The 7 Most Important Characteristics of Leaders and Using the Situational Leadership Approach with Tony Ambrozie

Developing medicine is a complicated process and as technology continues to evolve, so do the development processes. As such, we're going to continue to see a rise in the intersection of technology, biomanufacturing, and healthcare. On this episode, we sit down with Michelangelo Canzoneri, Ph.D., to discuss some of these trends, how he's leading an operation model transformation at Merck KGaA to develop preventative, precision and personalized medicine, and the 10 Key Digital Pillars that they're using to create this framework.

As mentioned, Michelangelo is speaking at this year's Virtual Biomanufacturing Summit on April 27-29. His topic is focused on "Biomanufacturing 4.0 - How to Get There". You can register here. 

Other topics include:

• Michelangelo's favorite books: Start With Why by Simon Sinek, Dead Poets Society by Nancy Kleinbaum, A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, and Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman 
• The personal reason for why Michelangelo got started in the technology and biomanufacturing space 
• The most important qualities of leaders 
• Why he believes curiosity is one of the biggest skills and perspectives to have in life 
• How technology is driving data quality, connection, integration and more at Merck KGaA 
• What it means to build a digital continuum 
• The benefits of data modeling and digital twins 
• Why it's important to demystify digital and how to do it in tangible ways
• What to be excited for in the future of healthcare and technology 
• The importance of education and being a passionate leader throughout your career 

About Michelangelo: Michelangelo Canzoneri is a proven digital leader who is passionate about improving and enhancing the patient experience across the digital continuum. He has expertise in optimizing and transforming the operating model of healthcare and pharmaceutical businesses, while conceptualizing and creating new business models. He leads the digital transformation at the Healthcare business of Merck and is based in Germany. An expert in bioprocess engineering and bioprocess optimization, Michelangelo has fundamental experience with developing and industrializing scalable manufacturing processes from pre-clinic to clinical trials Phase III, including good manufacturing practices. He has created and implemented the vision for a Factory 4.0 and the Lab of the Future, including smart processes for manufacturing and formulation protocols, a platform for end to end innovation across technology domains, and seamlessly integrated digital analytics and intelligence operations. Michelangelo has successfully broken-down silos within R&D and manufacturing, saving billions of euros through new technologies, and efficiency improvements. As a leader in knowledge management, Michelangelo is paving the way toward preventive, precision and personalized medicine through the integration of science and technology with digitization. Michelangelo obtained his PhD in Bioprocess Engineering at the University of Bielefeld, Germany and before joining Merck, he held positions at Kourion Therapeutics AG in quality control and Sanofi, where he worked transversally in R&D, Industrial Affairs, Technology and Innovation, and Digital Transformation. Michelangelo is a strong supporter of education and training students, and bridging academics and industry. He is a Professor at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany and a Guest Lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. Michelangelo holds several patents, including a micro bioreactor developed together with MIT. Michelangelo is fluent in German, Italian and English. 

You can view our first events of 2021 here: 

• The Virtual American Biomanufacturing Summit on April 27-29, 2021
• The Virtual American Supply Chain Summit on May 11-13, 2021
• The Virtual American CIO & IT Summit on May 25-27, 2021

To find out more about our summits and Generis Group, you can head to generisgp.com/events.

The brewery and beverage industries have been undergoing reinvention as consumer demands and sustainability practices have changed over the last several years. That makes for a lot of challenges but also a ton of excitement and opportunity. On this episode, we sit down with Chantalle Butler, Chief Financial Officer of Molson Coors Canada and discuss her rise through the ranks of CPG and finance, leading teams, and imposter syndrome.

Other topics include: 

• How routine helps her both in her professional and personal life 
• Why Jim Collins' "Good to Great" is her favourite book on leadership 
• What excites her the most about the CPG and brewery industry right now 
• How having cross-functional experience in retail and auditing has helped her in her career 
• What leaders can do to actively guide through reinvention
• What it means to be the first woman to be Chair of The Beer Store
• How she managed her imposter syndrome in both her personal and work life
• Why she didn't view being a woman as a barrier in her career
• The most important leadership quality that has served her in her career 

About Chantalle: With more than 20 years in the Consumer Packaged Goods and food production industry as a finance executive, Chantalle forged her way up through mostly male-dominant businesses, never hindered nor limited by notions of positions a female typically occupies. With her newly added scope as Chair of the TBS Board of Directors, she and her 15-member Board are entrusted to understand and act upon consumer demand from product innovation through to shopper experience. Her commitment to reinforcing environmental stewardship and social responsibility coupled with her financial vision will also drive renewed priorities for the retailer. 

You can view our first events of 2021 here: 

• The Virtual American Biomanufacturing Summit on April 27-29, 2021
• The Virtual American Supply Chain Summit on May 11-13, 2021
• The Virtual American CIO & IT Summit on May 25-27, 2021

To find out more about our summits and Generis Group, you can head to generisgp.com/events.

