Innovation and leadership program
23 July 2019
Interview with Ron Byron about his leadership program – Managing Partner, Ekoy Invest
We had the opportunity to interview Ron Byron, Managing Partner of Ekoy Invest. He recently launched his “Team Performance Series” leadership Program. We talked about his career and leadership. If you want to know more, then keep on reading.
Ron has an unorthodox past for someone in his position. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in sports, science & physical education. He worked in the industry for a short period of time. Later on, he decided to study Business Administration at the University of Glasgow and got his Master’s degree in Strategy & Organisation. In 2010, Ron got his PhD in management, science & technology and is named Doctor of Philosophy. During this time, he worked for various companies worldwide. Almost nine years ago, he decided to start his own company. Currently, Ron is specialised in leadership and executive coaching programs for entrepreneurs and industry leaders.
Why did you decide to switch careers from sport, science & physical education to starting your own company in the biotechnology/medical technology industry?
After working at the sport academy for numerous years I felt like I needed a switch. I was providing the same classes, in the same room with the same colleagues. I needed a new challenge that would stimulate me again. I decided to take a personality test that would put my characteristics into perspective. The result of this test was that I had an affinity with sales. I took this advice and found myself working 25 years at various pharmaceutical companies in various commercial and operational roles. In 2010, I decided to start my own consulting company focused on providing training and coaching sessions. I did this during my PhD, where I was able to combine my experience in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industries and interests in management, science and technology.
What was a significant aspect you learned during your PhD?
I learned that people have a preferred way of thinking. Important stakeholders that play a part in this experience are family, school and culture context. These preferred ways of thinking and behaving become habits. There are several preferences for instance, you can ask what is going on and why did it happen. However, you can also ask: Who can help me? Am I competent enough? How will this influence my colleagues? What is the bigger picture? Asking the right questions as a leader will bring you different answers and different perspectives. For example: there is a problem with an automatisation system in a company. The analytical question is: What is going on? What happened? The Structural question is: How is it going to be solved? You can also ask open questions, which are called the conceptual questions: What is the context of the problem? What scenarios have occurred to let it happen? Or relational questions: Are we competent enough to solve this problem? Who can help us to solve this problem? Do we need an external party? By asking various questions you get different answers and different opportunities and perspectives to solve the problem.
You started a leadership program called “Team Performance Series”. Could you provide more information about it?
The medtech and biotech industries are both industries that are continuously developing and evolving. Therefore, continuous improvement and training is expected from professionals who are active or want to be active in the industry. However, from my 25 years of experience and research over the past 5 years, I noticed that organisational, professional and national culture have a large impact on how employees behave in an organisational context. Additionally, cultural context plays a more important role on innovation than people expect. Moreover, to what extent does leadership play a role within the combination of culture and innovation. What drives people? Why do they do what they do? How is performance influenced? This, among other things, will be discussed during the program.
What makes this program different?
The aspect which makes this program so special is because it is targeted specifically towards leadership and innovation within start-ups and scale-ups in the bio-pharmaceutics industry. This enables for the program to be more effective and focused towards its targeted audience.
What benefits will attendees reap from this program?
You will get the opportunity to learn how to navigate your team to top-performance. Unlock your team’s potential, advance their performance and take them to a higher level of trust, commitment and collaboration.
Ron Byron, has over 25 years of business management and strategic planning experience from various organisations throughout the world. He has extensive experience in the medical technology 
and bio-pharmaceuticals industry in the areas of sales, marketing and operational management. Currently, Ron is Managing Partner at Ekoy Investment Partners BV and is specialised in the identification and selection of promising and innovative start-ups in the bio-medical and medical technology industry.