Leadership Beyond Titles: Prashant Menon on Purpose, People, and Staying Relevant

Pharma Now: Today on Pharma Now, we have Mr Prashant Menon, Founder Director of Workplace Dynamics, a strategist who transforms pharma professionals into authentic leaders and pharma organisations into growth engines. Sir, your journey has truly been inspiring. Moving from the field to the Managing Director’s chair is rare. I’ve rarely come across such a path, from frontline sales to Managing Director, spanning decades and diverse roles.

Could you share your journey, key moments, and lessons with the Pharma Now audience?

Mr Prashant Menon: It has been a privileged and fortunate journey, one shaped by many stakeholders. Journeys like these are never built alone. They are supported by people who wish you well, stand by you, and give you opportunities.

What I’ve always tried to do is be a sincere student of good work, to adopt strong ethics, stay effort-driven, and remain true to what I believe in.

This journey spans more than 27 years. I started in frontline sales, though I worked briefly outside pharma first. That experience gave me a different kind of energy when meeting people. I’ve always been socially active since my school and college days, which naturally drew me toward sales and marketing.

I began in a non-pharma role in IT support for devices and worked there for about 6.5 months. One of my clients during that time was Cipla. I frequently visited their plant in Vikhroli, trying to close a sale, which didn’t materialise. Later, when a walk-in interview opened for a frontline sales role at Cipla, I decided to try. I wanted to put my microbiology background to better use, and that’s how my pharma journey began.

At Cipla, I started in sales, based in Mumbai. I moved from a sales role to first-line manager, then second-line manager, and eventually into product management, which we call marketing in pharma. That’s where you handle product portfolios, drive brand strategy, grow market share, and build impact.

I was fortunate, early in my career, to work in a therapy area deeply important to Cipla: respiratory care. Even today, if a company is known for respiratory care, it is Cipla. I joined at a time when the company was expanding strongly into respiratory medicine.

Those years were rich in learning. I worked closely with leadership, understood brands deeply, and learned about patients and their challenges. Patient centricity is a major buzzword today, but we practised it in the late ’90s. It has now become a central agenda across organisations, but Cipla focused on it long before it became fashionable. From there, I moved to other organisations and continued my marketing journey with large companies like Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Ranbaxy Laboratories.

What I want to share with your audience is this: the first 10 to 15 years of one’s career form the most critical foundation. It’s important to ground and anchor yourself strongly in your first two or three organisations. If you build a strong footing early, its impact multiplies later. Those who frequently shift in the first decade often struggle to find that anchor.

I always advise young professionals to spend their foundational years in no more than 2 or 3 companies. After four to five years in an organisation, you begin contributing meaningfully. The first few years go into understanding the company and your role. By years four, five, six, and seven, you start giving back, and that’s when you reap real benefits.

That approach worked beautifully for me in the first 15–16 years of my career across three large organisations. I moved from sales to marketing, reached senior leadership in marketing, and then transitioned into general management roles where I handled P&L responsibilities.

I worked with large organisations like Alkem Laboratories, handled three divisions at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, a company strongly known for dermatology and cardiology, and later moved into larger roles managing multiple teams and business units.

My next major stint was with Alembic Pharmaceuticals, where I served as Cluster Head, overseeing nearly 10 business units, almost half the organisation’s business volume at the time.

Every role helped me discover new dimensions of myself as a professional, a leader, and a team player. As you grow, more people observe you and place expectations on you. Staying true to your values becomes even more important.

In the final phase of my corporate journey, I moved from cluster-level leadership into Director and Managing Director roles, overseeing India and Sri Lanka. One major learning during this period was manufacturing, an area I had not worked in directly before. Earlier, I only interacted with plant teams and visited facilities. But gaining hands-on manufacturing experience in my last assignment made me a better professional.

I began to empathise far more with plant functions because the plant and the business operate very differently. Plant environments are structured, disciplined, and uncompromising in their commitment to compliance. Business functions are more flexible and dynamic, often making decisions with limited information. Manufacturing, except in R&D contexts, operates in highly structured systems.