From government policies to consumer demands to emphasizing the UN Sustainable Development Goals, building sustainability practices into your business is in high demand. With an emphasis on the concept of people, planet and profit and the inevitable timing of climate change, sustainability is a hot topic with many organizations investing more heavily in this department. 

On this episode, we sat down with Mary Draves, Chief Sustainability Officer and VP of Environmental Health and Safety at Dow to talk about the work that Dow has been doing in sustainability and the importance of collaboration in turning your goals into action.

In this episode, topics include: 

• How Mary's love for sustainability started on her family's dairy farm 
• Dow's long history of sustainability, reducing waste, reducing energy and promoting circularity 
• Making sustainability a part of your business practices 
• Infusing a culture of sustainability throughout the organization with a top-down approach 
• Setting your targets and working to meet them through collaboration 
• Making the right financial and collaboration decisions for tangible action
• Creating shared values with your collaborators and knowing when to partner with other organizations
• How future generations will continue to push sustainability and hold companies accountable

You can find out more about Dow's Sustainability Goal's in their 2019 Report.

You can view our first events of 2021 here: 

• The Virtual American Biomanufacturing Summit on April 27-29, 2021 
• The Virtual American Supply Chain Summit on May 11-13, 2021 
• The Virtual American CIO & IT Summit on May 25-27, 2021 

To find out more about our summits and Generis Group, you can head to generisgp.com/events.

Engaging with employees throughout COVID, leading culture in a virtual world and adapting to the change were challenges for every executive. As such, change management was a term that every leader needed to understand and implement in their own business. On this episode, we sat down with William O'Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of Seabrook Technology Group, to discuss how manufacturers and those in the medical device space specifically had to adapt their operations and processes during the last 12 months.

About Seabrook Technology Group: Seabrook is developing revolutionary technology that enables operational excellence for Medical Device Manufacturers through the process of Connected Manufacturing. Connected Manufacturing aims to bring a fully integrated approach to medical technologies and manufacturing operations. These processes are based on industry best practices to power industry leading operations. You can find out more about Seabrook Technology Group on their website here.

In this episode, topics include: 

1. How global manufacturers were affected by the crisis
2. The important of continuing to foster a global culture in the virtual world through increased visibility 
3. Allowing employees to set boundaries in the work-from-home environment 
4. Connected manufacturing and how it will continue to drive innovation and agility in the manufacturing industry
5. Communicating change and managing team with clients and employees 

We were delighted to have Seabrook Technology speak at the American Medical Device Summit in 2020 on "Enabling Operational Excellence Through Connected Manufacturing for MedTech 4.0". You can view our first events of 2021 here:

• The Virtual American Biomanufacturing Summit on April 27-29, 2021
• The Virtual American Supply Chain Summit on May 11-13, 2021
• The Virtual American CIO & IT Summit on May 25-27, 2021

To find out more about our summits and Generis Group, you can head to generisgp.com/events.

Responding and adapting to the COVID pandemic was not an easy task, especially for companies like Johnson & Johnson who's work and clients were directly affected. That's why we sat down with Jijo James, Chief Medical Officer of Medical Devices to discuss everyday leadership qualities and how they enhanced their patient centricity strategy with their HealtheVoices and My Health Can't Wait campaigns over the course of the pandemic. These campaigns were used to create advocacy for patients and to inspire people to prioritize health and reach out to healthcare professionals about deferred care. 

In this episode, we talk about those two campaigns as well as many other topics including:

1. The importance of routine and gratitude 
2. One of Jijo's favorite books: The Last Lecture  
3. Rapid development of new projects and innovation 
4. Engaging with patients pre-pandemic vs post 
5. How contingency planning and ethical approaches have been adapted

We were delighted to have Jijo speak at the American Medical Device Summit in 2020. You can view our first events of 2021 here:

• The Virtual American Biomanufacturing Summit on April 27-29, 2021 
• The Virtual American Supply Chain Summit on May 11-13, 2021 
• The Virtual American CIO & IT Summit on May 25-27, 2021 

To find out more about our summits and Generis Group, you can head to generisgp.com/events.

The last year has posed a plethora of challenges for leadership teams and their organizations. With the impact of COVID-19 and the already well underway technology revolution, the automotive industry has been at the forefront of these challenges. On this episode, we sat down with Johan de Nysschen, Chief Operating Officer of Volkswagen Group of America to discuss how they've addressed and overcome these challenges.

In this episode, we dive deep into questions of how he and Volkswagen and the automotive industry have responded to the rapid change. Topics include: 

1. The biggest challenges Johan has had in his role the last several months 
2. Leadership traits and qualities have supported him the most during this time 
3. What opportunities these challenges will provide in the future 
4. How technological disruption will become more prevalent in the next 10 years 
5. What legacy brands have to do to compete with emerging companies like Tesla, Rivian and others 
6. And how consumer trends will impact the automotive industry as they continue to address the needs of transportation and mobility 

We were delighted to have Johan speak at the American Automotive Summit in 2020. You can view our first events of 2021 here:

1.  The Virtual American Biomanufacturing Summit on April 27-29, 2021
2. The Virtual American Supply Chain Summit on May 11-13, 2021 
3. The Virtual American CIO & IT Summit on May 25-27, 2021 

To find out more about our summits and Generis Group, you can head to generisgp.com/events.

