This summer’s Olympic Games generated insightful discussion about what it means to be at the top of your game and to execute flawlessly when you are expected to deliver. And though we cannot all be elite athletes, there are important lessons one can take from those who competed in London – about overcoming challenges, making an impact, and operating with integrity. These are lessons that have guided me professionally and personally.

I completed my undergraduate degree at Hobart College in Geneva, New York. As I approached finishing my degree in biology, with a concentration in genetics, I was fully anticipating a career as a research scientist. However, during my one and only year as a researcher in a lab, I realised quickly that what I really loved was the business of the science. 

I enrolled at Kenan Flager Business School at the University of North Carolina (UNC), and I credit those two years with first changing my view of the world. This was the late 1980s. At that time, “international” was not a common characteristic for the towns I had grown up in or the small city where I had attended college, so UNC represented a head-dunking in terms of global exposure. I joined a class with more than 20% of the students from outside of the United States, and to hear how different cultures and businesses in foreign countries operated was fascinating and enlightening for me. 

While in school, I was honoured to be selected for an internship with the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, an organisation that has been critical to establishing that region of the United States as a leader in the life sciences. This became the first chapter in the long and frequently intertwined story of my career in the life sciences industry.

South Africa

After graduation, I joined the management training programme for another pharmaceutical company, and I held various positions throughout my first few years with that company. In 1998, my family and I moved to South Africa. 

I have always been a believer in the potential for modern medical science to save lives. But in South Africa I had the chance to see it with my own eyes. I arrived there during the height of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, in what is recognised by sociology experts as one of the most complex cultures in the world – 11 official languages at the time, 15 official political parties, in its first post-apartheid government, seeking to have its first peaceful transition of power.

Working in the pharmaceutical industry can be incredibly rewarding, though not without its challenges. It’s a fact that many people come to work for our industry because they want to help patients improve their health and live more productive lives. And yet at times, an industry that saves lives can be the focus of much anger and frustration.

When I was in Africa, the pharmaceutical industry, along with the rest of the global community, was struggling to understand how best to tackle the HIV/AIDS crisis, which was overwhelming communities at an unprecedented scale and speed. At the personal level, this was having a tragic effect on families and risked creating a generation of millions of orphans. From a policy perspective, there were disagreements at a fundamental level, even about what caused AIDS, and governments and the pharmaceutical industry were struggling to agree how best to work together to provide a coherent response. Mistakes were made, not the least by the pharmaceutical industry. And yet through this experience, I learned that working in healthcare is about more than just medicine. It’s bigger than the business model. 

Joining GSK

I recognised that spirit and approach to business at GSK, and joined the company in 2009. I saw a company that was committed to being the best it can possibly be, whether it be with regard to global pricing or assistance for patients who can’t afford our medicines, creating a more efficient and sustainable business for our investors or quite simply, conducting our business with honesty, integrity and transparency. 

It takes determination to be the first to stop and make a game-changing decision in an extremely competitive industry. And I am proud to work for and with colleagues who are willing to acknowledge things that needed to change, and to roll up their sleeves and show what it means to be a remarkable, values-based, leading pharmaceutical company.

We should never forget that times change, societal expectations evolve. At GSK, it’s important that we continually re-examine how we conduct our business to ensure that our company values – patient focus, integrity, transparency, respect – are reflected in our practices, and that our practices are aligned with the expectations of those we serve.

Every day, I get to be a part of tangible actions that reflect GSK’s simple mission: to help people do more, feel better, and live longer.  At GSK, the teams I work with do this by promoting public policies and developing contracts that ensure patients have access to innovative medicines both today and in the future.  

At the end of the day, it’s the focus on the patient, and meeting his or her needs for quality, accessible healthcare that motivates all of us.