Female Disruptors: Takeda’s Heather Dean On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, we had the pleasure of interviewing Heather Dean.

As the Senior Vice President and Head of Takeda Pharmaceutical’s U.S. Neuroscience Business Unit (NSBU), Heather is an Executive Leadership Team (ELT) member responsible for leading home office and field teams, overseeing Profit and Loss (P&L) and managing operational functions for the NSBU. Building on Takeda’s legacy, the NSBU seeks to improve the trajectory of care for complex brain conditions, with a team led by Heather that unites passion and expertise in neuropsychiatry, sleep-wake disorders, neurodegenerative and rare neurological conditions to address the needs of patients. With 25 years of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry experience, including 20 years at Takeda, she has held various roles and is driven by an enterprise leadership mindset. Heather believes everyone has the opportunity and responsibility to contribute to collective success while learning, growing and developing as individuals.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

When I was young, I aspired to be a nurse, combining my love for science with compassion for people. However, I worried about becoming too emotionally attached to the patients I’d care for. At the same time, I always loved the challenge of sales — understanding what someone needs and finding ways to demonstrate the ability to meet their needs. I learned about the pharmaceutical industry from someone I greatly admired when I was in middle school. At that time, understanding the positive impact pharmaceutical companies can have on patients made me realize it was the perfect avenue to marry my passion for caring for people with my drive to help people see new options that may meet their needs.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

I believe the work I’m doing is helping to be disruptive both internally and externally. Internally, I’m helping to empower women and early-career professionals to actively engage in every setting, to speak up without being asked and to challenge the status quo to do great things for the benefit of patients. I serve as the co-executive sponsor of the Gender Parity Network (GPN), one of Takeda’s Resource Groups (TRGs) that is committed to realizing gender parity across our organization by fostering the development and advancement of women through a strong, diverse and engaged community.

Externally, at the moment, my team and I are working to “disrupt” the process by which patients receive a narcolepsy diagnosis. Today, many patients face a terribly long diagnostic odyssey to receive a narcolepsy diagnosis. Through that journey, they often experience misdiagnoses, a drawn-out process that includes seeking referrals and waiting for sleep lab appointments. On average, data from the U.S., Europe and the United Kingdom shows that it can take patients up to 10 years to receive a diagnosis. By understanding patient needs, at Takeda, we aim to simplify the collection of accurate diagnostic information, particularly for conditions like narcolepsy. We are working on disrupting the sleep-wake market and trying to change the ways and the time that it takes to achieve the right diagnosis by partnering with tech innovators to accelerate digital advancements. By exploring wearable tech, we aim to gather data in innovative, economical and less burdensome ways, potentially facilitating more timely and accurate diagnoses for patients. This patient-centered approach is key to our success in enhancing patient care. In addition, we are working on developing a novel treatment for patients diagnosed with a type of narcolepsy.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

On my first day on the job as a pharmaceutical sales representative, I was excited to apply my months of rigorous training to have a conversation with a very important health care provider who was a key opinion leader. I was nervous and I said something to the doctor like, “What do you think about the pen for your patients?” I was attempting to talk about the insulin pen I was promoting. He started referring to the ink pen in his hand, saying it worked great and he really liked it. That awkward conversation wasn’t funny at the time, but looking back, it’s pretty funny to think what my face must have looked like as I scrambled to determine where to go next.

I realized in that moment that being well-trained or well-read isn’t enough; you must be ready to engage in real-world settings (and starting off with your most important customer is probably not the best approach).

Over the years, that seemingly silly story has influenced how I operate in the workplace. I’ve learned to not only acquire the necessary knowledge but also practice and pressure test it before I go prime time, ensuring I’m well prepared to pivot and respond effectively in any scenario; it’s never about just going through the motions.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

There are two people who stand out as having had a strong impact on my career. One mentor provided me with the invaluable gift of professional exposure. He had me sit in on meetings for him — not as a fly-on-the-wall or a note-taker — but as an empowered decision-maker. He helped prepare me for sitting in a boardroom and making decisions as a Director, Senior Director or Vice President long before I achieved those levels in the organization. My other mentor pushed me to take career pivots that significantly expanded my enterprise leadership perspective. Without him, I may have stayed on a linear path that would have significantly limited my expanded leadership potential.

I am grateful for both of these leaders who saw something in me I didn’t necessarily see in myself. I have followed up with both of them to share the positive impact I believe they’ve had on my career!