Lastly, make sure to follow us on LinkedIn for all news and updates.

On this episode of Executive Corner, we sit down with Tony Ambrozie, Senior Vice President of Digital and Technology at Disney Parks to discuss the role of a leader and how it changes according to the context and humans that you lead. As mentioned on the podcast, Tony is a proponent of "situational leadership" - the belief that as a leader, you are always having to adapt and contextualize according to the situation that you're facing and that there is no single "best" style of leadership. 

However, some of the important characteristics and roles of leaders don't change. Characteristics like integrity, commitment, passion, authenticity and others. Or the roles of building a culture and direction as change and transformation are constant. As we all know, these characteristics and roles aren't always the easiest to embody and lead. As Tony describes, leadership positions are some of the hardest roles to have. 

In this episode, we dove deeper in the question of what it really means to be a situational leader and some of the components of this leadership style including: 

• Adapting to the demands and complexity of humans
• Utilizing your Emotional intelligence at all stages
• How to grow and learn from mistakes
• Leading through crisis and a pandemic
• Blending different leadership characteristics according to the needs of the environment

We are delighted to also have Tony sharing his thoughts on technology and innovation at the virtual American CIO & IT Summit on October 26-28, 2020. To find out more about this summit, you can visit our website and see the amazing list of speakers, delegates and sponsors we have attending this year's summit.

Risk mitigation is a major problem executives and leaders face in their careers. On this episode of Executive Corner, we will be taking a closer look at what factors are important for risk mitigation and leadership with Andy Skibo, Chief Manufacturing Officer at FluGen and Rob Wright, Chief Editor of Life Science Leader magazine. 

Drawing from his real life experiences sailing the east coast and his career, Andy shares insights on how to draw from real life situations to navigate the uncertainties of our times.

Some of the questions we discuss are: How can you prepare for unknown risks? How can you balance innovation with taking known risks? Why is it important to think about the big picture and long-term? How can you continuously learn from your everyday life experiences to overcome business challenges? How can you communicate clearly and effectively with your management team and why is it important? And what impact can networking with people beyond your role, company and industry have on your leadership career?

For Andy and Rob, the solution comes comes down to four key things: 

1. Long-term thinking
2. Communication
3. Networking
4. Being proactive in your risk mitigation strategy

You must excel at these key skills to become a great leader and understand long-term opportunities and risks in your field.

Other topics in this discussion include: 

• How risk and innovation go hand in hand
• How COVID will affect the biomanufacturing industry, clinical trials and the development of other vaccines
• What the social and political challenges are of vaccine development
• What life looks like in retirement

Andy and Rob both spoke at the American Biomanufacturing Summit that took place in July of 2020. To find out more about this summit, you can visit our website and listen back to this year's sessions and conversations.

How do you communicate your strategy clearly and with authenticity when leading through the unknown? How can you ensure the safety of your associates when there are daily updates and changes that affect each team differently? And what will productivity look like as we continue into the future? These are difficult questions that many leaders are facing across the world today.

On this episode of Executive Corner, we sit down with Mike Davidson, EVP and Chief Operating Officer of JTEKT NA to discuss:

• Creating intentional communication strategies
• Focusing on transparency and authenticity in leadership communication
• Using commonality to power through during difficult times
• Encouraging personal growth and connection within employees
• How productivity and communication will change as the COVID pandemic continues

With daily updates in every state, work from home challenges, and their associates having to adapt to homeschooling, it is more important than ever to know that your leadership is on your side. Everyone is walking through this situation together, and Mike and the JTEKT team have used that to their strength.

Mike will be following up our conversation by speaking at the virtual American Automotive Summit in September.

COVID-19 is unlike anything we've experienced before and has affected the sports industry to a massive degree. This includes the NCAA March Madness Tournament. However, in times of change and disruption, major innovations are often brought forward.

It's easy to assume that with the distractions of being home and out of the office, productivity decreases. But for Judd Williams and the NCAA, they've actually found the opposite. Productivity has gone up! Their cloud strategy has been able to set them up for success. But it's also been a time of increased innovation.

In the premiere episode of Executive Corner, host and American CIO and IT Summit Conference Producer, Luke West, sits down with Judd Williams, CIO of the NCAA. We discuss:

• Breaking down the barriers that IT teams often face
• Building credibility with staff during COVID-19
• Using this time to innovate new solutions
• Communicating business cases to leadership to grow the business

Find out more about the American CIO & IT Summit.

Thanks for listening!