In this episode of the Active Ingredients podcast, host Thomas Dove interviews Tom Merriam, Head of Corporate Strategy and Chief of Staff to the CEO at Organon.

Tom shares his remarkable journey from MedTech manufacturing to McKinsey consulting and into pharmaceutical executive leadership, driven by a personal mission to expand access to healthcare.

After experiencing serious health challenges in his teens,Tom developed a deep appreciation for quality healthcare and has dedicated his career to solving complex problems at scale across biotech and biopharma organizations.

Throughout the episode, Tom explores how C-suite leaders and senior executives can effectively harness their energy, build resilient teams during crises, and drive meaningful change in life sciences organisations.

Tom's insights on vision-driven leadership, thoughtful execution, and caring for stakeholders provide essential guidance for pharmaceutical and biotech executives navigating talent acquisition challenges and the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape.

Key Takeaways

• Learn how pharmaceutical and biotech executives can identify and channel their natural energy toward solving complex biopharma challenges that align with personal mission and organizational values.
• Discover how C-suite leaders can translate organizational vision into compelling narratives that motivate teams across medtech and pharmaceutical manufacturing environments.
• Understand how crisis management reveals executive character in life sciences organizations and the importance of establishing clear dual mandates in pharmaceutical leadership.
• Explore strategic career navigation for life sciences professionals by choosing opportunities based on potential impact rather than conventional wisdom.
• Apply the principle of progress over perfection to drive incremental improvements across pharmaceutical operations that C-suite executives can implement immediately.
• Gain insight into building competitive team dynamics within pharmaceutical manufacturing environments through KPI tracking and operational excellence.
• Take away leadership strategies for managing high-energy executive talent by creating environments where intensity becomes a strategic asset for life sciences organizations.

Timestamps & Topics

• 05:42 -- Three Key Leadership Ingredients for life sciences executives
• 13:18 -- Becton Dickinson medtech rotational program and manufacturing leadership
• 21:40 -- Building pharmaceutical team culture through competitive dynamics
• 32:18 -- Executive mentorship and growth in pharmaceutical operations
• 36:37 -- Crisis leadership in life sciences during pandemic response
• 56:10 -- Future of life sciences leadership: Innovation, M&A, and regulatory predictions

Snippets

• "The most difficult managerial challenge you will have in your entire life is that of managing yourself."
• "If you can't find a way for your people to care, you're going to have a really difficult time accomplishing whatever it is that you're after."
• "The energy is the capacity to do work right. That's the physics definition of energy."
• "We were losing money on every prescription, right, because of the cost of the airfreight. But we still kept the product flowing because that was the right thing to do."
• "Progress versus perfection. If you allow yourself to just focus on what perfect is, you oftentimes miss a lot of things."

Resources

• Follow Tom Merriam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasmmerriam/
• Follow Thomas Dove on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lifesciencesexecutivesearch/

Don’t Miss an Episode

Remember to tune into our next episode for more inspiring insights. You can also subscribe to the Active Ingredients podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other leading podcast platforms.

Feedback?

Have questions or feedback about the podcast or want to feature as a guest? Email us at activeingredients@fraserdove.com

In this episode of the Active Ingredients podcast, hostThomas Dove interviews Ian Wells, former CFO at Hoya Vision Care, whose leadership approach redefines what finance leadership can be.

Ian reveals himself as "a business-focused andpeople-focused person" rather than just a numbers specialist, sharing how this mindset helped him build teams with zero attrition over five years.

His journey from KPMG to the mining industry and finally to life sciences showcases how finding purpose in each role shaped his leadership style.

Ian's philosophy of "eliminating the pedestal" in hierarchical structures and his commitment to being "a good human being" have created remarkable business results. With insights on empowerment through his "RA" framework - resource, authority, responsibility, and accountability - Ian demonstrates how modern CFOs can drive transformation through human connection.

