22 Jan Men at Work: The EQ Leader
Novartis Pharmaceuticals’ Marion E. Brooks believes that emotional intelligence is the No. 1 key to success
By Camila Diaz
As the vice president and US country head of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Novartis Pharmaceuticals and in his previous roles, Marion E. Brooks has successfully built and led award-winning teams in sales, marketing, training and development, and diversity and inclusion, including a team that generated $1 billion in annual sales.
He is also an internationally certified executive coach and the award-winning author of What You Don’t Know Is Hurting You: 4 Keys to a Phenomenal Career. Brooks has over 25 years of experience as an executive in the health science industry. As an expert in emotional intelligence and career development, he has consistently been recognized for outstanding achievements and has won numerous awards, including OnConferences’ Business Leader of the Year Award and Top 100 Human Resources Professionals in the World, and Diversity Awards’ Top 100 Healthcare Diversity Officers. He holds a BA in marketing and an MBA in management.
Homegrown in Texas, Brooks is committed to people and their development. He stays true to this passion through his volunteer work in the community and with numerous mentoring and development programs. He is also the chairman of the board of directors of Sunshine’s Open Door Foundation, an organization focused on supporting foster children.
Brooks considers himself a “girl dad”—he has a young-adult daughter, Morgan, and three nieces, Christarian, Montrese, and Henette, whom he has helped raise as his own.
Executive Woman: Describe leadership lessons you learned at a young age, and how your upbringing influenced your career direction.
Marion Brooks: My brother, sister, and I grew up with our grandparents as our primary caretakers, and I watched them make sacrifices not just for our family but for other members of our community. This had a major impact on my decision to launch my career in the health-care industry—I wanted to help people. It also drove my decisions to become an executive coach and to write a book helping leaders navigate their careers.
Two major leadership lessons I learned from my grandparents are the power of emotional intelligence and servant leadership. My grandmother always led with compassion, especially in challenging situations. She and my grandfather had an open-door policy; everyone in our community knew they could always come to our house
if they needed support or guidance.
EW: How did you get into the work of being a DEI leader? What propelled you here?
MB: I spent the first 19 years of my career at Novartis on the commercial side of the business. I served in roles as head of marketing, head of sales, and leading training and development. During that time, I was very active in the DEI space. I served as chairman of one of our employee resource groups and on our executive DEI council. In 2019, I was approached about my interest in the US DEI lead role. Until then, each division had set their own DEI strategies and objectives. However, Novartis recognized that to truly weave DEI into its DNA, it needed to be led at the country level by someone with a proven track record of impact in a DEI space who had a strong influence in the business. I was more than happy to take on the challenge.
EW: How has your role as an executive coach informed your leadership style and your work?
MB: When I was working on my executive coaching certification, two of the courses focused on emotional intelligence (EQ). While I was familiar with the concept of EQ, I had never gone deep enough to understand the four quadrants [self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, and relationship management] and where I fell in each of them. As I delved deeper into EQ, I learned 80 percent of our success is based on EQ, but most people, including myself at the time, are not aware of our strengths and areas of opportunity.
Enhancing my EQ has enabled me to be an even more empathetic leader and to assess challenging situations more effectively to identify joint solutions—“win-wins.”
I also have my teams work with an executive coach to focus on their EQ, and we follow up with EQ-focused team sessions to understand how our individual strengths and opportunities impact our team culture and performance. It’s been a game changer.
EW: Describe an impactful DEI initiative you oversee at Novartis.
MB Our Girls in Science and Business Mentoring Program expands Novartis’s remit of reimagining medicine together with local communities. Novartis is partnering with young women in New Jersey middle and high schools to pilot a tailor-made introduction to the pharmaceutical industry. Through mentorships and lectures, the program gives girls in grades eight to 11 real-world exposure to research and drug development and commercialization. The program aims to encourage each student to envision new possibilities for the world of medicine by exploring the intersection of science and medicine.
EW: What are some common challenges you’ve seen when it comes to women advancing into the highest levels?
MB In my life, I’ve witnessed stereotypes based on sex, women being over-mentored and under-sponsored, and lack of access to investment in development. In many instances, it’s not a lack of aptitude; it’s a lack of access and investmentthat stops women from advancing.
When I began my career with Novartis 24 years ago, there were not a lot of women in leadership. Today, 47 percent of our leadership is female, thanks to Novartis’s commitment to investing in and supporting women.
EW: You call yourself a “girl dad.” What do you mean by that, and how has it translated in the workplace?
MB I have the honor of serving in the role of father to four amazing young women, my biological daughter and three nieces. Similar to the way my grandparents raised and supported my brother, sister, and me, I’ve had the great fortune to do so for my girls, who are all thriving adults today.
I have always been surrounded by incredible female leaders, so I’m always in disbelief when I hear questions about a woman’s ability to lead. In the workplace, I judge all individuals on three criteria: kindness, competence, and consistency in being kind and competent.
EW: How best can men support women in their leadership journey?
MB The best way is through advocacy, allyship, and mentorship/sponsorship. It takes more than words—it requires action. The great bell hooks once said, “Feminism is for everybody.”
I am grateful to work for a company with inclusion role models at all levels. I’ve learned from women mentors and sponsors throughout my career, and I certainly would not be the leader I am today without them.
EW: What advice would you offer women seeking to rise?
MB: I recommend the following:
• Invest in your personal and professional development
• Advocate for yourself
• Seek out informal mentors and sponsors
• Leave big footprints for women behind you to step into
• Mentor men, as this creates allies and advocates like me—and together, we are unstoppable! EW
The Résumé
Name: Marion Brooks
Company: Novartis Pharmaceuticals
Job title: Vice president and US country head, DEI
City: Los Angeles
Favorite quote: “I never lose, I either win or learn.” — Nelson Mandela
