HBA Leadership Conference
Master The New Standard
4th Annual HBA Leadership Conference Attracts More Than 300 Attendees to Boston The 4th Annual Healthcare Businesswomen’s association’s Leadership conference, held in Boston last November, was a two-day event packed with interactive sessions, distinguished speakers, and networking opportunties. Centered around the theme Master the New Standard of Leadership, attendees had the opportunity to define their own sense of style of leadership, hone and sharpen their leadership skills, and accelerate their path to greater leadership. A Packed Agenda Following a welcome reception on Wednesday night, the conference started with a lively presentation from Keith Ferrazzi, CEO of Ferrazzi Greenlight, and author of the best-selling book “Never Eat Alone.” Mr. Ferrazzi tackled the topic of defining the behaviors of leadership and highlighted five secrets to success: business relationships are personal relationships, don’t keep score, build it before you needit, be interesting, and never eat alone. The afternoon plenary session was equally as interesting. Karenna Gore Schiff, daughter of former Vice President Al Gore, delivered an inspirational address detailing accounts of several women — featured in her book “Lighting the Way: Nine Women Who Changed Modern America — who blazed a trail and who made major contributions to social change in the United States in the last century. These women put themselves on the line to combat racism, cruelty to children, pollution, disease, bigotry, poverty, and challenged the limits put on women as public leaders. Day two’s plenary sessions continuted to build on the theme of establishing a new standard of leadership. Ellyn Spragins hosted the morning plenary session based on her book “What I Know Now: Letters to My Younger Self.” In addition to providing several excerpts of letters written by a diverse group of well-known and powerful women, she moderated a panel discussion featuring three leaders, powerful in their own rights, within the healthcare industry: Lesa Lardieri, VP of customer medical affairs, Pfizer; Meryl Zausner, VP and chief financial officer, Novartis Oncology; and Deborah Dunsire, M.D., president and CEO of Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. These extraordinary leaders shared with the audience very personal insights and read their own letters to their younger selves. The last plenary session of the two-day conference ended as it began: on a high note. Judith Glaser, author of The DNA of Leadership and CEO and President of Benchmark Communications, captivated the audience with an interactive and provocative look at how to communicate, differentiate, and innovate for success. Between plenary sessions and networking opportunities, such as the Boston Tea Party, and time to visit with exhibitors, the confererence agenda was punctuated with interactive workshops. These sessions provided attendees with the opportunity to exchange experiences on a peer-to-peer level and learn best practices from some of the industry’s top thought leaders. Among the many sessions were: • Leveraging Your Strengths for World Class Performance • Balancing Politics, Business, and Science — Your Career in Biotech • Branding Yourself: Mastering the Style of Success • No Sweat Speaking: Going from Good to Great • Coaching the Change Leadership Agenda • Frontline Perspectives on Leadership • The Emotionally Intelligent Leader • Women in Science Leading Healthcare Innovation • Work is a Giant Sponge • Working Globally • Leadership that Looks Like America • Mastering the Internal Sell • Blazing a New Trail in Your Career • Why is This Happening Again? Recognizing and Overcoming Self-Sabotage Getting REAL The annual leadership conference is one of the key ways that the HBA delivers on its mission to further the advancement of women in healthcare and provide “REAL” (recognition, expertise, access, and leadership) benefits to the industry, according to Debra Newton, 2006 HBA president and president of Newton Grey. Ms. Newton ended her term having achieved significant milestones for the organization: more than 3,000 members — an all-time high — and 12 chapters and affiliates in the United States and Europe. Cathy Kerzner, president and chief operating officer of EKR Theraputics, takes the helm of the HBA in 2007. Ms. Kerzner looks forward to continuing to drive the HBA’s mission, work on new strategic platforms, and continue the organization’s commitment to its members. January 2007 PharmaVOICE PharmaVOICE welcomes comments about this article. E-mail us at [email protected]. 4th Annual HBA Leadership Conference More than 300 industry leaders representing the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association’s 12 chapters and affiliates met in Boston for an inspirational two-day conference, featuring a distinguished lineup of speakers and sessions. 1. The exhibit area at the 4th Annual Leadership conference was an ideal place to network as well as interact with sponsors. 2. The Boston Tea Party proved to be an enjoyable, and themed, interlude during which attendees had a chance to interact. 3. Sharon Callahan and Nancy Larsen stop to catch up during the event. 4. Nancy Wysenski, Cathy Kerzner, and Deena Wegner take a moment during the dinner program for pictures. 5. Barbara Pritchard, a Past HBA President, takes the opportunity to address the panel during a plenary session Q&A. 6. Members of the 2007 HBA Board gather for the photographer. 7. One of the many interactive and focused sessions hold attendees attention. 8. 2006 PharmaVOICE 100 HBA members CeCi Zak, Nancy Wysenski, Kathleen Case, and Rita Sweeney join Taren Grom in the exhibit hall. 10. Eve Dryer, Karenna Gore Schiff, and Debra Newton pose for the photographer after Ms. Gore Schiff’s session. Among the dozens of volunteers who helped to organize the 2007 Leadership Conference were the event’s core planning team: Eve Dryer of Vox Medica, Deborah Coogan Seltzer of Boyden Global Executive Search, Mary-Margaret Armstrong of Quintiles Medical Communications, Jeanne Zucker of InfoMedics, and Susan Torroella of Columbia MedCom Group.
