Majority of women are considered to excel at “nurturing competencies,” such as having innate care for others, developing, inspiring and motivating others, relationship building, collaboration and teamwork. These competencies highlight that women are seen as more effective in getting things done, being role models and delivering results.
These skills also describe leaders who take on difficult challenges, ensure that people act with integrity, and who simply achieve challenging results.
Perhaps it is for these qualities that Ching Santos got appointed as the first woman Philippine country manager of pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur Inc. (SPI), the vaccines division of Sanofi.
Moreover, it’s also fitting that women, being the primary decision makers in households when it comes to health issues, should be given the rein in the healthcare industry.
Even before joining the French pharmaceutical firm in 2002, Santos has been proving herself more than capable to handle leadership position.
“My leadership started [in a previous company], there were 11 posts there, and I was the only female. They saw my decisiveness and strong will. They saw how firm I was in my decisions,” Santos said.
This strength in leadership carried over to Santos’s entry as national sales manager of Sanofi Pasteur in 2002; under her guidance, Sanofi Pasteur switched to a more efficient system in pushing sales, introducing an automated call-rate system through the use of personal digital assistants.
The grit and perseverance of the woman executive eventually earned her the spot of sales and marketing director in 2010.
As sales and marketing head, Santos focused her efforts in expanding the vaccine division through business partnerships and increasing access to vaccination through link-ups with local government units.
But, more than earning the respect of peers and gaining the trust of superiors on the way to the top, it’s in maintaining interpersonal relationships that the woman’s “special touch” in leadership shines through.
“I am quite sensitive to the needs and feelings of people, I make sure it’s not all about work. We also enjoy discussing family matters and side chats,” Santos said.
Santos assumed the top position of SPI. in 2012, making her the first woman to be appointed as the country manager of the Philippine affiliate of the vaccines division. This is a vote of confidence to her capabilities in pushing the business forward.
In 2011 she shares that her company had gone through trouble in meeting company goals. Encouraging and working with her team to reassess the company’s strategies, they were able to get back on track the following year.
It is this single-mindedness in leading and genial approach with her employees that she has also been able to hone leaders in their own right.
“If there’s something I always look back on, it’s seeing the people I’ve developed over the years promoted to senior positions. I hired and trained most of them,” she said.
While Santos has successfully breached the higher, male-dominated echelons of the pharmaceutical industry, not many women can say the same. From the global perspective, for example, Rock Health, a venture fund supporting digital health start-ups, cites that women remain underrepresented in leadership positions.
“Despite making up more than half of the healthcare workforce, women represent only 21 percent of executives and 21 percent of board members at Fortune 500 health-care companies,” the report states.
Luckily, in the Philippines, the picture is much more optimistic.
Known as one of the more gender-equal countries, the Philippines is the only Asian country that made it in the top 10 roster of nations with high numbers of women in managerial positions, according to a recent ranking of the International Labor Organization.
It is, perhaps, this encouraging environment that enabled Santos to handle her position as the head honcho with ease, even as she is only one of two women in the Asia-Pacific operations of Sanofi that holds the top spot.
“I like other women to be inspired and to strive to compete equally with men,” she pointed out.
To earn their stripes, however, women must shed their reserved and meek manner, and let themselves be heard.
“Women have to be vocal and involved, to be more transparent and speak out because there are ways to be seen and heard. Have a strong presence. Stand out. If you know what you’re talking about, don’t fear being challenged. Be confident about it,” she pointed out.
This advice, evidently has served Santos well. To this day, Sanofi Pasteur continues to be a health partner of the government in battling global health diseases such as polio and dengue.
Late last year the company supported the Department of Health’s (DOH) expanded immunization program on polio for children.
“Sanofi Pasteur Philippines is one with the Department of Health in ending polio. Our company has provided all doses of both OPV [oral polio vaccine] and IPV to support the Philippines program against polio. We are proud to contribute to the protection of the men, women and children of our country, and will continue to provide quality and innovative products for disease prevention. Along with our partners in the immunization committee, we will carry this out with passion, knowing that we make a difference in the lives of Filipinos,” Santos said in a Business Mirror report in October of 2014.
In partnership with the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination, Sanofi Pasteur, under Santos’ helm, organized the Bakunadang Pinoy program. The program aims to increase the level of immunization coverage, and double the efforts of disease prevention through vaccination.
These initiatives not only spelled success for the company. More importantly, she helped cement the vital role of vaccines in public health.
“I want my leadership to remembered for its advocacy for public health—to spread awareness regarding the significance of vaccination in healthcare, that prevention is always better than cure. We would like to make vaccines more accessible to the public, to ensure that every Juan de la Cruz has the adequate health protection necessary to living a full and healthy life,” Santos said.