S4E03 : "Balancing Brain and Heart in Leadership", with Thibaut Victor-Michel, Country President at Novartis France

Thibaut Victor-Michel, President of Novartis France, joins The Leadership Consultation as the first guest from the pharmaceutical industry. In this episode, Thibaut shares his career journey, which began in consulting before transitioning to Novartis in 2006. Over the years, he has held roles in strategy, sales, marketing, and general management, working across France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

Thibaut emphasizes the importance of intentional career decisions, focusing on roles that offer opportunities for impact and learning. While his career path was deliberately designed to build the skills necessary for general management, he views geographic moves as more opportunistic and credits open discussions with his family for enabling flexibility. He shares insights on managing organizations of different sizes, explaining how smaller teams require resource optimization, while larger ones demand a focus on simplicity and alignment.

Reflecting on innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, Thibaut highlights the critical need for early data generation to ensure market access and adoption. He discusses the challenges of driving behavioral change in healthcare, stressing the importance of understanding social, convenience, and economic factors that influence how new therapies are embraced by patients and professionals.

Thibaut also speaks about leading major transformations, including the integration of two large divisions at Novartis France. He describes the need to balance rational decision-making with empathy, ensuring clarity of purpose while supporting his team through significant organizational change. His leadership philosophy focuses on balancing complementary principles, such as courage with respect, empowerment with accountability, and transparency with kindness, which helps him adapt to challenges while staying true to his values.

On balancing work and personal life, Thibaut stresses the importance of recovery periods within professional life to sustain energy and focus. He also highlights the value of focusing on one area of personal growth at a time to drive meaningful progress.

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