20 key attributes of highly successful leaders – lessons from Walt Offen – part 1

In this episode, I have the privilege to interview Walt Offen –  a statistician who is about to end an amazing career over a couple of decades of working in the pharmaceutical industry.

Walt organized together, what he believes to be the 20 key attributes of highly successful leaders. They are organized in no particular order but are enriched with great stories.

Of course, there is a difference between leadership and managing. Leadership is the ability to inspire others when there is no supervisory control. For a highly effective organization, everyone can and should be a leader. In part one, we cover the first 10 out of the 20:

1. Having a can-do attitude
2. Being able to apologize
3. Inspiring others to join the cause (without authority)
4. Share credit
5. Show humility
6. Be trustworthy and develop trust in others
7. Engaging everyone on the team, making them feel valued and important
8. Remain calm, be kind to everyone
9. Provide opportunities for others to shine
10. Putting the organization, colleagues, the company, ahead of personal goals

About Walter W. Offen, PhD

Distinguished Research Fellow

Global Head of Statistical Sciences

AbbVie

Walt is currently Distinguished Research Fellow.  He heads up an organization comprised of Statistical Innovation, Safety Statistics, and Non-Clinical Statistics.  He received his PhD in statistics from the University of Florida in 1980. His career began at Eli Lilly, spanning 31 years.  He joined AbbVie in 2012. His interests include novel clinical trial design and analysis, Data Monitoring Committees, and multiplicity.  Walt was inducted as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association in 2007.