Alan Liss：Build Team That Win|写意人物
文|Alan Liss
Typically, when asked for mybiography, as I was for this conference, I supply something like this:
But the special nature of thisorganization and its members encourages me to think more about who I am andwhat I want to tell others about me.Two major things have dominated and shapedmy life-view. The importance of familyand the competitive yet team oriented nature of sports.
Ihave always loved team sports and participated in American football, basketballand baseball all through my years of schooling. I have learned many life lessons from sports: the importance of teamsand leadership and the individual act of going through the joy of victory andthe anguish of defeat, part of any competitive sporting activity.
In my adult life these experienceshave helped me go into rough situations, such as when a regulatory agencycloses a manufacturing facility because of compliance issues. When tasked toturn the situation around, rather than move the old team out and bring in a wholenew team (a very common practice in the US), my style is to train/retrain,support, encourage and otherwise lead many ofthosealready in the company tocreate a coalition of co-workers that then drive the company out of failureinto sustainable excellence.
I strongly believe that goodcompanies have almost the same general characteristics of a multigenerationalfamily. There are the older membersfrom whom we learn from their years of experience. There are the middle aged members who do mostof the work and there are those younger members who must be trained but whoalso may bring fresh ideas into the mix. Above all there must be intergenerational respect if this “family” is toremain a cohesive team. As well, as withmost families, there will be disagreements, but with sharing a common goal(mission/vision statements) even with some rough spots, everyone agrees to the purposeof their actions.
I have been fortunate to be able to havehelped two major international pharmaceutical companies, headquartered in theUS, using both team sports and family principles. In both cases, I fosteredteams and began leading them until I could identify and support an internalleader to continue to lead them to return to production and profitability. I helped forge development and recognition ofcommon goals so that all appreciated working together and many of these teamsremain intact today.
My most difficult experiences havebeen my time in Government agencies. The motivation of my colleagues was notthe same as I found in industry. Commongoals were exceedingly uncommon! I hadto work harder to identify the appropriate players, identify their roles andforge a common vision. After some trialsand errors, I did create a unique venue for government regulators andindustrial experts to meet and share ideas, all in the interest in creatinginnovative products and innovative controls to assure that products were safeand effective.
Both of these examples involvedworking in the United States. Would mystyle work outside the US?Working in Germany I found that my team sports andfamily analogies did not work as well. Ineeded to learn about the German industrial culture and then adapt…stillinterested in team building but now understanding how Germans view teams, theirparticular spot on the team and especially, their view of leadership. There was great resistance to “growing” aleader from within. They were very happyto be led by an outsider. Once Iunderstood this I became successful. Icreated a successful team that even today supports high compliance levels forthis global pharmaceutical company.
Now I amin Asia. In mylimited exposure, so far, I see an exciting challenge. Two major players have demonstrated globallyacceptable scientific expertise in pharmaceutical development. Two major players have developed industriesappropriate for internal healthcare issues but with quality standards which maybe viewed as unacceptable for global markets. Can I help create teams that work? Can I help identify and support internal leadership? Can I help build a globally recognizedprofile of excellence? My feelings areclear that global healthcare needs ideas and products from these two majorplayers…the question is can my team building and leadership philosophy becompatible with the cultures of these players and, together, can we make adifference in the future of global health? This is my personal challenge.
同写意论坛第43期活动报告现场的Alan liss
Dr. Alan Liss has over 25years ofsuccessful experience in the area of applied microbiology and biotechnology. He has focused on establishing and maintaining high quality pharmaceutical managementsystems - directing teams of scientists and support staff to improve manufacturing efficiency and GXP regulatory compliance.
活动预告
同写意论坛第44期活动“仿制药开发与一致性评价关键制剂技术与BE试验”将于5月11-13日在无锡拈花湾举行。
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