Key Takeaways

• Discover the three key ingredients for leadership success according to Ian Wells: purpose, passion and vision; empowering teams to succeed; and being a good human being who is approachable and open.
• Learn how empowering teams directly impact financial results through increased engagement, better performance, and remarkably lower attrition - Ian experienced zero direct report turnover in five years.
• Explore the concept of "eliminating the pedestal" in leadership by asking "stupid questions," giving credit to team members with frontline knowledge, and creating a more flat organisational structure.
• Take away a practical framework for resource management using Ian's "RA" approach - providing the right resources and authority that allow teams to execute their responsibilities and be accountable for results.
• Understand how purpose-driven leadership transcends industry boundaries. Ian shows how finding meaning in mining and life sciences helped him connect teams to larger societal impacts beyond profit.
• Uncover strategies for building high-performing finance teams by defining the right structure, bringing in the right people, setting up regular touchpoints, and defining multi-year development paths.
• Gain insight into Ian's "traffic light" leadership style, where leaders primarily direct, support, and remove barriers for their teams rather than do the tactical work themselves.
• Learn why healthy leadership practices focusing on physical and mental well-being create better leaders. Ian shares his journey toward health-conscious leadership without becoming preachy.

Snippets

• “Give a man a fish or teach them how to fish. I’d rather teach people how to fish.”

• I'm not a finance-focused person. I'm a business-focused person and a people-focused person."
• "Without a doubt, you cannot be a modern leader if you're not empowering teams because, without the team's success, you as a leader will not be successful."
• "Bad leadership is just a lesson to make every leader better. Good leaders drive engagement. They have passion. They drive psychological safety, which is one of my non-negotiables of a workplace."

Timestamps & Topics

• 00:15:13 - Three key ingredients of successful leadership
• 00:31:32 - Becoming CFO and COVID challenges
• 00:36:30 - Eliminating the pedestal in leadership
• 00:44:33 - Building teams with zero attrition
• 00:50:20 - Healthy leadership and wellbeing
• 01:00:59 - The future of leadership

Resources

• Follow Ian Wells on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianwells-globalcfo/
• Follow Thomas Dove on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lifesciencesexecutivesearch/

Don’t Miss an Episode

Remember to tune into our next episode for more inspiring insights. You can also subscribe to the Active Ingredients podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other leading podcast platforms.

Feedback?

Have questions or feedback about the podcast or want to feature as a guest? Email us at activeingredients@fraserdove.com

In this episode of the Active Ingredients podcast, host Thomas Dove interviews Kenneth Lee, EVP & COO at InSol.

Kenneth shares his unconventional career journey across Eastern and Western business cultures, from his beginnings as an introverted researcher to becoming a commercial leader who has scaled operations from the ground up.

The conversation explores Kenneth's formula for performance that balances precise metrics with genuine human connection, his experiences leading teams in different cultural contexts, and the power of taking calculated risks.

Kenneth's insights on building systems that allow teams to thrive with autonomy while maintaining accountability offer valuable lessons for leaders at any stage.

Key Takeaways

• Discover how genuine care transforms leadership effectiveness by dedicating meaningful time to team member. Kenneth follows a "70/30 rule" where 30% of his time is set aside for his team beyond task-focused interactions.

• Take away Kenneth's strategy for building credibility within your team by taking a challenging, high-impact project off their shoulders, demonstrating you're in the trenches with them.
• Understand how quantifiable, measurable metrics create freedom in remote and hybrid work environments, allowing team members to be rewarded for efficiency rather than hours worked.
• Explore the power of breaking down KPIs across the business cycle, measuring effort throughout the process rather than focusing solely on end financial results.

• Gain insight into the transformative impact of thinking in other people's shoes, a principle Kenneth applies to leadership, relationships, and business negotiations.

• Uncover how cultural transitions can catalyse personal growth. Kenneth shares his journey from being an introverted student in Korea to becoming an extroverted business leader after moving to the United States.

