The Hardest Job In All BioPharma: The CTO
By Louis Garguilo, Chief Editor, Outsourced Pharma
We’ve arrived at the final in our series on the challenges and opportunities for Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) in biopharma organizations.
In part one, we investigated how the role has been amplified and pressurized within today’s dominate drug development and manufacturing outsourcing model.
In part two, we covered when and how to hire these professionals, and what CDMOs might do to help their customers’ CTOs succeed.
Now we turn to the inner workings of CTOs themselves: What do they feel they need to grow into their expanded leadership roles?
“I meet quarterly with a group of CTOs. The concept of connectivity, the importance of empathy, and the general principle of ‘being human’ is what I hear CTOs want most.
“What rises quickly to the top of the agenda is: ‘How do we connect as human beings, as innovative, committed and driven leaders, with our growing list of stakeholders – including Board members – that we now serve?”
The CTO’s technical expertise isn’t enough for success in today’s complex environment of fast-moving science, aggressive investment cycles, and high expectations of success.
Accordingly, CTOs are asking for the space and time to connect with others – opportunities to demonstrate their “compassion for the intensity, and emotion of the environment their teams and partners are working in.”
CTOs also want to connect as colleagues, and build relationships as thought-partners with peers in the industry.
When COVID added distance between colleagues and partners, CTOs were already starting to realize they needed closer encounters. COVID ended up a catalyst for a slowly developing trend.
Me First
Recognizing what is needed relationally may be half the battle, but winning the battle depends on the individual.
In his leadership advisory role, Gallagher helps CTOs learn to “create the space to think about themselves as evolving leaders.”
Like other professionals (see below), CTOs become better leaders when they can focus on their own mental health. This often means showing vulnerability, and acknowledging they’re not super men and women.
It means letting their CEO, peers, and partners know it's a stressful time, given the pace of science, and their broad scopes of responsibility.
While acknowledging their primary focus is technical, there's also “a deeply human element to the leadership they need to nourish.”
When Gallagher conducts roundtables with these executives, they aren’t focused on the science or technical aspects of their jobs, but more on these questions:
- How are we engaging, nurturing, and helping our people?
- How are we growing ourselves as leaders?
- How are we better connecting with our external partners?
“Our identities,” say CTOs collectively, “are changing from wide-berth technical experts to fuller executive-level leaders.’’
In smaller biotechs the change is quicker, more pronounced. CTOs in a start-up, for example, see the science “actively play out.”
Success quickly brings on development projects, the need for small-scale manufacturing, and before they know it, the demand for clinical materials.
In this scenario, CTOs have usually joined a company with a handful of employees and external relationships, but suddenly find themselves leading CMC teams that’re the largest department in the company – and the biggest chunk of the budget.
Furthermore, everyone from the Board to the constituent parts throughout the organization look for insights and status updates on a regular basis.
“CTOs need to navigate through all this,” says Gallagher. ‘Who am I as a leader in this situation? How do I hire, and perhaps manage a larger team than I’ve ever had? How do I maintain my own mental health, and reenergize myself amongst all these pressures?”
Good questions.
And a good place to insert that this discussion is not restricted to CTOs.
“We conducted a study involving nearly 1,000 CEOs worldwide. What we heard from the CEOs is consistent with what the CTOs are saying – in short, the complexity and rapid change of our world requires us to evolve both our organizations and ourselves as leaders. It’s a dual journey,” says Gallagher.
Little of this is specific to CEOs and CTOs.
All Outsourced Pharma readers can apply the following best practices to some degree, no matter your position.
1. Become Self-Aware
“Our work with thousands of leaders globally shows the most successful executives have excelled at mastering the capacity to be self-aware, relational and adaptive,’’ says Gallagher.
According to results from the survey, nearly 80% of the CEOs said it’s critical to reflect on their own leadership style and impact. They need to be more deliberate in seeking more frequent, honest feedback, especially to uncover their blind spots.”
“Ask colleagues [and external partners] for feedback to ensure you understand how you are being heard and perceived.” Its not about the message, but the messenger.
This starts with actually carving out time for better self-awareness, self-study and frequent feedback to really drive this dimension of leadership.
Perhaps most difficult will be slowing down counterparts at a CDMO for such an exercise. But it’s worth the effort: Consider this in and of itself as an opportunity to further your relationship.
2. Become Relational
Gallagher hears from CEOs about communicating in a “relational” manner, meaning “a more generous give-and-take dialogue, and not simply focusing on fixing what needs to be fixed.”
“CTOs are people who like to solve problems,” explains Gallagher. The point is how to think about the relationship first, and appreciate that people are going to have different understandings of a shared situation. This, too, requires a very deliberate step to acknowledge as you grow.
“Deepening connections as a leader – especially in the uncertain space like CMC, where timelines and plans can shift on a dime – starts with building mutual respect and trust. It includes listening to broader set of stakeholders to understand their concerns and priorities, while also communicating with curiosity and empathy,’’ Gallagher shares.
CTOs can be self-driven to keep things moving forward, and find a fix for the latest wrinkle in the plan. They would do well to bring others in:
Share the latest challenge with the Chief Scientific Officer to get her take on something.
Explain the scale-up dilemma to the Chief Commercial Officer, so he understands what you’re wrestling with.
3. Become Adaptive
“The plan may be set, but the environment has already changed,” is how Gallagher puts another challenge.
Successful leaders have an appetite for constant learning and growth. They are comfortable evolving and adapting, and enjoy thinking about what tomorrow’s challenges and opportunities might look like.
There’s no better example of being adaptive than the pace of change we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic; how quickly organizations “pivoted their way of working to respond to the new challenges.”
Competitors became collaborators; external partners more integral to internal operations.
Much of this success was driven by adaptive leaders who proactively responded to the new environment, and created the space within their teams for change.