In a very insightful session, Rameswara Sharma Vedula, Associate VP, Escientia Advanced Sciences, spoke on ‘Leaders of tomorrow: Traits and tickets to play.’ Interspersed with amusing anecdotes and examples, it had several vital messages for the present and future leaders of the industry.
Highlighting how COVID-19 has gone from being a fresh emergency to a fact of life, he pointed out that this has called for a shift to sustainable and inclusive growth across sectors and organisations. And, this will necessitate new roles and responsibilities – leadership at each level.
He also emphasised that while skills, resources, background, experience are important, they are secondary to an attitude that understands and commits to progress. He urged the present and future leaders of the pharma industry to understand the shifts happening in the world and hone their people management skills.
He pointed out that the role of leaders are multi-faceted and includes instilling a mission-related sense of identity in their team members,managing work-group processes effectively, facilitating clear communication, motivating the team to achieve
goals, providing the tools to do the job, and establishing personal and professional credibility.
He also spoke on the risktaking abilities of leaders and advised that they should not shy away from taking calculated risks that are well thought out and where the benefits outweigh the negatives, as they are exactly the type of risks that will lead to success.
He also spoke on the importance of empathy and how it empowers leadership with better perception to improve decision making.
Speaking on the other traits of a good leader, he said that a good leader should forge positive relationships, create a learning culture, have integrity, develop second lines of command, encourage agendadriven meetings and discussions, ensure recognition and appreciation for team members and good work, understand and implement time management, adapt to change, be assertive and walk the talk.
He pointed out that the business landscape will face greater uncertainty in the post-COVID period and businesses industries should have the ability to shift to remote and new ways of working and be prepared to respond effectively, creatively and collaboratively to disruptions. This will be possible only if the workforce is empowered and leaders are created at every level.
- Advertisement -