Snippets

• "Think in other people's shoes. If you do that, you will be successful as a leader, as a husband, as a friend, whether it be your career, your life, you will be liked and respected."
• "I had a personal motto at the time, challenge over stability, happiness over money. And that was when I was in my 20s, I set that motto and I completely followed that rule of my life."

• "It's not the work hour. It's about people's happiness, people's incentive, and a measurable and very well-defined KPI that drives people naturally."

Timestamps & Topics

• 00:00 - Introduction: Thomas introduces Kenneth Lee and his unique leadership journey
• 06:09 - Kenneth's three key ingredients of successful leadership
• 07:07 - Genuine care and the 70/30 rule for leadership attention
• 08:42 - Smart but "lazy" leadership: creating systems that run themselves
• 09:42 - Taking on tough projects to demonstrate capability and build trust
• 12:00 - Early life and transformation from introvert to extrovert
• 14:25 - Career transition: from researcher to business development leader
• 17:28 - Choosing passion over finances: cutting salary in half for opportunity
• 19:23 - First leadership role and early misconceptions about leadership
• 21:51 - The most important leadership principle: thinking in others' shoes
• 24:02 - Moving back to the US to lead commercial operations
• 28:15 - Contrast between Korean and US work cultures
• 34:04 - Kenneth's commercial leadership formula and comprehensive KPI approach
• 36:32 - Creating structure that provides freedom: Kenneth's meeting framework
• 44:04 - Reflections on risk-taking and career development

Resources

• Follow Kenneth Lee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scholarken/
• Follow Thomas Dove on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lifesciencesexecutivesearch/

Don’t Miss an Episode Remember to tune into our next episode for more inspiring insights. You can also subscribe to the Active Ingredients podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other leading podcast platforms.

Feedback?Have questions or feedback about the podcast or want to feature as a guest? Email us at activeingredients@fraserdove.com

In this episode of the Active Ingredients podcast, host Thomas Dove interviews Alexandre Montague, a purpose-driven CEO in the vision care space whose leadership philosophy centres on integrity, transparency, and empathy.

Alexandre's journey takes us from launching businesses in Japan with just "a desk and a phone" to leading global organisations with over 20,000 employees. His career path began with a teacher's comment about Japan that sparked a lifelong passion and shaped his entire trajectory.

With a mission focused on helping people see better and preventing childhood myopia, Alexandre shows how purpose drives business growth. He shares insights about building teams by empowering experts and then "being as lazy as possible" – stepping back to let them excel in ways he couldn't himself.

This episode reveals how serendipity and the courage to take chances have built Alexandre's career across continents. From eye care camps in Africa to strategies for the global myopia epidemic, his story demonstrates leadership that combines commercial success with meaningful social impact.

Key Takeaways

• Embrace Alexandre's three leadership essentials: integrity to build trust, transparency to create clarity, and empathy to connect with and support your team's needs.
• Discover how chance moments can reshape your path, as a single comment about Japan in school sparked a passion that defined Alexandre's entire career trajectory.
• Shift from "taking risks" to "taking chances" — a mindset focused on opportunities rather than downsides when making bold career moves.
• Use purpose as a business accelerator that drives team engagement while creating market differentiation and opportunities for growth.
• Practice "lazy leadership" by hiring experts, providing clear direction, then stepping back to let them excel in ways you never could yourself.
• Welcome "stupid questions" that challenge assumptions and reveal the blind spots that inevitably come with industry experience.
• Create boundaries between work and life, following Alexandre's example of strict disconnection from Friday evening to Monday morning.

Snippets

• "I like to use the word risk. I like to use taking chances. Chances come, they come with risks. But it's about taking chances. And no one is looking actively for risk. But people are looking for opportunities."
• "I think it's leaders who believed in me that drove my career. It's all about people."
• "The only thing that I know is that I don't know anything. And I think that's a very powerful statement. And I think we should all try to keep at the back of our mind."
• "When you have a mentor leader who is supportive, who helps you and says, go for it. We'll support you. Whatever happens."