Toward the end of my corporate career, revisiting that structured environment was deeply valuable. Coming from sales and marketing, I gained a broader perspective. The journey from frontline sales to Managing Director has been filled with gratitude, for leaders who trusted me, for teams that delivered consistently, and for opportunities that shaped me. These experiences often bring recognition to leaders, but it’s rarely about the individual alone.

Leadership is less about personal glory and more about enabling teams to shine. When leaders stay on the sidelines and let their teams take the front, real impact happens. Every leader wants to leave a legacy of meaningful and long-term work. That legacy comes from spending honest, committed time with people you truly care about. 

People build companies, and brands are vehicles that help us reach larger audiences. In pharma, that ultimately means reaching patients who rely on our medicines. That, in essence, is my journey.

Pharma Now: Truly inspiring. Your bachelor’s degree was in microbiology, followed by two degrees in management and marketing, and you began your career in frontline sales. What led to that shift? After microbiology, what made you choose marketing and the business side?

Mr Prashant Menon: Frankly, microbiology happened by accident. I had planned to pursue pharmacy, but issues with admissions came up. I chose the next best option, which was microbiology, and continued from there.

My first job had nothing to do with microbiology. I was selling office machines, which were more engineering products than scientific instruments. Selling typewriters and fax machines was a completely different experience. But I enjoyed the thrill of sales, meeting people, communicating effectively, and working toward closing deals. That engagement kept me motivated.

When I visited Cipla as a client, I was amazed by the scale and ethics of the organisation. So when an opportunity to enter pharma came up, I took it. It was the first walk-in interview I attended after my postgraduation, and I got selected. I was fortunate to clear that first opportunity. They were probably looking for someone fresh, and I fit the requirement.

There wasn’t a rigid master plan. Things unfolded step by step. After entering the pharma industry, I worked hard to become better at what I did. Sales came first. As I grew, I wanted to understand how I could contribute from the head office, which led me to marketing.

On the pharma business side, leaders typically grow through either sales or marketing. Sales gives you exposure to people management and business operations. Marketing strengthens strategy and brand management. Both paths can lead to P&L leadership.

Even today, most business unit heads, GMs, and Vice Presidents of Sales and Marketing have grown through one of these two tracks. During my time, eight out of ten leaders rose through sales. I was among the few who came up through marketing. Today, it may be closer to six from sales and four from marketing.

Each path builds strong capabilities. Professionals develop deep expertise in their respective areas before taking charge of divisions and businesses. If you look beyond pharma, managing directors come from varied backgrounds, including finance, technology, HR, and business. 

But in pharma, leadership has largely emerged from the business side because that’s where professionals spend most of their careers. Opportunities will come. What matters is consistently doing your best in the role entrusted to you. Focus on excellence in your current responsibility rather than overplanning the future.

Do your job well. Stay prepared. Stay well-read. Build genuine professional relationships. Networking should be natural, not forced. If you’re strong at what you do and stay informed, connections happen organically. When you’re prepared, you attract opportunities. If you’re unprepared, you won’t even recognise them.

I often say this in leadership workshops: Opportunity is not a long visitor. It comes and goes quickly. Being prepared is better than being opportunistic. Prepared people sense opportunities and act on them with confidence. Stay natural and authentic. Authenticity builds lasting professional relationships. 

Today, with the rise of social media, people can quickly tell what’s genuine and what’s not. So don’t chase opportunities desperately. Be good at what you do. Read extensively. Stay prepared. Meet people and stay present. Opportunities will come your way. There is no shortage of them.

Pharma Now: As you transitioned into consulting and leadership-focused roles, people-centricity has remained central to your work. In your experience, what leadership behaviours look good on the surface but actually harm organisations?

Mr Prashant Menon: That’s a very interesting question. I see two broad leadership patterns. One group of leaders is highly other-centric; they constantly try to please people. They keep changing their style to satisfy others, and in the process, authenticity gets lost.

The second group is extremely self-centric. They are very confident in their own approach and often ignore important signals from others. When leadership becomes too self-focused or too approval-driven, it rarely sustains. Such leaders don’t last long in their leadership journeys. What truly matters is balance.

You can be people-oriented by listening more, not by becoming a yes-person. Listening helps you understand what others truly need and how you should respond. 

