CEA Summit - Patricia Corsi | Bayer

So thank you very much, Mark, for having me here. It's a pleasure to be talking to you today. I also feel very blessed and very honored with all the opportunities. Coming back from where I was born in Brazil, I have the privilege to be now leading three combined functions: the category functions, the digital function, and the technology function for Bayer Consumer Health. And I see in this a great opportunity to really use technology, data, and the platforms to the benefit of consumers and customers. When we think about the categories, we think about the centers of excellence, the digital transformation programs they are all enabled by technology in one shape or form. And when we think about the future even more. It was, for most of us now probably it's two years or more that we have been to China. So for me it's two years and a half since my last trip to China, and there I was already seeing how the technology in your mobile phone is already helping people to take better care of their health, even for things like Alzheimer's. So there is so much still to come, and if there is a silver lining in COVID, it is that we are now looking at technology as an enabler even further for something that was always very personal like health.

For sure. As I said before, I'm Brazilian, I come from an Italian heritage family, immigrants in Brazil, interpreters. And I had throughout… I've started working professionally in 1992, so this says a lot already. You're talking about feeling dated, so here it goes. And in this 30 years or so, I had the opportunity to work in blue chip companies, FMCGs, pharma, consumer health, in consumer care, in home care, personal care, foods, beverages. So I had a great opportunity to see many different industries in local roles, in regional roles, in global roles. So I had local roles both in Europe as well as in South America and North America, as well as regional roles in Latin America, Europe, and then global roles. Normally they're based out of Europe because the time zone is very helpful for global roles when you're trying to connect people from across the globe. London tends to be a really good time zone to make sure that you're not stretching your team. So when I'm looking back, Mark, what were the things that I wish that I knew? I have to know where someone is, you need to understand where they come from. So I think for me this is an important say. I've been very blessed with an incredible example out of my father and my grandfather on how to behave and the values as a professional. They were both incredible successful business entrepreneurs. My grandfather had hotels, my father had restaurants. Then the most important things, which I didn't know because I was too young to know, I learned by observing them: their work ethic, their concern about the communities and clients. And this was much, much earlier before anyone talked about purpose or ESG or etc. So that was I think the best thing that could have ever happened to me as a professional, because I got to observe life how it was really happening, and until this day I have lessons that I take from there. I think if I look back now on the professional setting, because it's very different than the family business setting, the two things that I wish I knew earlier were the power of collaboration. I think when we are younger and up-and-coming, you know, one day somebody tells you you're high potential, and then you go into a competitive mode, and it goes like you focus your attention on growing, growing, growing, and I think you lose the opportunity of seeing how growth also comes from bringing all the different perspectives and the collaboration along the way with you, not just internally from people, but also from other companies. You know, some of us come from companies that had the end-to-end, you know, they were planting tomatoes and selling ketchup. And today we see that most of the new winning companies they don't own any of those things. So getting a really good grip on the power of collaboration is something that I wish I would have learned much earlier. And the other one was the difference and the importance, the difference between leading by doing and leading by influencing, and how leading by influencing is much harder but it's also much, much more important and stronger for a leader to have and to name. So this would be the two things that I have top of my mind.

I think the first realization you bring such a wonderful point. The first realization is that I, when people make bets on me, it was not because of what I knew. And you know, you first think that they're making a bet on me because I'm so good at this and I have shown results and I have delivered. But they bet on me for what they think you can be. And I realized that when, because for me bets means that people took the chance to put me to do jobs that I had no experience doing before, leading much bigger teams, going to an area where I haven't done any work, but they believe in my potential of learning. They believed in my curiosity of asking the right questions. They believed in my behavior of always being very enthusiastic and driven and solution-driven more than problem-driven, and really focus on high performance through teams. So you said it beautifully and I could never say it better. I think this realization on when we are younger or less senior in our roles that you know for every single question that I'm asked, I shall know the answer and there will be no one that will know better about my business than myself, right? So I think it's that that was the meaning of being prepared, and I believe being prepared of course. So today what I found is there is a lot of power in having a conversation, and especially in the digital world because every time I wake up I realize that I need to know something new. So there is a lot of power in saying, 'Okay, tell me what's the problem, let me understand what's the root issue. I might not have the solution for you, but I know the people who will have the solution for you.' So I surround myself with really smart and great people, not just in my team but as well as the larger group and I mean strategic suppliers. So for me this is where the power is, because then you multiply your opportunity. Of course, the basic foundations: your business, your numbers, your people, your KPIs you need to know. But some of this double-click, Mark, I am, and maybe I'm still on my first 30 days of my new combined job. I'm much more into, 'Okay, let me listen, understand, and I will find who is the best person for this.' And in some cases, in a lot of cases, it's not going to be me, but I will make sure that I find what's the solution.