Timestamps & Topics

• 00:17:50 - Intro: Overview of Alexandre Montague and his leadership philosophy
• 00:19:49 - The Three Key Ingredients: Integrity, transparency, and empathy
• 00:21:57 - Early Life: Education and the teacher who sparked interest in Japan
• 00:30:47 - First Steps into Life Sciences: A serendipitous career beginning
• 00:40:50 - Leadership Development: Influential mentors and taking chances
• 00:54:54 - Purpose-Driven Leadership: Using vision care to impact communities
• 01:00:26 - The "Lazy" Leadership Style: Empowering experts and stepping back
• 01:10:39 - Future of Leadership: The importance of empathy and transparency
• 01:18:49 - Work-Life Balance: The importance of disconnecting and "wine time"

Resources

• The Blue Line Imperative by Kevin Kaiser - Book mentioned by Alexandre about building trust in organisations
• Follow Alexandre Montague on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/medtechchiefexecutiveofficer/
• Follow Thomas Dove on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lifesciencesexecutivesearch/

Loved this episode?

Subscribe to the channel for more inspiring leadership stories.

Feedback?

Have questions or feedback about the podcast or want to feature as a guest? Email us at activeingredients@fraserdove.com

In this episode of the Active Ingredients podcast, host Thomas Dove interviews Deanna Angello, a veteran commercial leader in the life sciences industry with over two decades of experience.

With a career spanning major pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Genentech, Janssen, and Kite Pharma, Deanna has successfully launched seven blockbuster drugs, generating over $7 billion in revenue. Now mentoring seed to Series A CEOs, she helps early-stage companies scale with strategic clarity and a patient-first mindset.

Deanna shares her remarkable leadership journey from her psychology background and consulting foundations to taking on commercial leadership roles nobody else wanted. Her career has been defined by authenticity, adaptability, and resilience in the face of ambiguity.

Key Takeaways

• Discover how authenticity creates trust in leadership, allowing teams to connect with you as a real person rather than just a title—Deanna's refreshing approach makes others feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work.
• Learn to embrace ambiguity as a career accelerator - Deanna explains how taking on complex, uncertain situations that others avoided became opportunities that advanced her leadership journey.
• Understand the power of cross-functional leadership in life sciences, bringing diverse expertise together with a genuine appreciation for each specialist's contribution toward patient-focused goals.
• Explore the path from large pharma to advisory roles by recognising your transferable skills, building new networks, and finding the courage to follow your unique path.
• Gain insight into "market development" for successful drug launches, particularly when changing standards of care—waiting until approval often limits patient access to breakthrough treatments.
• Take away practical wisdom on career transitions by trusting your gut, aligning with your values, and surrounding yourself with inspiring people who challenge your growth.
• Uncover strategies for developing blockbuster drugs by putting patients at the centre of decision-making and understanding their journey rather than relying on outdated playbooks.

Snippets

• "Being yourself, bringing your whole self to work and what you do in a career, and most importantly as a leader, helps people feel comfortable."
• "I consider this a gift; what do we get to do? But I always say to put the patient at the centre of our decision-making."
• "It's about having the courage to strike out and follow your path. We're not all the same."
• "Always bet on yourself. So believe in yourself and bet on yourself, and you'll never go wrong."

