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Healthcare has always been complex, but the pace of change feels greater than ever. Innovation is accelerating, AI is transforming how we work and healthcare delivery continues to evolve. In the UK alone, discussions around medicines pricing, patient access and NHS reform highlight just how interconnected healthcare decision-making has become.

As healthcare has evolved, so too has my view of leadership. It’s become less about overseeing every decision and more about creating the conditions where expertise can thrive.

This year, I’ve spent time with our UK team in the field and at the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis Congress. In both settings, the same lesson stood out: the people closest to the challenge often have the clearest understanding of what’s needed.

Returning to the field, I reflected on how the role has evolved. Fifteen years ago, conversations often centred on solving a customer’s immediate challenge. While those discussions still matter, increasingly, success comes from building partnerships and working together to improve patient outcomes. The expertise to navigate those conversations often sits closest to the customer – which is why empowering those teams matters more than ever.

It also reinforced a question we need to ask more often as leaders: ‘How can I help and what role can I play?’ Leadership doesn’t always mean having the answers. It means creating the conditions for others to succeed.

That thinking is reflected in how we’ve evolved as an organisation. Our more integrated European operating model brings specialist knowledge closer to decision-making, with a Leadership Team focused on long-term direction, while three Management Teams combine cross-functional expertise across today’s commercial, pipeline and operational priorities. Each area faces different challenges and decisions, so our choices are informed by those with the deepest understanding, rather than a single leadership group.

For me, that’s what modern leadership looks like – trusting people, investing in their development and creating an environment where expertise is valued, ownership encouraged and leadership shared.

Because if the people closest to the challenge are often closest to the solution, then leaders must ensure those insights are heard, trusted and acted upon.

Empowering expertise in an age of complexity