to the next level!”

Sabine Dandiguian, managing director at Janssen EMEA Emerging Markets: “I felt so privileged to have this opportunity to step back and reflect on what I should do differently back to my “normal” life. How to build a bold personal dream, aspiration on what could be my contribution in 10 years time? Figure out what could be the intermediary steps and ask for support, mentoring… Secondly, as I have a new responsibility in WLI EMEA, I was wondering on what could be my added value there? How to organize, engage… Finally, I met with so many inspiring women so close and so different…That I was also thinking on how to keep that inspiration and energy high?”

Perhaps it’s the change in the weather and falling leaves where I live in the northeastern United States or maybe the hustle and bustle of wrapping up projects by year end, either way it reminds me of how important renewal of our skills and energy can be to our success as individuals and as a company. I am thankful to be a part of a company and a professional organization that supports and enables this growth each year. As I look to 2013 I know I’ll be thinking about what I want in my future and using the tools and tips gleaned from all of the remarkable women I heard from to help me find my path.  Will you?

Feel free to leave your comments and thoughts below.

Check out more insights from our WLI Social Ambassadors by searching for #HBALead on  Twitter to see more.

For local insights on HBA chapters in your area, check the HBA website or contact one of our J&J Ambassadors to each of the HBA chapters.

Kind regards,

Christa Heydt
Global Systems Lead, Pharmaceutical R&D Quality & Compliance, Quality Systems
Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson
Co-Lead, Pharma NA WLI

Director At-Large – Membership, Greater Philadelphia Chapter and 2011 HBA Rising Star

Incoming HBA president Terri Pascarelli’s closing words from the HBA 2012 Leadership Conference

This is a transcript of the closing speech given by incoming HBA President Terri Pascarelli at the 2012 HBA Leadership Conference.

HBA 2013 President
Terri Pascarelli

I want to let you know where we’re focusing, together, to make significant progress in 2013 toward our goal of becoming the most trusted and most engaging leadership development organization. And I want to share my thoughts with you about our opportunity to partner to make our 2013 goals a reality.

First, I am appreciative of so many people in this room, and in my life – each of whom is a part of me as I stand here today, ready to serve you as the 2013 president of the HBA.

My husband, Rich and my daughter, Liz, are the best partners I could ever ask for. I appreciate their never-ending support as I juggle family, work and my commitments with the HBA. People talk a lot about work-life balance. I’m not sure that balance happens very easily on an everyday basis. However, I’ve come to learn from my family that we can achieve balance and fulfillment overall because we’re fully present with each other whenever we’re together or committing to the needs of our family. Their support allows me to be fully present within the HBA and at work, and so I grow and learn, and come home, I hope, a better and stronger wife and mother within our family.

I also am so appreciative for my partnerships with a number of our HBA leaders, notably Barbara Pritchard, Ceci Zak, Susan Torroella, Deb Seltzer and Buket Grau. Counting them as friends, colleagues and mentors has done so much to prepare me for 2013.

I also thank our incredible HBA staff team, and the HBA board –my amazing colleagues. You are motivating, energizing and thought provoking. Thank you!

And my genuine “thank you” goes to the HBA women of Indiana. You are so special to me; I’m so proud of all you’ve accomplished, and I’m so proud to be a member of the HBA Indiana chapter.

There are many things we want to work on to move forward with our goals. To make significant progress in 2013, we’re prepared to make choices, to focus.

There are three key areas on our dashboard for 2013:

Refinement of our HBA brand and value: that is, understanding how to best position our brand to deliver value to our current members, partners and stakeholders. Also to deliver HBA’s value to those in new healthcare sectors, companies and geographies that we know are important to our future.

Career advancement: we will support women being the architects and navigators of their own careers- with clear, integrated education and programming strategies and HBA career tools that span all our chapters and reach our diverse members and partners.

Stakeholder engagement: we’re taking important steps forward in aligning our resources in our special HBA relationships with individual members, volunteers and Corporate Partners. Leading the Way in welcoming new members and partners to the HBA; and Member Care and Volunteer Care initiatives as we innovate high touch, experiential connections and offer a trusting environment for our members to become today’s and tomorrow’s healthcare leaders.

Making significant progress in these three areas will happen through ever-closer alignment between our corporate and chapter initiatives. Think about what allows teams to create momentum and make big progress. Our opportunity is lifted through clarity, unity and agility. These are the elements of strategic speed.

Being able to make clear choices, rally around focused goals and tap into the talents of so many of you here in this room, we’re about to take the HBA on another incredible journey. I hope you’ll join me, along with our chapter and corporate leaders in making 2013 a year of exciting growth for you and for the HBA.

And remember to mark your calendar for the 2013 HBA Leadership Conference being held in Boston.

Thank you.

Becoming a change leader (Yes, you!)

By Maya Townsend, Partnering Resources

Maya Townsend

These days, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a clinical trial manager, patient care associate, or nurse practitioner. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to lead change.

When faced with the need to lead change, people often figure that all it takes is to buckle down and work harder than usual. And that is the problem. Change leadership isn’t about working harder. It’s about working differently.

In the old world, when you weren’t leading change, you focused on individual successes. To ramp up performance, you learned more, became more specialized, perhaps cross-trained, sought out new opportunities, or asked for high-profile assignments. All of these actions involve improving you: your knowledge, your breadth of experience, your profile, or your internal brand.

Now, leading change, you’re no longer measured on what you know or what you can accomplish. You’re measured on how well you can get others to implement and adopt the change. This takes a different focus than individual performance.

What You Can Expect When Leading Change

You’ll spend more time than you ever anticipated talking with people. You’ll talk with people who like the change, people who oppose the change, people who are helping plan the change, end users of the change, and people who’ve never heard of your project. These conversations are necessary and important since they are the ones who need to influence in order to be successful.

You’ll spend even more time listening than you do talking.  You’ll need to keep your ears open to feedback: What’s working well? What’s getting in the way? What concerns do people have? What ideas do they have about how to address those concerns while still moving towards the goal?

Some people will think what you’re doing is a total waste of time. These people may have important insights into the potential consequences of the change. Listen in order to understand what’s at stake.

Is it a serious content or implementation issue that needs to be addressed? If so, it’s time to put on the problem solving hat—perhaps asking the very one who complained for their advice—and work through the issue.

Is it an expression of people’s fear that they’ll lose power, influence, or mastery as a result of the change? If so, you’ll also need to figure out how to make the benefits of the change attractive enough that people will risk the perceived losses.

A small number of people will be happy about what you’re doing. Keep these people close. You’ll need their enthusiasm, support, and advice as you proceed. You’ll particularly need them during bouts of “this will never work” or “I can’t wait for this project to be over” that you’ll inevitably experience. Let the cheerleaders boost your spirits during these times.

Now that you know what to expect, what can you do to increase your chances of success? Join me at Becoming a Change Leader (Yes You!) at the 2012 HBA Leadership Conference in order to learn the one method that, if implemented, makes a change initiative 10 times more likely to succeed.

Maya Townsend, Founder and Lead Consultant at Partnering Resources, helps organizations meet complex change and collaboration challenges. She publishes articles on change and collaboration in outlets such as Chief Learning Officer, CIO.Com, Boston.com, and Future of Work Enabled and serves on the Editorial Board for OD Practitioner. She edited chapters on change management and employee engagement for the forthcoming Handbook for Strategic HR.  Clients include Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, and the Holyoke Health Center. She can be reached at maya@partneringresources.com.