If I were to describe leadership through an acronym, I’d call it PROD.

Leadership is a privilege. Not everyone becomes a leader; you are chosen for that role. A title may give you a position like CEO or Manager, but it doesn’t automatically earn genuine followership. True leadership goes beyond designation.

Leadership is a responsibility. You are entrusted to make things happen.

Leadership is an opportunity to create impact, make a difference, and influence meaningfully.

And leadership is about demonstration. People watch what you do more than what you say. Actions define leaders.

Privilege, Responsibility, Opportunity, and Demonstration, this is how I see the essence of leadership.

Leadership is not about command and control. Those days are over. Most modern leadership thinkers agree on this. Leadership is an opportunity to serve.

Are you serving your team well?

Are you serving your organisation well?

Are you serving your customers well?

Are you serving society well?

Leadership that is rooted in service stands the test of time, far beyond titles.

I stepped away from corporate life five years ago. Since then, I’ve been working independently in consulting, leadership development, and executive coaching. I don’t hold a corporate title anymore.

If people still come to me, it’s because of the difference I made in their lives earlier. There’s no other reason. People return only when you’ve created a meaningful impact.

Can you aspire to be someone people trust and return to, even without a designation? To achieve that, you must remain natural and authentic. You can’t wear a facade. Leadership built on appearances never lasts.

Leaders who are overly self-focused or overly approval-seeking tend to have shorter leadership tenures. In today’s world, with constant information flow, data visibility, and media exposure, people quickly recognise what is genuine and what is not. They may take time, but they will see through pretence.

If you don’t demonstrate authenticity, you eventually drift away from your true self. So yes, it ultimately comes down to staying consistent and authentic in what you do.

Pharma Now: As the founder of a strategy consulting and leadership development company, what qualities set outstanding leaders apart from good leaders?

Mr Prashant Menon: Outstanding leaders have a strong bias for action. There’s no complacency in them. They take risks and make decisions even when they don’t have the complete picture. They’re ready to face consequences and stay accountable for their choices.

They take a clear stand, whether it’s about people, policies, or processes.

In contrast, some leaders wait to be told what to do. They wait for the “right” opportunity or for circumstances to change. Such leaders are often playing catch-up. They may be excellent executors, but that approach usually takes them only so far.

Outstanding leaders step outside their comfort zones. They challenge the status quo and try things they’ve never attempted before. They bet on people others may overlook. They act with limited resources and are willing to fail.

That willingness to act despite uncertainty is what separates outstanding leaders. I keep meeting such leaders and feel inspired by their journeys. You can discover them everywhere, in pharma and beyond. The real question is whether you’re open to learning from them.

Outstanding leaders don’t follow cookie-cutter paths. They choose differently. They’re willing to say, “I may fail, but let’s try.” That’s why some organisations become truly great, they have a higher proportion of such leaders. Their culture encourages experimentation and supports thoughtful risk-taking.

Even in average organisations, you’ll find exceptional leaders. If the organisation gives them room, they thrive. If not, they move to places that align better with their mindset. That’s how I differentiate between outstanding leaders.

Pharma Now: What is one failure story from your journey that you’d like to share?

Mr Prashant Menon: There have been many. Failures are constant teachers. The biggest mistake is believing you’ve mastered everything; that’s when complacency sets in.

I’ve seen brand launches fail because we didn’t do our homework properly. We didn’t communicate effectively with field teams or position the product correctly. A launch is meant to grow market share, but sometimes it only drives short-term sales without long-term impact. I’ve learned that the hard way.

I’ve also made mistakes in people management, not always recognising the right talent. When you handle large teams, the distance from the frontline increases. Whenever I reduced skip-level conversations, team performance suffered.

I’ve delayed decisions when the warning signs were clear. Waiting for perfect information often made situations worse. Early action could have limited the damage.

One important lesson: leaders must openly acknowledge their mistakes. When you admit errors, you create psychological safety. Teams feel comfortable sharing their failures honestly rather than hiding them.

I remember joining an organisation where one division was already marked for closure. The data clearly showed the business wasn’t viable. But since I was new, I didn’t want to be seen as someone who shut things down immediately. I asked the Managing Director for a year to try reviving it.