Wow, this is so deep in my heart. Well, I'm the first person in my family to go to university because most of them were successful entrepreneurs and life took a different path for them. But I think I was prepared since very young age for that because my father had five brothers, my grandmother had died very young, so there were six boys: my grandfather and his five kids. And all my cousins were boys except me. So I was raised to be challenged. Either I stand up for myself or I'm going to be eaten alive by all these boys playing football on the streets. But it's incredible and this goes back to what comment you made before about the people that invest in you: coaches, sponsors, mentoring. We never realized how powerful it is when somebody believes in you. And I will never forget until the day I die the day that my father said, 'You can do whatever you put your mind into it.' And he said it in the context where I was really facing a challenge. And it was all the boys and the cousins and I was not making my way through that. And he said, 'Put it in your mind, do you want to do it? You are going to find a way to do it.' And I did, and I did my way. And I think this was so important because he never said you have to be like the boys and then you are going to be accepted to be part of the pack. And of course, because in Brazil, if I go back when I started my career there, I don't remember any women in the boardroom. So there was no reference. And at that point I remember there were some international ones that we would see in reading books or reading articles, and half of them they were all trying to sort out how to bring their best self. Half of them, you know, you look and you thought it were men with wigs because it was mimicking the male behavior because there was no reference, right? It's very difficult. So the thing that helped me the most was that confidence because I always thought so highly of my father. He was someone that he put his mind and he never went to university. So he had business in hospitality and he decided, 'I need to be prepared to welcome anyone that comes.' So he taught himself to speak many different languages, all the things related to food and restaurants. So whoever arrives in the restaurant, if they were from Japan or if they were from France, he would be able to communicate with them and make them feel welcome. And I look and I saw this man that until these days my biggest inspiration. If he thought that little me could do anything I put my mind to, who was I to say that I couldn't do it? And this is something that continues in my life because I make a point of making bets in people, and I have never disappointed myself. Never.

No, it's a tough one. And I always think to myself, there is nothing more difficult than trying to negotiate a salary with a chef. And this is one thing I've learned with my father because there is no way you will have to do it because otherwise disaster will come. I think first start with a set of values, shared values. I think this is the first thing in terms of ethics at work, in terms of proactive versus reactive, in terms of enthusiastic versus passive. And there are a couple of things that for me are within my mode. And then observing, I have a particularly preference for fast learners, people that can quickly learn new things. They don't need to know the things if they are agile learners. The second thing is people that find it easy to step in someone's shoes because if you can't understand the other, you probably can't understand the other function, the consumer, the customer, the shareholders. And ultimately I have a magnet for curious people, but curious with the purpose, not without the purpose. Because curious people without purpose, they start all the new things but they never finish anything. So I love curiosity with purpose. So these are the things that I look for. And even if I say I never disappointed myself, because there is always a lesson in this. There will be people that will fly, and most of the people they will fly, and there were people that will struggle. But on this struggle, I also learned what is my role as someone that made a bet. And for me this is very valuable, as valuable as seeing the talent progressing and flying. Standing still has never been one of my best suits.

