Spotlighting Health's Female Leaders: Annemarie van Neck
Please introduce yourself, including your role within your organisation, and a short overview of your career path.
At Coloplast, a leading company in intimate healthcare, I lead the Emerging Markets organisation, having recently transitioned from heading up the UK & Ireland division. I started working in healthcare almost 20 years ago, and have held commercial jobs in MedTech, pharmaceuticals and medical nutrition.
What has been the biggest leadership lesson in your career?
If you are fair, clear and consistent in your narrative and actions, and share a sense of purpose, people will follow.
And remember, you can never overcommunicate! It may feel that you are overdoing it, but the people you work with want and need to know where the business is going and how it affects them.
"Surround yourself with people who think differently."
How do you make sure your work is inclusive of others?
It is a challenge to be truly inclusive because we are working in a fast-paced industry and we want to move forward. The first thing is to surround yourself with people who think differently, and to be acutely aware of groupthink, or if all are agreeing too quickly. Make sure you invite the people who think differently to speak up. It is ok to feel uncomfortable, because it means that there is a perspective brought to the table that is different from what you were considering so far.
What advice would you share with the female HealthTech leaders of tomorrow?
Be the leader that you would have wanted for yourself. Do not kowtow to the corporate stereotype, but simply be who you are. In the end, that will pay off for you in the best way, whatever your career aspirations are.
And, if you do not find support for your aspirations in the organisation you are currently in, find an environment where you are supported, and move there. You are in control of your own path.
"Enjoy having the benefit of working with female leaders…they tend to bring a lot to your organisation!"
What advice would you share with those who want to support the female HealthTech leaders of tomorrow?
Think really hard about what standards you apply to your staff and if you are truly treating people and their behaviours equally.
Think about what expectations you implicitly, or explicitly have of female leaders, and how these compare to how you think about non-female leaders.
Think twice before you judge a situation and consider how you would have judged it if it were a non-female.
And enjoy having the benefit of working with female leaders…they tend to bring a lot to your organisation!
Annemarie van Neck, Senior Vice President, Emerging Markets, Coloplast, and ABHI Vice Chair