He agreed, though he was sceptical. It was a small unit, so the financial risk was limited. We tried for six months, but I knew it wouldn’t turn around. I went back and told him he was right; we should have closed it earlier.

That experience taught me two things:

First, the importance of acting on reality rather than delaying the inevitable.

Second, the value of working with leaders who give you the freedom to try and learn.

In the same organisation, we had to make a tough call on a senior leader. That decision couldn’t be delayed, and we took it. Some situations demand firmness. Over time, I’ve learned to assess reality more clearly and avoid postponing necessary decisions.

Today, as a consultant, when I see similar patterns in client organisations, I share these experiences openly. Sometimes leaders still want to try their own way, and that’s fine. Experience is often the best teacher.

Mistakes and failures are essential for real leadership growth.

As leaders, we must judge whether a mistake will cause serious damage or become a valuable lesson. If the cost is manageable, letting people learn through experience can be powerful. I’ve done this often in hiring decisions. Sales teams are large, and leaders interview hundreds of candidates. 

Sometimes, a manager strongly believes in a candidate I’m unsure about. If the risk is low, I allow them to proceed. If it fails, they learn deeply. If it works, it’s a win. But if the same mistake repeats, leaders must step in firmly.

Failures continue to shape me. Whenever I’m underprepared, results suffer. So I constantly remind myself: preparation and discipline are non-negotiable.

My work discipline hasn’t changed even after leaving corporate life. Consulting can tempt you to slow down, but this journey was never meant to be a retirement plan. It was an opportunity to contribute more to the industry and keep learning.

Over the past five years, through Workplace Dynamics, I’ve worked with more than 40 organisations. The exposure has been incredible. In a traditional career, you may not experience so many cultures and leadership styles.

As a consultant, you see diverse teams, successes, failures, and working models. It’s an extraordinary learning experience, one I deeply value.

Pharma Now: Earlier, when you worked in marketing, your focus was on brands and products. Now, in consulting, your focus is more on people. This feels like a deeper systems shift because people ultimately create brands and products.

Connection is critical; if people don’t resonate with each other, meaningful collaboration doesn’t happen. So how do you build that resonance with people?

Mr Prashant Menon: People have always been central to my journey. The moment you become a manager or a leader, you work with teams. As you grow, team size, complexity, and scale all increase. So people have always been a core part of how I function. If working with people was never part of you, it’s very difficult to shift into a people-centric role later, suddenly.

What has changed today is the scope of my work. I help organisations with strategy and business consulting, supporting companies that want to move to the next level, divisions that want to perform better, and brands that want to scale.

While working on these agendas, I engage closely with the people responsible for delivering them. So I address both dimensions, business and people. I offer fresh perspectives on strategy and growth and, at the same time, coach, train, mentor, and engage leaders as needed. I spend time in dialogue, helping them think through challenges.

So organisations and people have always coexisted in my work, earlier and now. The only difference is that today the spread is much wider. I work with large companies, mid-sized firms, and smaller organisations, which gives me a broader platform to learn and contribute.

People-centricity is not a switch you flip; it has to be genuine. If you truly care about people, connection happens naturally. Every week, I connect with many professionals beyond my formal projects, people I’ve worked with earlier, those I’ve met in recent years, and even those who reach out through social media.

They connect to share experiences, seek advice, ask for perspectives, or simply stay in touch. These ongoing conversations keep you alive and relevant.

We all work with people; they are the most important asset of any organisation. The better you understand and work with people, the stronger an organisation’s growth becomes.

Pharma Now: When we talk about resonating with people and learning from failures, you’ve often used your own experiences as case studies while consulting leaders.

Are there qualities in certain leaders that make you relate to them more deeply? Moments where you think, “I was just like this 20–25 years ago”, and that helps you guide them differently? Any story that comes to mind?

Mr Prashant Menon: In fact, this happened just recently. I’m currently running a leadership program for a company's senior leadership team. It’s a 12-month journey with monthly interventions. One month is an in-person workshop, and the next month focuses on one-to-one coaching. The workshops address organisational priorities, while the coaching focuses on individual development.

