Boehringer GM on trust, turbulence and leading in motion

Ed Hollywood, General Manager of Boehringer Ingelheim ANZ, joins Health Industry Hub’s senior leadership podcast series in a conversation that strips leadership back to its pressure points rather than its polished narratives.

After more than 13 years with Boehringer Ingelheim and a recent move to steer the ANZ affiliate, Hollywood reflects on how leadership is no longer a fixed reference point, but one defined by constant recalibration in motion.

That uncertainty becomes the entry point into the ‘decade of disorientation’ articulated by Sydney University leadership experts Professors Sandra Peter and Kai Riemer. Leaders are no longer navigating around instability, they are leading inside it.

From there, the discussion sharpens around the ‘accountability shift’ that is rewriting the rules of leadership. As Hollywood puts it, accountability “goes beyond the immediate boundaries” of organisations and increasingly asks leaders to interrogate the “fundamental value of what we do”.

Hollywood likens the idea of ‘managing for stability’ as “seasickness” in today’s local and geopolitical environment. It is a paradox of holding coherence in motion.

“You can get quite lost in that feeling if you’re not careful,” he said. “It’s about keeping your eyes on the horizon, looking long term, focusing on where you want to go and the values that you feel are important to help you to get there in the right way.”

Beneath it all sits a more uncomfortable question. In an era where public trust in leaders is at an all-time low, what does building trust at scale entail and why is it an imperative for leaders?

“The biggest problems that we face, they’re by nature complex problems,” emphasised Hollywood. “In order to work collaboratively outside the boundaries in which we operate, you’ve got to have trust at scale.”

In reimagining healthcare across the entire patient journey, Health Industry Hub^TM is the only one-stop-hub uniting the diversity of the Pharma, MedTech, Diagnostics & Biotech sectors to inspire meaningful change.

The Health Industry Hub^TM content is copyright protected. Access is available under individual user licenses. Please click here to subscribe and visit T&Cs here.