Transcription of The Stock Network Interview with Starpharma (ASX:SPL,US OTC:SPHRY:SPL), Chief Executive Officer Cheryl Maley
Lel Smits: Starpharma is an innovative biotechnology company advancing dendrima technology to improve patient outcomes in areas including oncology. Alongside its scientific innovation, Starpharma is operating in a sector defined by long development cycles, evolving data, changing priorities and high expectations. In that environment, leadership culture and team resilience are critical to translating science into outcomes.
I’m joined today by Starpharma’s CEO, Cheryl Malley, to discuss what she has learned about leading science-led businesses through change, building diverse and high-performing teams, and supporting future-ready STEM talent. Cheryl, welcome back to the Stock Network.
Cheryl Maley: Hi, Lel, lovely to see you again.
Lel Smits: Now, you’ve led teams across global pharma and biotech. What have you learned about the role that diversity plays in high-performing teams?
Cheryl Maley: Oh, I love this question, Lel, because I think diversity is absolutely key and fundamental to any high-performing team. If I reflect back on my early career, I, and probably like others, thought that recruiting like-minded people, very similar work styles, similar get-up-go and performance-focused outcomes was going to be the greatest benefit to creating a high-performing team.
I guess what I’ve learnt over the years is that that type of team, whilst it can be very easy to work within, because we all get along nicely, we have similar work styles, is that it can lead to biases, it can lead to blind spots, and it means that you are probably not getting the best outcomes regarding performance. And so, what I have valued so highly now, and have for many years now, is the value of diversity, and that is whether it be gender, culture, ways of working, skill set, optimism versus pessimism, introvert, extrovert, all of those levels of diversity are really important to make sure that you get different perspectives, you are challenged in your own thinking, and that you get a better outcome with different views that can contribute to it. So, diversity for me is absolutely key.
And the other bit I would say from a leader perspective is many of us are guilty thinking that we have to talk the most, or we have to appear to be the smartest person in the room, and that is just not the case. In a truly high-performing team, great leaders listen more, they are curious, they ask questions, and they are able to extract the views of the quietest people in the room that can contribute to that better outcome. And so, for me, it’s one thing to have the diverse people in the team, but it is, or the diversity within the team, but it is also an important part and role of the leader to extract that best performance from all of the different people within that team.
And listening is absolutely key.
Lel Smits: Yes, absolutely. Some very wise words there. And when it comes to leadership, what do you think is one of the one leadership habits or capabilities that’s transferred from big pharma into a smaller biotech environment?
Cheryl Maley: Yeah, I think, you know, I’ve spent many years working in large multinational organisations, and it has surprised me in moving to biotech how much I lean to those learnings for different reasons. It is incredible how much big pharma, as an example, invest in people, their people development in process, structure, governance, compliance, and all of that with the intent of enabling rather than inhibiting or slowing things down. And I think for biotech, there is opportunity and certainly for us at Starpharma, where we have lent more into a structure around process, project management, goal alignment, setting a really clear vision and strategy as a way of enabling better execution.
There is always a fine balance, though, that we don’t burden a small company that has the ability to be very agile and move much quicker than a large organisation. So it is a balance of introducing purely for enabling and making it more efficient and effective rather than being a burden. And I think for me, that’s been one of the great learnings that I’ve been able to bring from my many years in big pharma into Starpharma to allow us to really execute well and continue to build on that high performance that we’re evolving every day.
Lel Smits: Yes. And Cheryl, in science-led companies, change is constant, as you well know. What do you think leaders need to do most effectively during these periods of change?
Cheryl Maley: Yeah, it’s interesting because change is inevitable, not just in our field, but in many different areas.
And I think transformation and organisational transformation can be seen as a positive or a negative. I think the biggest thing leaders can do in relation to change and transformation is know where you sit in your mindset. And by that, I mean, do you embrace change? Do you look for change? Do you thrive in change? Or do you actually avoid change? Because both of those are fine as long as you know where you sit.
And also, if you understand the impact on others and the teams that you lead by having that mindset. As an example, if you thrive in change and you’re highly change agile, which I’m guilty of, is that the risk is that you can look for the change for change sake. You can move quickly through change and not bring people with you.
And then on the flip side, if you don’t like change, if you prefer to take a more steady, slower pace and not look for that bigger change, is that you can miss opportunities. You can frustrate people that are within your team that can see that there could be progress that can be made. So both of those mindsets, though, are important in a team to contribute to decisions that you make and how you handle transformation and change.
But I would say the key thing is just knowing where you sit and understand the impact that it can have on others and work with it to make sure that you don’t leave people behind or you don’t frustrate people to the point where they leave because you are sticking in your absolute mindset around how you think and believe change should be managed.
Lel Smits: Cheryl, I really appreciate your insights on leadership. Also, how you are navigating Starpharma with a diverse and very resilient team.
Cheryl Maley: Yes, it is an incredible team, I have to say. I’ve enjoyed the journey so far and look forward to the way in which we’re continuing to evolve. You know, our team, is we’re introducing new skill, new ways of working.
We’re executing against our plan and it is a super exciting time for us all to be on this journey at Starpharma.
Lel Smits: Well, thank you for your insights.
Cheryl Maley: Thank you, Lel.
Ends