Among the participants, I noticed two strong qualities in some of the younger leaders. The first is curiosity. Curiosity often declines as people gain experience or become successful. Experience and success can make people feel they already know enough.

But some leaders keep asking thoughtful questions. They’re eager to try new approaches. In one recent batch, a few professionals, around 15–18 years into their careers, stood out. They still had the hunger to learn and experiment.

After every session, they would promptly share their implementation plans, what they intended to apply and how they intended to apply it. That is where real learning happens, in application, not attendance. In every program, only about 5–10% of participants actually apply what they learn within 48 to 72 hours. These individuals do, and they communicate their actions clearly.

They remind me of my younger self. I was always trying to stay prepared and improve my work. As a result, opportunities came my way. I was fortunate to have leaders who trusted my potential even when I didn’t have the full picture. They backed capability over experience. If they sensed the mindset and attitude were right, they were willing to take that chance.

So when I see leaders who are curious, action-oriented, and disciplined in applying what they learn, I relate to them strongly. I sometimes go the extra mile to support them because I know how important that encouragement can be. I didn’t always receive that push, but whenever I did, it made a difference. Today, executive coaching is one of the fastest-growing, high-impact development areas. One-to-one coaching creates deep transformation.

A couple of years ago, I received a message on LinkedIn from someone I didn’t know personally. He wanted executive coaching. I checked his profile and realised we had worked in the same organisations at different times. He was a young sales leader at one of India’s top pharma companies.

I asked him, “Don’t you already receive regular company training?”

His response stayed with me. He said, “Sir, company training teaches me what the organisation needs. Coaching with you will help me grow in what I need.”

He enrolled in coaching about 2.5 years ago. We still meet once every two months to focus on his long-term goals. He told me he wanted to lead a division within ten years, and he was still in mid-level sales at the time.

You don’t meet many professionals who think so clearly about their long-term growth. When I meet people like this, I go out of my way to support them because this mindset is rare.

If more professionals carried this attitude, in pharma or beyond, the impact would be tremendous. My coaching work now includes many non-pharma leaders as well. That exposure broadens my perspective. Coaching others also becomes a journey of self-reflection.

When you coach others, you grow first. Their development follows. So yes, when I meet leaders who are curious, disciplined in execution, and willing to act, I see my younger self in them. Some traits evolve with time, but that core mindset still stays with me.

Pharma Now: Many of the skills we discussed sound professional and structured. But you’ve also faced a very personal challenge since childhood — stammering. Would you share that journey with us?

Mr Prashant Menon: That’s an important part of my life. Not many people know about it. During my school years, early college, and even the beginning of my career, I struggled to start sentences. Speaking in front of groups felt awkward and embarrassing. In sales, where you constantly interact with customers and attend team meetings, this was especially difficult.

People close to me knew about it, but it remained uncomfortable in professional settings. One day, a doctor I used to meet as a client noticed it. He said, “Prashant, this is a small speech issue. You should meet a speech therapist.”

I followed his advice. The therapy focused on pacing my speech. I used to rush through words and sentences. I was eager and anxious, which made my speech uncomfortable and delayed at the start. Learning to slow down changed everything. That was over 25 years ago. Life has moved a long way since then. Today, communication is one of my core strengths.

Most problems can be solved when you identify them, seek the right help, and stay disciplined in working on them. Whether it’s personal or professional, the approach remains the same.

I still remember that doctor, a paediatrician. He had observed me for years. One afternoon, he stopped me and said, “You have a great future. If you want to grow in sales and marketing, work on this one aspect.” I had met hundreds of doctors before him. No one had pointed it out so directly. He wrote down the therapist’s name and number and insisted I visit the same evening. I went, and that moment changed my life.

Even today, when I pass that road, I remember where it all began. The doctor is no longer alive, but I showed the place to my family. Many of them never knew this story because they later met a different version of me. But my school and college friends witnessed the transformation. They often encourage me to share this journey. I wouldn’t say I’m perfect today, but I’ve overcome that challenge to a great extent.

Pharma Now: People often feel insecure about such challenges. They hide them and sometimes avoid opportunities because of them. You chose a career in sales, a field that demands constant communication despite facing this issue. And then, with the right support, you transformed.

