The Client: AstraZeneca
The global science-led biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries. With over 61,000 employees worldwide, it is one of the largest in the industry. Yet in 2013, AstraZeneca found itself struggling with a lagging product pipeline, aggressive competition from large and emerging companies, and an overall slowdown in the pharmaceutical-industry revenues caused by the rise of cheap generic drugs.
Spurred by the arrival of the new CEO Pascal Soriot, the company’s senior leadership developed a bold business strategy of returning to growth through science-led innovation. To succeed, this new vision required everyone in the company to re-evaluate their approach to work and focus on long-term goals as well as short-term financial performance.
AstraZeneca’s leadership recognized that such a monumental cultural shift could only be achieved if all employees had a clear understanding of the new vision and of their own role in the company’s shared success. Getting the top 1,000 senior leaders aligned with the new strategy was the first step in the enterprise-wide transformation. “Our belief was that to be successful, we needed leaders from across the globe and within key functions to impart the new imperatives and purpose,” says Lisa Naylor, Senior Director of Talent Development at AstraZeneca. "We needed hands-on relevant learning. Because of that, we approached some of the best institutions in the world known for their impact in science and healthcare and also in business, which led us to MIT.”
The program designers and senior faculty at MIT Sloan School of Management Executive Education worked closely with AstraZeneca to develop a program that would help the company build a critical mass of leaders empowered to shift the enterprise culture, accelerate change, and make the company more nimble and resilient in the future. The Leading Enterprise Transformation for Senior Leaders program combines classroom learning at MIT, individual coaching with an international leadership consultancy, and direct participation from AstraZeneca’s top executives. The program’s content was developed in just three months, drawing on the MIT Sloan’s faculty expertise and input from AstraZeneca’s senior leadership. “The program is a process—MIT provides the mindset and tools, and downstream coaching ensures and facilitates execution, post-program reinforcement and support,” explains Court Chilton, MIT Sloan Executive Education Program Director and Senior Lecturer. “Our job is to equip people with a mindset that is about leading, managing change, confronting old parts of a culture, taking out fear of failure, and helping people be more entrepreneurial.”
Each new cohort brings together managers from all functions and geographies across the enterprise. “The program creates an opportunity for shared thinking and engagement among people who may have never met one another,” says Naylor. “This collaboration is what’s really going to sustain our organization going forward.” Participants note how much they enjoy the strong relationships they’ve built in their shared learning experience.
“One of the most exciting things that we can do for our employees is to engage them to make an impact—on science, on the wellbeing of patients, and on the success of our organization. With this program, we are encouraging each person to show up at their best.”
The program also provides participants with space for deep personal reflection on what it means to be a leader and what it means to succeed—as a professional and as a company. Pre-readings and self-assessments encourage participants to reflect on their role in the organization and find opportunities for improvement. “For our organization to drive and perform at its best, our leaders need to be at their best. There are key elements in the program that are very personal for people. As a result of that, I’ve watched them show up in a new way, re-energized,” explains Naylor. The importance of self-reflection was one of the key lessons that Tim Eisen, VP and Head of AstraZeneca’s Clinical Discovery Unit in Cambridge, U.K., took away from the program. “Understand yourself—only then can you understand the impact you have on others and how you can be of greatest value to the enterprise,” he says.
For the program to be relevant, it has to be useful. 98 percent of the participants rated the program as either “excellent” or “very good” in helping them to develop ideas about actions they could take back to work. Many describe the program as “inspirational,” “an ‘a-ha’ moment,” and “exceeding expectations.” For Dr. Eisen, developing and communicating a clear purpose for his team was an important lesson. “Setting expectations early and consistently is vital,” he says. “People are usually willing to flex, so long as they understand why it is necessary.” He also emphasizes the value of authentic leadership style and transparency. “People respond well to this, even if the style is different from their own. The leadership team is important—when everyone sees us act together, it has a real impact on the wider team.”
The program’s positive impact is rippling throughout the organization. In the course of eighteen months, 750 of the target 1,000 leaders have come to MIT Sloan and continued on to individual coaching. “It is one of the largest and most fast-paced programs we’ve ever done, but we created a lean, dedicated team that could adapt and pivot quickly because of accumulated institutional knowledge,” says Chilton.
The original program design was updated significantly at least twice to reflect the changes in the company and the industry, and—most important—to match the needs of the new participants who were already building on the previous cohorts’ changed mindset. “We knew that we had an impact because people arriving on day one were in a different place than when we did the very first delivery. The conversation and confidence inside the company are changing for the better.” With several new medicines in development, Mr. Soriot has confirmed the company is on track to achieve its long-term growth goals.