CEO Coaching Moment - Patricia Corsi | Bayer

What should I say to someone that knows it all? You have a very important role in guiding people that have an impact on a lot of other people. It's such an honorable role that you have to guide people that have such a big impact on a lot of lives and a lot of business. But look, 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 the sector 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 this at the beginning of the conversation. So when you sit in the excom, you cannot just sit there and only discuss if your 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 excess, the overused, but you know, you should know finance. I think there are some things in your market. People say, 'Oh yeah, 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. You know, if you see some of the big shareholders and the groups and you look for annual letters, 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, it 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 that 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, 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.