Episode #239: Rami Suzuki, President ARC Therapies

Previously Rami was President of Moderna Japan, CEO of Ferring Pharmaceuticals, VP Head Medical Affairs Division Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Corporate Officer, Business Development Eisai.

Summary

Rami Suzuki’s leadership journey is marked by adaptability, honesty, and a commitment to empowering others. Beginning her career as a cancer researcher, she quickly realized her strengths lay in enabling scientists rather than conducting experiments herself. This realization led her to venture capital and later to executive roles in pharmaceutical and biotech companies, where she managed teams across diverse cultural landscapes.

Suzuki’s leadership philosophy centers on honesty. She believes in expressing both praise and concerns openly, ensuring that her team members feel valued while also addressing challenges directly. This transparency builds trust and fosters engagement, helping employees feel safe to share ideas and mistakes without fear. She sees mistakes not as personal failures but as systemic issues that can often be resolved through better alignment between roles and individuals.

A strong advocate of creating an empowering environment, Suzuki prioritizes making employees comfortable and motivated in their roles. She believes in adjusting leadership styles based on cultural contexts, noting that while leading multinational teams in London came naturally, managing Japanese teams required learning Japan’s unique business culture. She found that Japanese employees often hesitate to share ideas or admit mistakes due to cultural norms but discovered that remote work and written communication encouraged more participation from reserved individuals.

Building engagement within teams is another cornerstone of her leadership. When she led Moderna Japan, she grew the team from three to over a hundred in just 18 months while maintaining high morale. She credits this success to a culture of trust, shared purpose, and active listening. Instead of dictating solutions, she encourages discussion and collaboration, often leveraging off-site retreats (gasshuku) for deeper engagement and idea-sharing.

On leadership challenges, she highlights the difficulty of balancing corporate, national, and personal leadership styles within global organizations. She advises foreign leaders in Japan to immerse themselves in the culture—not just through work but by enjoying Japanese food, art, and history. She also stresses the importance of clear communication with international headquarters to bridge cultural misunderstandings.

Suzuki’s leadership is defined by a non-authoritarian, enabling approach where people are encouraged to work toward a shared mission. She likens leadership to traditional Japanese music—where each individual contributes their own unique sound rather than conforming to a single melody. In her view, great leadership does not come from being the loudest voice in the room but from creating an environment where every voice can be heard.