When Adriana Kiedzierska-Mencfeld first entered biotechnology more than two decades ago, Poland’s industrial biotechnology sector was still emerging, and building a domestic biologics industry remained a major challenge.
Rather than leaving, she chose to stay and contribute to its development. “I played a key role in building the foundations of the industrial biotechnology industry in Poland,” she said. “Creating something that, just a few years earlier, sounded almost impossible.”
Now CEO of Rezon Bio, a company focused on delivering services for developing and manufacturing biologic medicines, her motivation has remained consistent. “Delivering therapies to patients who would otherwise have no access to them – that purpose has driven every decision across my entire career,” she said.
The resilience trap
Before joining IMD’s Executive MBA, Kiedzierska-Mencfeld had spent years moving through increasingly complex operational roles, from process development into clinical and commercial manufacturing, where precision mattered and failure carried consequences.
Over time, she internalized a simple instinct: work harder, carry more, endure pressure quietly. “I had been telling myself for years that resilience means effort, that strength means carrying the load yourself,” she said.
During her time at IMD, she was simultaneously navigating one of the most demanding periods of her career. Rezon Bio was transforming its business model, shifting from developing its own biological medicines to manufacturing them for other companies.
The change went far beyond operations, requiring a rethink of strategy, customer relationships, and culture. Rather than stepping away from the pressure, she brought it directly into the classroom.
“Every assignment was grounded in real challenges from my company, and every framework I learned went straight into practice.”
– Adriana Kiedzierska-Mencfeld
The moment leadership became real
But the most significant shift came elsewhere.
During the Peru immersion trip, Kiedzierska-Mencfeld was deeply affected by conversations with leaders operating under extraordinary pressure. One insight, shared by former Peruvian President Francisco Sagasti, stayed with her long after the program ended: “Crisis does not create a leader’s character. Crisis reveals it.”
Shortly afterwards, she faced a defining moment of her own. Newly appointed as CEO, she came under pressure to appoint someone to her executive team she did not believe was right for the role. The easier option would have been to avoid conflict and agree. Instead, she refused.
“There was tension, pushback, emotional pressure,” she said. “I stood firm.”
The experience reinforced what she had begun to understand during the leadership stream led by Professor Anand Narasimhan: leadership is not about carrying everything alone.
“I learned that before you can lead others, you must first lead yourself,” she said. “That vulnerability is not weakness. That real authority comes from integrity, not position.”
It also reframed the very quality she had always taken pride in. “I started to see that resilience is not endurance,” she said. “It is the ability to create space between stimulus and response.”
In a world shaped by accelerating change, geopolitical instability, and AI disruption, she believes this is where leadership matters most. “Not in the stable moments but in the uncertain ones,” she said. “Leaders today are called to keep organizations steady, anchor clarity when fear spreads faster than facts, and above all stay human. That is what people need right now. Not just performance. Presence.”
Prioritizing over perfecting
Completing the EMBA while leading a company transformation brought Kiedzierska-Mencfeld to confront a long-held habit.
“The EMBA forced me to make a different kind of choice, not between good and bad, but between what is most important and what can be good enough,” she said.
Letting go of perfection did not come naturally. She had spent years holding herself to exceptionally high standards. The experience also changed how she thought about support.
Her husband, family, colleagues, IMD Coach – Nick, and mentors became essential to making it possible. “Without him, it simply would not have been the same journey,” she said of her husband, whom she describes as both her closest companion and “the best manager I could ever have.”
The realization stayed with her long after the program itself. Leadership, she began to understand, does not become stronger in isolation.
Building what lasts
Today, Kiedzierska-Mencfeld speaks as much about culture and people development as she does about operations or strategy. “Culture is not something you judge,” she said. “It is something you listen to.”
Increasingly, she is focused on helping younger women entering leadership roles. “If my story makes someone believe it’s possible for them too, that’s an achievement I can’t put a number on,” she said.
She sees that responsibility more clearly now, particularly after her own experience navigating leadership as the only woman on an executive team. Too often, she believes, talented women hesitate before opportunities they are already ready for.
“Leadership does not require perfection,” she said. “It requires authenticity, resilience, and curiosity.” Helping others develop those qualities now matters to her as much as any business result.
For Kiedzierska-Mencfeld, the industry she helped build in Poland is proof that purpose endures beyond any single role or milestone. But so is something quieter: the realization that enduring leaders are not the ones who carry the most, but the ones who know what is worth carrying and who help others to carry it too.