Sometimes, colleagues or managers sugarcoat things rather than give honest feedback. But when someone clearly points out an area to improve and pushes you supportively, it can change your life. That kind of push matters.

Mr Prashant Menon: I like how you put that. First, be a good human being. When you’re genuine, well-wishers appear. Someone will step in at the right time. That doctor didn’t have to help me, but he did.

In my early career, I made over 250 sales calls a month. That’s nearly 3,000 a year and close to 10,000 in three years. After thousands of interactions, one person stepped forward and said, “You can fix this.” I didn’t even know help was available. Today, speech support seems obvious. But many challenges, especially mental and emotional ones, aren’t visible.

If you’re struggling, be fearless in asking for help. This connects to a major leadership issue seen worldwide. Many management studies highlight that the biggest leadership gap is a lack of courage. When leaders lack the courage to say “I don’t know” or “I need help,” growth stops.

But when you show courage and openness, things change. Today, vulnerability is seen as a strong leadership trait. Even senior leaders are encouraged to admit when they don’t know something. Experience doesn’t mean you’ve seen everything.

So two things matter: Acknowledge what you don’t know. And have the courage to seek help. When you combine genuineness with the courage to ask for support, solutions begin to appear.

Pharma Now: I have a follow-up question. What are some pressing challenges today’s senior leaders face, especially veterans with two or three decades of experience? Since we’re talking about mental health and leadership pressures, what are the key areas affecting them today?

Mr Prashant Menon: Fabulous question. I probably get asked this three to four times every month. When I work with companies as a consultant and with leaders as a coach, two patterns consistently show up.

First, leaders ask for help too late. Second, many leaders don’t stay relevant over time. When both happen, people wait until they’re pushed into a corner, and by then, help doesn’t arrive in the way they expect.

Ironically, two things that should enable growth often limit it: success and experience. The more experienced you become, the more you feel you know everything. The more successful you are, the less you want to change your methods.

When this mindset sets in, evolution stops. Eventually, change is forced upon you rather than driven by you. In my work, I usually see two kinds of coaching situations. One is proactive coaching. A leader says, “I’m moving into a bigger role. I want to prepare. Coach me.” The other is reactive coaching; “I’m not doing well. I need help now.” These two scenarios are completely different.

When leaders are doing well, they are more open, more courageous, and more willing to experiment. When they are struggling, fear takes over. They hesitate, resist change, and lack the courage to try new approaches.

Often, I get calls from HR heads or business leaders asking me to coach someone. Before I begin, I do background checks to understand the situation. I’ve observed that nearly 60% of coaching interventions are treatment-driven, solving an existing problem. The success rates here are moderate.

But when coaching is preventive and proactive, the outcomes are significantly better. Because proactive coaching is about preparation. Reactive coaching becomes prescriptive, telling someone what they should have done, which is harder to accept when they’re already struggling.

When I speak with mid-management and senior leaders, many quietly admit they haven’t invested in themselves for years.

They’ve become complacent.

They haven’t updated their skills.

They haven’t adapted to changing industry dynamics.

They haven’t stayed aligned with evolving business realities.

So when disruption happens, they feel blindsided. But the truth is, they weren’t caught off guard. They chose to stay where they were. And when you tell them, “You should have done this earlier,” the response is often, “There’s no point saying that now.”

That said, leaders with a resilient mindset still bounce back. They reinvent themselves. But those unwilling to change struggle, and unfortunately, many professionals in their late 40s and early 50s are facing this crisis today.

The external environment is already volatile and demanding. If you’re internally unprepared, the pressure multiplies. Mindset becomes the biggest differentiator. The sooner leaders seek help, the better their chances of recovery and growth. It ultimately comes down to one question: Are you willing to change?

That’s why I always say, preparedness and relevance are non-negotiable. Leaders who continuously stay prepared and relevant don’t fear change. They drive it.

Pharma Now: Talking from an organisational perspective, how can pharma companies build a strong culture that nurtures both scientific excellence and commercial success?

Mr Prashant Menon: Pharma companies have a responsibility to remain science-first at all times; there’s no alternative. Ethics and science are absolutely non-negotiable if an organisation wants to play the long game.

