As a leader you have a responsibility to demonstrate ambition. You have been chosen for your position because your organization believes in your capabilities and thinks you offer a good role model. You represent the corporate mission every single day. You walk the talk. You communicate the group narrative to your peers and upwards, accountable for aligning and inspiring your teams, so you regularly check in to calibrate and trim directions and speed.

‍LISTEN. When you work in a cross-functional matrix you may not like every position you come across. More ideas make the end-product better. Being open and truly listening to your partners and stakeholders will tell you what is really needed.

Critical roles in your team and your leadership team amplify the ambition and the cultural approach.

Dialog with stakeholders brings the wisdom a company needs. It tells you which thoughts resonate, and which don’t. It helps us keep following our guiding star and constantly review our journey, elevate what’s possible and bring our leadership team along with us.

‍Be open.

When people work together, relationships are at play. We need to appreciate that corporate life will involve many times when we will feel insecure, have doubts what others are thinking and be overwhelmed by apparent politics (although this can mean different things to different people). Transparency and caring, open communication can reduce unnecessary sources of doubt. As a leader my ambition is to have people around me who know what I know, so we can build a consistent and clear context and direction that allows subject-matter experts to take targeted decisions.

‍Be interested in your partners and stakeholders and understand where they are coming from. Surprise colleagues who do not naturally connect with you by reaching out. Reconnect when you realize what you said was not popular and ask how you can do better next time.

‍Working together generates all the energy of camaraderie. We lean on each other, rely on our each other and provide loyal support to achieve our ultimate goal – patient benefits. It’s a team sport.