A biotech sales executive, Susan navigated two inflection points in six months— a promotion and a merger—to become an organizational leader.
Customer Journey Series: Susan
This article is part of a customer journey series following “Susan,” a biotech sales executive navigating rapid organizational growth, leadership pressure, acquisitions, and team scaling.
Each post explores a real coaching conversation or leadership challenge from that journey.
This is the first post in Susan’s series.
Susan came to me at an inflection point. She was a high-performing sales leader for a biotech medical device and was being promoted to oversee sales across EMEA. It would require handling a much bigger team, more travel, and more corporate politics than before. She felt she needed someone she could trust to support her transition.
The challenges evolved quickly over the months that followed. Sales targets everywhere were increased as she stepped into the role. That meant her role expanded and at the same time, the demands increased for everyone on her team.
In her newly expanded areas, she inherited a few low performers that she had to deal with right away to reach the targets.
At the same time, pressure from above intensified. Her boss was erratic and not always supportive of her, but she learned to stay steady regardless of his behavior, focus on her team, and give them what they needed to be successful.
There were also some surprises along the way, requiring adapting to a whole new set of circumstances, another new team, yet more new expectations.
I worked with her for six months, over which time she transformed from a high performer to an organizational leader.
Several lessons emerged over the months that followed, which server as the themes of this series.
- Leadership is not about heroics. It’s about listening to your team and giving them what they need to be successful
- Develop your high performers so they can be leaders and help you grow
- Your boss’s stress is not your stress
- Prioritize self care. Take needed breaks to avoid burn out and be fully present when you are at work.
- Take time to self-reflect on what’s happening, ideally with a coach, so you can be more strategic and less reactive.
Over the time we worked together, Susan stopped thinking of leadership as pushing harder or carrying more herself. She built a habit of self-reflection which helped her project steady leadership presence and be more strategic. That shift changed not only how she led, but what her team became capable of accomplishing together. She developed other leaders and created alignment across teams under pressure.
Susan’s Values
One of the things I ask coaching clients to do is define their leadership values. Leadership values become a compass during difficult decisions and help leaders consistently show up the way they want to be remembered.
Susan’s values evolved as her role evoloved. She did a lot right and her values centered around the practices that made her successful throughout her evolution.
- Listen a lot to figure out what others need to be successful.
- When others are stressed, remain calm and give them space to talk it out.
- Alignment is key, make sure your plan is aligned with company goals.
- Develop your high performers into leaders
- No matter how busy things get, prioritize your mental and physical health and encourage your team to do the same.
Continue the Journey
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