If you look at many successful Indian pharmaceutical companies, especially branded formulation players, their growth has been anchored in science. I’m not referring to multinational corporations here, because they often have an innovator advantage. I’m talking about Indian companies that built success through disciplined execution.

These organisations focused deeply on specific therapy areas, strengthened core processes, and maintained operational discipline. Commercial success became an outcome of that approach, not the starting point. Their business models reflected scientific rigour, responsibility toward doctors, and accountability to patients.

They ensured products reached the market at the right time and price, and remained accessible. They invested in patient support programs, continuously educated doctors, and built trust through responsible practices.

Organisations that consistently align science, ethics, and patient responsibility tend to achieve sustainable commercial success. There are no shortcuts here. Science and ethics are the twin pillars of long-term pharmaceutical leadership.

Pharma Now: What is one major industry shift that pharma professionals often overlook but should pay more attention to?

Mr Prashant Menon: Today, everyone is betting big on AI and digital transformation. It’s the dominant conversation across boardrooms, conferences, and strategy meetings. I read extensively on this topic, and many experts agree on one critical point: while technology and AI are powerful enablers, companies must simultaneously strengthen their fundamentals.

If fundamentals are weak, operational ethics, governance, compliance systems, and core processes, no amount of advanced technology can compensate. Organisations that chase digital transformation without fixing the basics often spend heavily but fail to realise meaningful value. They remain stuck in a cycle of catching up.

To truly leverage technology, companies must run efficiently, operate responsibly, and keep patient centricity at the heart of everything they do. Strong foundations amplify the impact of digital investments. Weak foundations dilute them.

The biggest global conversation, whether in India or the US, is about digital maturity and AI readiness. Many organisations are adopting technology across functions and departments. However, a major gap still exists.

Technology adoption is strongest at head offices and leadership levels. But as you move closer to the front line, sales teams, plant operators, and shop-floor personnel, exposure to technology drops significantly. And this is where real transformation must happen. When technology truly reaches the front line, its impact multiplies.

Frontline professionals understand conversations better than complex systems or standalone apps. If technology becomes more conversational, intuitive, and human-centred, adoption improves dramatically. Organisations must design digital strategies that empower the last mile of their workforce, not just leadership and mid-management. Technology should not remain a boardroom tool. It must become a frontline companion.

Pharma Now: Sir, speaking about AI and technology, you also hold multiple certifications, including from the International Coaching Federation. Your LinkedIn profile already reflects an extensive journey, so that I won’t list everything here. Many of these certifications were completed during the lockdown period. Was your ability to seize opportunities and upskill driven by discipline, or has it always been a natural part of your personality?

Mr Prashant Menon: Around 2020, I decided to start on my own. I founded Workplace Dynamics in October 2020. When I chose to move out of an active corporate role and enter this line of work independently, it was important for me to be trained structurally and systematically.

Coaching was a natural evolution. As a leader, you coach constantly in the workplace. But most of that is training and mentoring. Professional coaching, as a discipline, is different; it focuses on asking powerful questions and enabling the client to embark on an exploratory journey.

That’s where I needed formal training. I wanted structured learning and credible certification from globally recognised coaching institutions. If I were going to work as a full-time leadership and executive coach, I would have to be better prepared than before.

Earlier, my coaching experience was organic. It came with the role years of working, learning on the job, and guiding teams. But professional coaching requires a different depth of method and structure. Being a professionally certified coach adds an entirely new dimension to your ability to help and influence others.

That’s why leadership coaching certifications became an important part of my plans. The process took over a year of training and supervised coaching. I had to be coached myself and trained rigorously.

And it doesn’t stop there. These certifications typically have a three-year validity, so continuous learning is built into the system. Every couple of years, I undergo further training in coaching and mentoring with experts in the field. If I practice coaching, I must also live it; I have to stay trained and up to date.

The timing during lockdown was more of a coincidence. That was simply when I decided to begin independently. It has now been five years. The decision to train was intentional and aligned with that career transition. If you look at how my month is structured today, it’s very deliberate. 