Yeah, and look, I think building my self-awareness is something that always served me really well. And of course, I'm human, and I'm half Brazilian, half Italian, so this is a double human from an emotional point of view. I don't hide my frustrations, I work within them. And I'm open when there is something that is frustrating me. I'm open especially with my direct team and I said, 'Look, instead of just exploding or having anything like this that I believe doesn't construct anything, I say look, I need a moment to think because this is frustrating me for this, this, and that reason.' So I've noticed that when I did that, I invited people to help me with the solution. It's not easy because if you go back to the story that I told you about how I was raised having to stand up for myself, being vulnerable was something that I've learned very late in life. In Latin America, breadwinner woman in the corporate world, one thing that people do not tell you is that vulnerability is a superpower. So it took me a long time to learn that. Now I don't feel any shame on saying, 'This is killing me, help. I am stuck, I can't get this.' And eight out of ten times I get out better. I believe there are moments where it's important to make a stand, especially on things that are related to values, and you say, 'Okay, this is acceptable, this is not acceptable.' But more than less, I think it's my attitude towards life. I believe, and this comes through life experiences good and bad, I have a firm belief that putting myself in a place of a victim is not going to take me anywhere. So you can appreciate that as I've worked now in five different countries and I've been outside of my home country, my culture, my language for almost 15 years, the amount of times that people comment on my accent or things like that. You can either put yourself into the victim place saying, 'Oh, I come from below the equator,' or I can put myself in a place that, 'Yeah, I speak four different languages, for sure I'm going to have some accent, but I will keep improving myself.' And maybe I try to learn German as well, and it's not going to be perfect, but I'm putting myself out there. And this helps me to engage with people, this helps me to settle with the cultures. But I think it's a choice, I think it's really a choice. And the last thing I would say to you, Mark, is again, I'm talking a lot about things that I feel blessed and I feel a lot of gratitude. I have a wonderful husband and son that really ground me. And I believe that in this corporate world that we live in, it's very easy to allow things to creep in to make your ego bigger than your house. And I think this is when you think that you can vomit your frustrations on other people, and anyone has to take that. So when I come home, I'm a wife and a mother, and these are really tough talks. I'm sure I have a lot to improve in both of them, so I feel very humble. And then you look back and you see people as human beings, but these are some of the things that I have. And as everyone else, the mantra that I have in my head is, 'Transform frustration into inspiration, transform frustration into inspiration.' Not always it works, but it's in the mind.

Oh my God, you put me on the corner here. What should I say to someone that knows it all? But look, and I'm sure you have experienced so many different aspects of the C-suite and the boardroom. So I will share my experience and hopefully there is something in there that can serve. So I think the first thing is, I'm now in a, I am part of the C-suite of the Consumer Health division. I'm also an honest active direct member of a POC company in the UK. And the first thing is the mindset of having a full business view. You can never show up as again, we were discussing a little bit at the beginning of the conversation. So when you sit in the exec committee, you cannot just sit there and only discuss if you're a CMO only brand and advertising and brand equity. You're part of the leadership of the company that is responsible for the growth, for the profit, for the teams, for the culture. So having your value added there is critically important. You don't need to, and I think this is what not to do, you don't need to feel obliged to contribute in every single point, but there's this overused phrase, but you should know finance. I think there are some things in your market, people say, 'Oh, I love marketing because I don't have to know finance.' Okay, so maybe you're missing something. So I think this is the first one: this holistic view of the business, this holistic view of talent. More and more, I think when we think about future facing, and I'm sure that the CEOs that you're coaching for the future, I see two things that are very important: digital understanding, the technology understanding, and ESG. But really understanding, not just, 'Okay, let me just have the concept and then we jump on the bandwagon.' So these are things that I'm seeing both on my executive role as well as in the non-executive role: how technology is playing a much stronger role as enabler for growth, enabler for connection, profit, and expansion, and how ESG is actually something that is quite non-negotiable and mandatory at the moment. If you see some of the big shareholders and the groups, and you look at your annual letters, you know, it started with diversity and inclusion, and now all those things are becoming table stakes. It's not if you're going to do it, it's when you're going to do it. It's not if it's this or profit, no, it's this plus profit. So in the future, I think it's this, if I compare the more traditional one that would be the profile, you know, having done a lot of turnarounds or expansions or things like that. Growth normally was the big word, then profit becomes the big word, and then it's this holistic view of sustainable growth and profit, sustainable considering the digital transformation, the ESG, and diversity and inclusion. And the last thing I wanted to mention here is there is such a benefit from having diversity, and by diversity I mean geographic experiences, industries, not just the gender and some of the most visible ones, in the C-suite and in boards, because the conversation is so much better. So much better. And for anyone listening, if you aspire to be in the C-suite or as a non-executive director in a board, prepare yourself, talk to people, let people know. One of the things that I observe a lot in women, Mark, is that some of them are ashamed to say 'I want to be a CEO.' They feel like it's not permitted to say 'I want to be a mom, a wife, and a CEO.' If people don't know what you want, they cannot help you. And to the power of collaboration, to the power of clarity, and being vulnerable as well. Saying what you want is also an act of vulnerability because you're putting yourself out there. If you don't say it, you don't feel like you can be rejected. So I will leave you with that. I think there is more and more we talk about ESG, we talk about digital, but there is this personal trace of vulnerability that I'm more and more appreciating how powerful this is in a leader. And I have a lot to learn and to grow on this, I can guarantee to you. I'm very committed on this journey.

Thank you very much for having me, and on the other way around, thank you for the wonderful questions that allow me to share a little bit of my experience. And I will continue to keep learning, and I appreciate all the opportunities to do that. And this was another one. Thank you very much.