CoachingCultures
Leaders in life sciences face distinct challenges that set them apart from those in other industries. They must navigate stringent regulations, uphold compliance and lead highly specialized teams, all while driving critical innovation. Given the rapid pace of scientific advancements and evolving standards, their roles are both complex and crucial for organizational success.
To address these challenges, it’s essential to gather various insights across leadership functions. By utilizing surveys, centralized feedback and key metrics, organizations can identify gaps and set goals for targeted leadership development and continuous improvement.
In the ever-changing landscape of life sciences, leaders excel by fostering innovation, empowering their teams and nurturing growth mindsets to achieve peak performance and long-term success. This requires ongoing training and development.
However, training programs alone are not enough. The true empowerment of people managers relies on a streamlined playbook to “coach the coach,” helping leaders develop the interpersonal skills needed to lead high-performing teams effectively.
While internal processes and external engagements with healthcare providers and key opinion leaders may differ across functions, the fundamental need for personal optimization to enhance performance remains the same. This is equally true for manufacturing teams tasked with ensuring product quality and safety, as well as production efficiency. For example:
Commercial teams prioritize sales through specialized selling modules.
Medical affairs focuses on scientific exchange frameworks.
Site managers must adhere to good manufacturing practices standards and internal operating procedures, while overseeing diverse production systems within their facilities.
Yet, regardless of these distinct roles, the commitment to self-improvement and achieving team effectiveness is universal.
This is why it is imperative to develop, implement and foster a collaborative coaching culture, where all functions understand how these frameworks and initiatives impact multiple business units across the organization.
It should not be seen as a siloed effort limited to a single team or function. By creating an overarching coaching and mentoring support system, individuals feel inspired to collaborate and grow through cross-functional best practices, fueling both personal and organizational success.
A “coach the coach” playbook should extend beyond process management, emphasizing the support of each team member’s interpersonal awareness to inspire, motivate and elevate highperforming teams. It must address the unique complexities of each role, utilizing high-performance coaching tools, principles and mindset strategies.
Leaders who embrace coaching as part of their leadership style promote environments of open communication, trust and growth. The playbook should emphasize how coaching creates a ripple effect throughout the organization by driving employee engagement, improving performance and nurturing talent.
Key playbook principles include:
Encouraging active listening and empathy.
Promoting a growth mindset to transform challenges into opportunities.
Applying conflict resolution techniques to improve collaboration.
Fostering psychological safety, inclusivity and mutual respect.
Implementing accountability best practices.
Utilizing resilient tools and strategies to increase adaptability and change agility.
Creating a feedback-rich environment and an “open door” policy for continuous improvement and support.
As a leader in life sciences, both technical knowledge and emotional intelligence (EQ) are essential. A “coach the coach” playbook must prioritize developing leaders’ self-awareness, enabling them to recognize their own strengths and areas for growth.
High EQ is crucial for leaders who want to coach their teams effectively – understanding team dynamics and how individual motivations align with organizational goals.
Steps for cultivating EQ include:
Regular self-reflection exercises.
Best practices to identify and manage emotions in high-stress environments.
Tools to prioritize and enhance energy management.
Techniques for building stronger interpersonal relationships with team members and crossfunctionally.
A vital element of any coaching playbook is equipping leaders with the tools to ask the right questions. Effective coaching is about helping others find their own solutions, rather than simply providing answers.
In the life sciences industries, this can be particularly useful when guiding teams through complex problem-solving scenarios.
Key coaching techniques include:
The GROW (goal, reality, options and way forward) model can guide conversations and promote solution-focused thinking.
The Socratic method, encouraging leaders to ask open-ended questions that stimulate critical thinking and self-discovery.
Scenario-based coaching, where leaders engage in role-play using industry-specific examples to address key challenges and achieve desired goals.
Innovation is key to success, and one of the greatest ways to achieve it is by encouraging teams to align their purpose and passion with organizational goals. By fostering curiosity, creativity and cross-functional collaboration — even in regulated industries — leaders can keep innovation thriving.
Embedding these principles in a “coach the coach” playbook empowers leaders to deliver both immediate impact and long-term growth. Drawing on diverse expertise is also vital. By fostering collaboration and leveraging varied perspectives, leaders can drive innovation and create adaptable strategies that meet the evolving demands of the industry.
Finally, the playbook should include methods for measuring the success of coaching initiatives. Life sciences companies are driven by data, so it’s important that coaching efforts are assessed for effectiveness. Leaders need to understand how their coaching impacts team performance, engagement and overall outcomes.
Ways to measure coaching success include:
Gathering regular feedback from team members on their coaching experiences.
Tracking key performance indicators linked to coaching, such as employee retention, team productivity and goal attainment.
Conducting self-assessments for leaders to evaluate their own growth as coaches.
Coaching is more than just a management tool — it’s a critical component of leadership success. By adopting a tailored training playbook that “coaches the coach,” life sciences organizations can empower their leaders to ignite innovation, drive performance and build resilient, high-performing teams.
With the right playbook in hand, leaders will be equipped to inspire their teams to thrive — no matter the situation.
Nina Antinora is CEO of Change It Up. Email her at nina@changeitup.com or connect through linkedin.com/in/nina-antinora-2804475.