THE PEOPLE-FIRST CHANGE CHAMPION 

Siddharth Singh enjoys thriving in the cross-section of people, technology and uncertainty, bringing his wide ranging exposure, comfort with disruption and deep faith in humanity to alter the science, diagnostics and healthcare strategy terrain. 

MEET THE LEADER

Siddharth Singh leads the India & SAARC operations of MP Biomedicals as GM & country head with a plant in Mumbai. He is a leading face in the life science, diagnostics and healthcare strategy space. 

Siddharth’s 17 year journey in the healthcare domain has featured several triumphs and highs,  including: Identifying & executing new market opportunities to deliver growth objectives, translating scientific & market insights into commercial executable strategies, functional expertise in innovation, marketing and commercial operations and a proven ability to manage cross cultural teams in a complex, matrixed organization to achieve common goals.

A KALEIDOSCOPIC JOURNEY 

Prior to his role at MP Biomedicals, Siddharth led Abbott rapid diagnostics - India commercials to double digit $M business. Before moving to India in 2018, Siddharth Singh was in a regional marketing role based out of Abbott’s Singapore location where he built capabilities to drive adoption of rapid & molecular Point of care diagnostics in APAC countries. Prior to Abbott, at Becton Dickinson Medicals, Siddharth led the strategic marketing, innovations & commercial effectiveness activities with APAC affiliates to achieve their business objectives across all the divisions. His stint at Frost & Sullivan allowed him to identify critical  strategic problems and develop solutions for med-tech & pharma companies in the region. In addition, Siddharth nurtures deep engagements with policy makers and government institutions, helping them amplify their priorities and achieve their goals.

Siddharth is trained at Stanford University for a multidisciplinary approach to strengthen innovation and portfolio execution capabilities in the organizations under its executive Bio-Design Program. 

DRIVING MANTRAS OF AN ‘EXPLORER MONK’

We initiate the long-anticipated rendezvous by taking a deep dive into the one big idea, concept or philosophy that defines Siddharth and his approach to life : What would he say is his success mantra? The multifaceted idea leader shares : 

“My life has been more like that of on ‘An Explorer Monk’ who always sought learning opportunities and built his skills.  Having travelled across the APAC, I have encountered peoples and societies of diverse background at close range through the lens of ‘misery to luxury’. The diversity and depth of my experiences have influenced my approach to life significantly, and made me humble yet progressive.”

A PEOPLE-FIRST LEADER 

The one though that keeps me motivated is that I am responsible for growth and well-being of people who are associated with me or my organization. Symbiotically, I take care of their growth and they help me grow more. My efforts & resources are always routed towards enabling people to deliver more so that we can raise the bar. The same philosophy drives my deep engagement with grass root stakeholders including front-line sales, users & channel partners. The more I know them, the more I am able to decipher their motivations and eventually channelize their energies in productive results. By the way the same I apply at my personal life as well where my family is given more ears than mouth. Hearing abilities may have evolved, but listening skills are still rare: Being good listener solves many problems.”

TIPPING POINT 

Significant journeys are often a mish-mash of multiple seminal influences. We are curious: Was there any person or life-altering experience or turning-point that moulded Siddharth’s own odyssey? Why or how did this idea / philosophy become the driving force of your journey? The visionary mind turns the torch on the past as he reflects…

“While I was doing my MBA in Philippines at Asian Institute of management, due to personal reasons, I had to drop it middle ways. Too much was at stake for a small town boy of a lower class family who had betted all their savings on my education abroad. During that crisis situation, a Christian minister at local church saw an opportunity to shape my character and pursued me to follow Christianity. I took strength not only from Christianity but from people who helped me come out of the situation. Eventually I completed my studies at Ateneo De Manila university and landed with a fairly attractive job at Frost & Sullivan. This whole episode taught me how to draw inspiration from ordinary people and their activities instead of looking up to any Hero. Also I learnt how to create a symbiotic ecosystem by utilizing everyone’s strength.    

Since then I have applied my abilities to be better than who I am, by learning from everyone around me. Humans have evolved via incremental mirroring of their species. My case is no different.” 

THE NEXT TARGET 

So what is the big goal or challenge that Siddharth wants to solve going forward? What’s in his cross-hairs, so to speak? The idea champion divulges candidly…

“Mental health & well-being is an area that I would like to impress upon. The problem is not recognized as serios and access to quality and affordable services are still available to few and its considered as taboo to acknowledge. The growing presence of apps and various digital tools are likely to help in promoting the awareness however maintaining the quality of content is the biggest challenge which lawmakers and medical practitioners are worried about. 

Another area of concern is the data privacy which is becoming a valuable asset if associated with any medical condition. This space needs some remarkable approach in promoting awareness in all age groups and all segments of society but school & college students are the most vulnerable population of mental illness.”

THE BIG IDEA 

A Do-er and Disruptor at heart, Siddharth hasn’t just been exploring hurdles. He has been building concrete plans to take them on, too. The man continues to elucidate… 

“My learning from fellowships were effective in removing any negative thoughts because I found someone to share in person not virtually. These days despite growing interconnectedness of various social networking sites, that bonding goes amiss which is available with in-person. A simple yet effective technique to spread awareness is inclusion of mental health as a subject in colleges which directly targets this vulnerable population. Parental awareness for encouraging their children is equally important across all strata of society. This reminds me of the emotional conflict that parents still face while discussing about sex education. Unlike the sex education which will probably takes multi years to overcome its shyness, we should always emphasize the importance of mental health in families. 

With quality contents , in future, digital technologies will broaden the access, however it would be the families, parental awareness and college curriculum which will bring self-awareness, minimize the stigma and discrimination and enable self-determination in driving mental and behavioural well-being.”

A WORD ABOUT VOH

As an insightful and inspirational session draws to a close, we wish Sidhharth the very best for the future, and wind things down with a request to share a line or two about VOH. How can tribute profiles such as Idea Leaders add direction, inspiration and positive energy to the healthcare community? The idea leader generously obliges…

“VOH is harnessing the power of innovative collaboration among diverse healthcare professionals. Idea Leaders is one way to reinforce that “learning from people” is the best strategy to improve standard of care for patients and build a multi-disciplinary healthcare community.”

*This story is published by VOH team.*