When you reflect on your time at Zentiva, what do you enjoy and find most fulfilling about your role?
Since I joined Zentiva in October 2014, I experienced the transformation from a division of a huge and highly hierarchical corporation to an independent company, where individuals are accountable and empowered. And this “new” culture fulfills me 100 %.
As said earlier, Zentiva is result-driven, where it’s up to each individual to make it happen. This is an environment where I thrive, and I receive this trust and empowerment from my upper management to run my business. I push it down to my organization. We don’t wait for others to fix our problems, we take full responsibility to deliver what we committed to, regardless if it’s the Czech healthcare system, our shareholders, or our colleagues.
How did you first come across the Reason for Being concept? What caught your interest?
I’ve known Laurent Laval for almost a decade, we have reciprocally enriching exchanges, and Reason for Being is a concrete example. Laurent started the ideation of the program in 2024, and along the way, I got convinced to give it a try.
Why did you decide to introduce this program at Zentiva? Was it something you felt was missing in the company, or did you have another motivation?
I truly believe my core team (with whom we ran the program) has one of the healthiest cultures you could come across, so I didn’t introduce the RfB program to fix something that was missing. I would more say that I was generally curious, and in the first place, I wanted to give the chance to each team member to better know themselves by uncovering their own RfB.
Did you have a specific idea of what impact it could have?
I didn’t have concrete expectations, as I believe it’s the right way to get into a program like this one. It’s so far away from everything that we do in our daily business that I think we should just embrace the process and have as much fun as possible while doing it.
How did the first phase of the program—individual interviews—go? How did your managers react to them?
The reactions were unanimously positive.
When the team came together for the workshop and started sharing their statements, what was that moment like?
This part of the team workshop was the most energizing. It was great fun because we didn’t really manage to guess which RfB belonged to whom.
The interesting thing is how the team started complimenting each individual after discovering the person’s RfB, finding their own anecdote about the person to reinforce the RfB… It was a crazily authentic and emotional moment.
It is often said that when people better understand themselves, they collaborate more effectively. Do you see this happening in your team now?
As I mentioned earlier, our team has had strong bonds for years, so the program didn’t revolutionize us, but I trust this workshop is one more piece of the puzzle making our team unique.
How impactful was the process of defining a collective Reason for Being for the leadership team? Was it challenging to reach a consensus?
This part of the workshop was challenging for many simple reasons. First, it was already later in the day, and you could feel that the ability to focus was lower than early morning. Second, we discussed that with Laurent right after the workshop, the instructions weren’t clear enough right at the beginning of the session to guide us towards the expected result, so the first 15 minutes were a bit chaotic. But we started putting the first draft on the paperboard, and then it all became easier. Reaching a consensus wasn’t hard for us, nope.
What was it like for you personally to formulate your own Reason for Being? Was it easy to find the right statement—the reason you get out of bed in the morning?
Even though I’m sensitive to these topics of psychology and intrinsic motivation, finding my own statement wasn’t an easy exercise. But with Laurent’s “mentoring” and precise questioning, we put words on what makes me feel genuinely happy…
Did this process make you reflect differently on your leadership? Did it help you in any specific decision-making situation?
Yes, definitely. Putting this statement together makes you realize a lot of unconscious mental tricks that you inflict on yourself… It helps me be more aware.
When you look at your statement/reason for being today, does it still resonate with you? Has it become a true guiding principle in your life and work?
It definitely still resonates and will do for some time. Now, I wouldn’t say that it has become a guiding principle because it probably was always there without me knowing about it… The power of knowing my own RfB is that I can act on it, deciding to give me a treat from time to time (allocate some time to these things that fulfill me) or, on the opposite, prevent my RfB from derailing me.
What are the next steps? How do you plan to continue working with the Reason for Being concept at Zentiva?
I want our collective RfB to be our compass, mostly when our team will face some headwinds. I believe it would make sense to expand this approach to other teams so that the principles of the program are reflected in the broader company culture.
What do you see as the key factor in ensuring that Reason for Being becomes an integral part of the company culture rather than just a one-time initiative?
Me as the team leader. If I don’t keep the flame burning, it will go out as fast as it lightened up.
If you had to convince another CEO to try this program, what would you say?
I would just tell them that it is a great team-building activity and that they should give it a try.
What did Laurent and his team at Arthur Hunt mean to you throughout this process?
Andrea, Pavla, and Laurent were instrumental in the workshop’s success. They’re a team of professionals who truly enjoy their jobs, so it gives a special taste to the whole process.