Roughly one-third of my time is spent on consulting engagements. Another one-third goes into leadership interventions, workshops and coaching sessions. The remaining one-third is dedicated to preparation, reading, and research. If I neglect that final third, the other two-thirds lose their impact. I stay constantly updated on trends across the pharma and non-pharma sectors and bring those insights into my work.

A common leadership challenge today is operating only in the present. If you don’t invest time in the future, you become outdated. That’s one of the reasons leaders face crises: they haven’t spent enough time staying relevant. Now, continuous learning is part of my role. My calendar reflects this clearly.

Every month, around 10–12 days are devoted to reading, connecting with people, researching trends, and sharing insights. The rest of the time, I’m with clients, conducting workshops, meetings, and strategy sessions. Those sessions require depth. And depth comes from preparation.

I strongly encourage professionals to read beyond their domain. We become so focused on our specialisation that we limit our perspective. Real strength often lies outside your core field. Fresh thinking comes from non-domain exposure.

If someone in the media only studies other podcasters, there’s learning, but it becomes incremental. When you explore different interview formats, industries, or storytelling styles, you discover ideas that wouldn’t emerge otherwise. In my research time each month, more than half is spent outside the pharma industry. 

That’s intentional. It helps me bring fresh perspectives, avoid stagnation, and stay relevant to diverse audiences. Spend time on non-domain learning and experiences. That’s how you grow faster and think better. There’s valuable insight across industries; you just have to look beyond your immediate field.

Pharma Now: You’ve also been recognised among the 100 Most Influential Persons in Marketing. We should truly be taking lessons from you.

Mr Prashant Menon: Read a lot. Politics teaches you immensely. It teaches strategy, positioning, negotiation, and long-term thinking. Geopolitics today is a major game-changer for all of us. Whether we like it or not, global developments affect our industries, businesses, and decisions.

You need to understand what’s happening around the world. Learn from other industries. Observe how HR functions operate elsewhere. Examine manufacturing practices across different sectors. Every field has something valuable to teach. Not everything you learn will be immediately applicable. But at some point, something connects. You don’t connect the dots today, you connect them later. 

When learning becomes a regular habit, you begin connecting dots faster and in more innovative ways. That’s why exploring non-domain areas is so important. It gives you fresh perspectives and unique ideas to bring to the table. Most professionals, nine out of ten, focus only on strengthening their domain expertise. They spend nearly 100% of their time there. That’s the mistake.

Pharma Now: That’s a wonderful takeaway for our audience. For the final few questions, you stay incredibly busy. How do you manage work–life balance? Do you have hobbies or favourite activities to unwind?

Mr Prashant Menon: That’s a tough one. I don’t have a specific hobby as such. I enjoy reading and sometimes just relaxing, though with so much happening, you occasionally feel guilty slowing down. Music is something I truly enjoy. I also spend a lot of time reading, both digital and physical books. Over the past few years, digital reading has grown significantly, and I make use of that.

I also like observing people, understanding how they think, work, and communicate. There’s always something to learn from different personalities and journeys. Some days and weeks are extremely busy. But on lighter days, I try to unwind by spending time with family and friends, catching up over calls, and having simple conversations. 

There’s no single fixed way I relax. No defined hobby yet. But honestly, this question has made me reflect. I think it’s time I find a hobby. I know many people who are deeply passionate about their hobbies, and I see the value they bring. That’s definitely on my to-do list. Maybe when we meet again for another interview, I’ll have something new to share.

Pharma Now: Wonderful. It was truly a pleasure having you with us. We’ve gained so many valuable insights today, and I’m sure our listeners will take away a lot from this conversation. Thank you for joining us on Pharma Now.

Mr Prashant Menon: Thank you so much for the invitation and your generous time. It’s been a pleasure interacting with the team at Pharma Now. I’ve been following the excellent work you’ve done over the past couple of years, with very active and meaningful contributions.

I really liked your publications as well, the journal and the magazine. I received a copy and found it beautifully conceptualised. It doesn’t feel like a young publication; it reflects the depth of experience behind it. It’s contemporary, polished, and thoughtfully produced.

Please keep up the great work. I’m sure our paths will cross again—my best wishes to you and the entire organisation.