What A Sanofi's Exec Learned About Leadership From Her 18 Years At GE Healthcare

When I interviewed Pascale Witz, EVP and leader of Sanofi’s global divisions and strategic development organization for the September 2015 feature article, Preparing Sanofi For Post-Patent Cliff Product Launches, I admitted to being surprised by her decision to leave GE. After all, the former president and CEO of GE Healthcare’s medical diagnostics business, a company where she had spent the previous 17 years, was basically just one step away from joining the leadership team with a history of launching executives into the business world spotlight (e.g., Jeff Immelt, Jack Welch). “I think GE is a great school for operational management and leadership,” she shares. “Probably one of the most valuable leadership lessons I learned in my 17 years at GE is, when it comes to hiring, have a very strong focus leadership, values, and experience.” According to Witz, one of the most important things you do as a leader is build the right team. “If you don’t have the right team behind you, you can’t do anything.” For Witz, this often means finding folks with diverse experiences, something she learned from her time at GE.

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