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

While there may not be perfect examples of positive or negative disruption, the key lies in understanding and communicating the “why” behind it. When we are clear about WHY disruption needs to happen, people can see the downsides of NOT changing and the upsides of changing — everyone is along for the ride, and they’d call that positive disruption. It’s when people have the mindset of, “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” that trouble can brew. As the disruptor or change agent, it’s incumbent on us to clearly articulate a vision that can get people excited and ensure that they are along for the ride — supporting your steps to be a disruptive change agent for good!

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

1. Share your “assessment”: This advice taught me to be a critical thinker and develop my own point-of-view on situations. At an early stage in my career, that helped me learn not to rely on others for my opinions and instead create my own viewpoint and take action on them.

2. Embrace the lateral move: Many people are looking to climb the corporate ladder, but not as many focus on the learning journey. If your focus is on learning, exploring and becoming wiser and more experienced than you were the day before, you’ll continue to make yourself more and more valuable. That WILL lead to more responsibility and eventually promotions at the right time. Be patient and enjoy the learning journey!

3. Stay true to your conviction, and don’t give up: Anything that’s worth doing in life is typically not quick, easy or free of roadblocks. So, make sure you have conviction about what you are going to do, pull in the right people to help you realize that goal and don’t stop or lose momentum until you realize that vision. Too many people give up when the going gets hard, but that’s when the good stuff — including learning — usually happens. Keep pressing on and you will realize the goal, dream or disruptive opportunity!

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I’m not sure yet, but I do know that I’m highly motivated by challenges that don’t seem to have obvious answers. I love to ask questions, to learn, to consult knowledgeable colleagues to figure out the best solution to change up a team, a market or a way of doing things that will lead to a meaningfully better outcome.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Women can still sometimes be labeled as “tough” or underestimated in their intelligence. I think this could be because women can tend to be comfortable asking more questions and showing more vulnerability — all for the benefit of figuring out the way forward.

Early in my career, I often felt overshadowed by or inferior to some of my male counterparts who displayed strong, assertive characteristics. In one example, I was hesitant to admit when I didn’t have all the answers to my team, as it seemed my male predecessor always did. However, I discovered that my team’s true potential emerged when I encouraged everyone to contribute, highlighting the importance of collective effort. By fostering an environment where each team member felt empowered (even responsible) to share their insights, we became a high-functioning, cohesive unit.

Over time, it became clear that my leadership style, which emphasized collaboration over individual knowledge, was effective in bringing out the best in everyone. This approach allowed us to function more efficiently and achieve greater success together.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

Many years ago, a former boss encouraged me to read Carly Fiorina’s book, “Tough Choices,” as part of a book club. I wasn’t particularly excited to read it as I was just going out on maternity leave with my first child. Dutifully, I read the book on leave and 18 years later, I still remember some poignant messages regarding business management insights and observations from that book.

In the book, Carly reflected on how she was able to walk into different major corporations and “turn things around” efficiently and successfully. She shared that her secret was talking directly to the people who do the “work of the work.”

Carly’s experience at HP underscores the invaluable practice of “walking the floor” and engaging directly with team members who are closest to the work. She would receive all kinds of great insights that helped inform early actions she took as a leader that directly impacted the bottom line. When I walk into a new team situation, I always ask to speak to the people who are working closest to our customers and get their ideas, opinions and insights. Of course, I pressure test that information with my direct team, but I’m usually able to quickly get to the heart of the matter when I speak directly to the folks doing the work that most immediately impacts our customers. As Carly says, “If you don’t understand people, you cannot influence them.”

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Don’t wait to be asked what you think and be proactive in sharing your thoughts and ideas. Show up every day and make sure people know you are there and your brain is switched on. Ask the question, make the statement, share the idea — because something amazing could happen!

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This is an important concept to me for many different reasons. In middle school, like so many, I was subjected to bullying from some of my closest friends at the time. Later in life, I worked for someone who I believe took joy in making me feel small. Through those experiences, I realized that I would do everything in my power to make sure I never made others feel the way I was made to feel during those dark times.

Life is too short, and we spend too much time at work and away from our families to stay in a miserable situation. That doesn’t mean that life is always rainbows and sunshine — I still have very strong feelings about things and high expectations for myself and my team. But it is possible that we can accomplish great things together, have healthy debate and discussion and still deliver amazing results, all while respecting each other throughout the journey. There is no need or space for mean people in the workplace. They exist — but my mission is to surround them with kindness and help them work in harmony to get the hard but meaningful work done!

How can our readers follow you online?

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/heatherdean1

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Thank you for the opportunity to share!