Meet Patrice Bonfiglio, President of Sarissa Capital Management. With a career dedicated to activist investing in the healthcare sector, Patrice is passionate about influencing positive change within biotech and pharmaceutical industries. She’s committed to leadership that not only drives financial success but also fosters a culture of innovation and creativity.

What are the essential ingredients for creating a workplace where employees are empowered and motivated to contribute? The key to motivation is genuine curiosity from leadership. When leadership shows real interest in employees and their work, employees are more motivated to bring new ideas because they think they'll be listened to - instead of just getting caught in the mundane day to day. And if you're running a really healthy organization, you want that to happen because that’s what drives innovation - you’re not going to have every idea on your own.

When you regularly ask what others think, you create this dialogue and this expectation: “Management actually cares about what my opinion is” - instead of running an organization where employees are just supplying answers they think management will like.

Why is company culture such a valuable investment? A company is just an idea - you need people to actually execute that idea. That’s why culture is crucial. The company should be more than just a place to work, but a place where they can fulfill their career ambitions.

I always like to ask employees: Why? Why are you showing up to work? Why are you here today? For a lot of people, it's just because they were there yesterday, and it's now a routine. We need to break beyond that, so that there’s a culture of finding purpose and meaning in the work you do. If employees can articulate quickly: I'm here because I'm working on that I've always wanted to work on in my career, or I'm getting to collaborate with intelligent, creative people, or I'm getting to expand into different roles - that means that it's at the forefront of what they think about, and they're inspired. If they're caught off-guard by the question... You should probably have asked the question a long time ago!

What specific strategies do you use to build that community? Addressing what employees dislike about their jobs and finding solutions is vital. This might shock people, but I think it’s important to talk about what people hate about their jobs. It’s important for employees to know that they don’t have to suffer through things - there are solutions for any problem out there, and they should feel supported. I also always encourage employees pursue passion projects related to their interests - it’s so important to recharge, maintain engagement, and prevent burnout.

Working with employees, both on the things they love and the things they don’t, understanding their career goals and being supportive - even if that means they move on somewhere else - builds mutual respect and lasting relationships. It’s all about those relationships.