Timestamps & Topics

• 00:12:00 - Thomas introduces DeannaAngello
• 00:14:37 - The three key ingredients ofsuccessful leadership
• 00:17:30 - Deanna's early career andeducational background
• 00:21:04 - How consulting experienceprovided foundational skills
• 00:25:18 - First steps into the lifesciences industry
• 00:27:02 - When Deanna first felt like aleader
• 00:36:56 - Pivotal career move from Pfizerto Genentech
• 00:39:54 - Taking on leadership roles thatno one else wanted
• 00:45:41 - Lessons learned from poorleadership experiences
• 00:50:36 - Insights from launchingblockbuster drugs
• 00:56:18 - The "Dolomitesmoment" - finding clarity and changing direction
• 01:01:31 - Transitioning from corporatelife to advisory roles
• 01:09:58 - The future of leadership inlife sciences
• 01:12:15 - Advice to Deanna's younger self

Resources

• Follow Deanna Angello on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannaangello/

• Follow Thomas Dove on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lifesciencesexecutivesearch/

Loved this episode?

Subscribe to the channel for more inspiring leadership stories.

Feedback?

Have questions or feedback about the podcast or want to feature as a guest? Email us at activeingredients@fraserdove.com

In this episode of the Active Ingredients podcast, host Thomas Dove interviews Laurent Abuaf, a seasoned commercial leader with a diverse international career spanning industries, continents, and leadership levels.

Laurent shares his fascinating journey from his early days in the automotive industry and consulting at BCG to senior leadership roles at AstraZeneca, where he spent over 15 years, and subsequently into the biotech world with Amarin.

As a self-described "dreamer" who evolved into a strategic commercial leader, Laurent's story reflects the power of taking calculated risks and embracing new opportunities.

With over 15 years as an expat across six countries including Belgium, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, the UK, and now Switzerland, Laurent offers valuable insights on adapting leadership styles across different cultures, building high-performing teams in diverse environments, and successfully transitioning between large pharmaceutical organisations and smaller biotech companies.

Key Takeaways

• Discover the power of Laurent's "no regret philosophy" for making critical career decisions that align with personal values and build confidence.
• Learn how to transition from large pharma to SME by adopting an entrepreneurial mindset where impact outweighs function and roles extend beyond job descriptions.
• Uncover strategies for building a cross-cultural career through adaptability, local respect, and balancing global standards with cultural sensitivity.
• Explore how board experience enhances understanding of company dynamics at all levels, creating complementary insights between executive and non-executive roles.
• Take away insights on work-life harmony while pursuing an international career, including supporting your partner's growth and building strong foundations at home.
• Gain perspective on leading through challenges and recognising when some situations require the wisdom to step away.
• Learn why Laurent believes "people do what they do because they're smart" as a key leadership principle for building empathy and understanding motives.

Snippets:

• "I have a sort of philosophy that I discovered a bit late in my career, which is the no regret philosophy. Making sure that whatever you do, whatever you decide in each of these critical points in your career, ask yourself the question: am I okay with this?"
• "Fear is never a good advisor. It's good to keep you on your toes, though."
• "For the new generation, the sense of purpose is very important, and the sense of purpose is going far beyond making money for the shareholder. It's really making that difference. And being true to it."

Timestamps & Topics

• 00:08:21 - Thomas introduces Laurent Abuaf
• 00:11:45 - The key ingredients of successful leadership
• 00:15:15 - Laurent's early career and educational background
• 00:27:01 - Transition from BCG consulting to the pharmaceutical industry
• 00:43:18 - Laurent's international career across multiple continents
• 00:52:36 - Building a strong foundation at home while pursuing a global career
• 00:57:19 - Leadership challenges throughout his career
• 01:03:25 - Transitioning from large pharma to smaller organisations
• 01:09:55 - Experiences with board and non-executive director roles
• 01:18:39 - The future of leadership and adapting to new generations
• 01:21:25 - Advice to his younger self
• 01:24:18 - The "Why Worry" decision-making framework
• 01:26:37 - Quickfire questions

Resources:

• Follow Laurent Abuaf on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurentabuaf/
• Follow Thomas Dove on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lifesciencesexecutivesearch/

Loved this episode?

Subscribe to the channel for more inspiring leadership stories.

Feedback?

Have questions or feedback about the podcast or want to feature as a guest? Email us at activeingredients@fraserdove.com