Kristi Frank didn’t start out like you’d expect. Despite raising the bar for leadership every day as the vice president of procurement for Novo Nordisk, Kristi didn’t start out wanting to be in corporate pharmaceuticals. She didn’t even think about being in business. But her start as an actress taking odd jobs has proven a pivotal foundation to her winding path of success in her career—giving her the skills and creative ingenuity to not only perform the job on paper, but as with any script, bring it to life in her own unique way and leave a mark.

She’s a connector, seeing potential in people and circumstances that others might not and taking chances bringing them together to create something better. You’d be forgiven for thinking that the story of the person who did singing telegram deliveries becoming a top corporate executive is something out of a movie. But Kristi compels you to see past the shock of unconventionality, and employ empathy to recognize potential even where you might not expect it because our workplaces need that. Faced with an unprecedentedly noisy marketplace, standing out means businesses need to stand ten toes down in discomfort and embrace a new kind of leadership that puts the person first. In an age of automation, C-suites holding war rooms about where humans fit into the equation need look no further than Kristi Frank.

How does humanity benefit the workplace? Kristi would tell you it is the workplace. It is the work. And if you don’t make work a place for people, the work will suffer for it. That’s why she always has championed the underdog and sought to give others chances. Something of a unicorn in her own company (something that’s not gone unnoticed by her team), Kristi has experienced firsthand in her career that it goes deeper than just standing out. What are the traits of the unicorn?

What qualities do they bring that go deeper than novelty? That’s what lights Kristi up and why she’s trying to make a team of unicorns at Novo. In her opinion, for leaders, the job is not simply how to optimize human labor as a resource. It’s about how to recognize exactly what each and every employee individually brings and putting them in places to best utilize their strengths. Ever curious, listening, waiting, and really getting to know a person—even among a team of 60-strong—has served Kristi well in being able to find those strengths no matter how dormant they may be buried.

Kristi’s come to Novo at an interesting moment in time. Arriving a few years ago just before a period of enormous growth with very limited competition, Kristi’s now part of a leadership team responsible for 65% of the company’s revenue when the race is getting tighter. Suddenly, the challenge is not solely about meeting demand, but standing out and creating it among a host of competitors vying for market share.

And with this jack of all trades, this underdog, unicorn, and visionary leader they have the right person in the right place to do that. Kristi Frank isn't just adapting to Novo Nordisk's future—she's authoring it.