Correspondence: Engelbert Tjeenk Willink, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Corporate Headquarters Binger Str. 173 55216, Ingelheim Germany

¹was appointed to Boehringer Ingelheim's Board of Managing Directors in January 2009, serving as the head of Corporate Board Division Pharma Marketing and Sales. He joined Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH as Medical Director in the Netherlands in1994. At Boehringer Ingelheim, Tjeenk Willink has left his mark on the company's sales, marketing and operational business units, serving as Product Manager; Corporate Head of Health Economics; Vice President of the Prescription Medicines business unit in Canada; Corporate Director of Marketing – Prescription Medicines; and finally, before his most recent appointment, President and General Director of Boehringer Ingelheim Promeco, S.A. de C.V., Mexico. Tjeenk Willink is an avid race-car driver and recording artist, as well as a mentor for the many people with whom he works.

Received 3 April 2009; Revised 3 April 2009; Published online 1 May 2009.

Abstract

Leadership is the core of any successful organisation. Pharmaceutical sales and marketing organisations employ great managers yet far too few great leaders. With a hardening global economy, numerous pipeline challenges and massive budget cuts, ensuring a commercially successful Pharmaceutical brand life requires a change from traditional management techniques to transformational leadership. This paper discusses how transformational leaders could be awakened within an organisation, and how a shared sense of trust, commitment, imagination and risk-taking can make almost anything possible.