Executive Development Program
Understanding The Chemistry of Leadership

When Laurence Reid decided to attend the Wharton Executive Development Program (EDP), he was making the move from a line function to a broader management role at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. As general manager of a 180-person drug discovery and development organization, he had responsibility for overall business strategy and operations as well as scientific productivity. "I was moving to a broader management position with multiple disciplines reporting in to me," he said. "It was a classic case of someone moving from a line function to a more strategic role."

With a PhD in biochemistry from London University and a post-doctoral fellowship in biology at MIT, Reid had gained his business knowledge on the job and in a few short programs. He now wanted to develop a more formal understanding of disciplines such as finance and marketing. "Business development in biotech tends to span understanding of science, company strategy and financial strategy, knitted together."

Biotech is also a fast-paced industry. By the time Reid made it to the Wharton classroom, his company had been reorganized, and he had moved on to become CEO of a biotech startup, Laser Pharmaceuticals. In this new leadership role, rigorous knowledge of management, finance, and other business disciplines was more important than ever. "Now, I am stepping into a more entrepreneurial role, with significant responsibility for shaping the strategy and vision of a small company," he said.

The Wharton EDP offered a broad view of business and a big picture of the entire operation. "It exposed me to more thinking in some of the classic business disciplines in which I have limited training," Reid said. "It gave me exposure to some of the business fundamentals. Financing strategy is critical in biotech, and there also were some very specific and applicable insights in marketing, strategy, leadership, and negotiations."

The program also allowed Reid to explore and develop his own leadership abilities. "I think my gut instinct is to take a more hands-on, operational approach," he said. "The Wharton EDP provided experience in working in small teams in an engaged way and offered methodologies for strategic thinking and action. It helped me to think about focusing on the big picture and gave me a chance to think about myself in a leadership role. The biggest surprise in the course was the strong emphasis on interpersonal skills and interorganizational issues."

In his new role leading a seed-stage company, he has had many opportunities to apply skills and insights from the EDP. "I've had to build a financial model and model for value creation," he said. "Strategy and competitive advantage are very much foremost in my mind. We have a year to create a position for the company and a set of assets that will enable it to get financed." The broader view of leadership from the program is also valuable. "It would be easy to get sucked into tactical issues, but the leadership examples from the program help keep me focused on looking at the whole," he said. "What kind of business and company are we going to build? What does it look like as a holistic entity?"

Reid was impressed across the board with the quality of Wharton teaching and participants. "The quality of teaching is high almost without exception," he said. "All the teachers were outstanding. And the program ran for 2 weeks without a single glitch." Faculty were not only knowledgeable but open to engaging in vigorous discussions with participants from diverse backgrounds. "In every class, someone in the program had real experience in the specific industry or challenge under discussion," Reid said. "It made it very real world, not theoretical, and there was a lot of great debate."

    

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