June 3, 2025 – 8 min read
Effective coaching is the cornerstone of commercial success in life sciences, yet despite its importance, a significant disconnect still exists between coaching perceptions and reality. In a recent PDG State of Coaching Report, 100% of life sciences sales leaders stated they are conducting sales coaching, while only 49% of sales reps report receiving coaching. This perception gap not only affects individual performance but can undermine an organization’s entire commercial strategy when field execution falters.
To explore how frontline leaders can improve coaching and bridge this gap, we sat down with Daniel Hinds, US National Sales Director at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. With nearly 20 years of industry experience as both a frontline and second-line sales leader, Hinds brings a wealth of knowledge on leadership development and team performance. Below are some key takeaways from our conversation.
The life sciences commercial landscape has undergone a tremendous transformation in recent years. Market consolidation, increased regulatory oversight, evolving customer engagement models, diminished access to HCPs, and rapidly changing healthcare dynamics have all contributed to a more complex selling environment. In this context, leadership skills that might have worked a decade ago are often insufficient today.
Three foundational skills are critical for today’s frontline leaders. First is developing an agile leadership style. “As a leader, especially on the frontline, you need to know when is appropriate to be leading out front, along the side, and kind of stepping back and behind with your folks,” explains Hinds. “Being able to adapt and move in different styles is obviously an art, not a science, but it’s critically important right now.” This agility allows leaders to meet each team member where they are, providing directive guidance when needed or creating space for independent decision-making when appropriate. The best leaders recognize that different situations and different people require different approaches.
The second vital skill is getting comfortable with change. “Being comfortable with change is starting to become a competitive advantage for folks,” says Hinds. In life sciences, where market access dynamics, formulary positions, and competitive landscapes can shift rapidly, leaders who embrace change rather than resist it create adaptive teams that can pivot quickly. This adaptability can become a force multiplier when inevitable disruptions occur.
Finally, Hinds highlights active listening as essential. “When you become a leader, it’s all about listening, understanding, and gathering insights that can help your direct reports move the needle on whatever opportunity.”
This requires a fundamentally different approach to communication. Active listening means not just hearing words but seeking to understand the perspectives, challenges, and motivations that drive behavior. It means suspending judgment and creating space for team members to fully express themselves.
As commercial leadership becomes increasingly complex, transparency emerges as a critical success factor. “Be transparent. You don’t want your people to assume what’s going on,” Hinds emphasized.
Transparency builds trust and reduces anxiety. However, it must be balanced with appropriate information filtering. “I have more information than my direct reports, but that doesn’t mean I just translate it all to them.”
The most effective leaders establish clear expectations while maintaining open communication.
The stark disconnect between coaching perception and reality poses serious challenges for commercial organizations. Hinds noted that the reason some folks don’t realize they’re being coached is because there was no start and stop to the coaching.
“Coaching should be framed up with some type of observation, situation, tied back to expectations. There should be some break in the normal banter of the day.”
For coaching to be effective, Hinds stresses that it must follow the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound). “The time-bound part is the critical piece… By when? Because if you leave a conversation just wide open, then that’s when you feel like, well, did we even have a coaching conversation?”
In the pharmaceutical industry, where field visits may be weeks apart, this structured approach with clear follow-up becomes even more critical for coaching to be recognized and effective.
Controlling biases is a primary obstacle to effective frontline coaching. “Biases can fog your lens on reality. And that’s the last thing you want because as a leader, everything needs to remain objective,” Hinds explains.
Leaders must be vigilant about biases that might affect their coaching approach, whether it’s favoring certain representatives, carrying preconceptions from previous leaders, or viewing situations through personal preferences rather than objective assessment. Hinds advises leaders to avoid telling themselves “stories that aren’t the story” and to approach coaching conversations with a clean slate when possible.
In life sciences specifically, biases can lead to missed opportunities for development and impact overall team performance if not properly recognized and managed.
With frontline leaders juggling multiple responsibilities and managing large teams, finding time for coaching can be difficult. “First-line leader sales roles are some of the hardest roles in organizations,” Hinds emphasizes. “Not everyone’s not cut out for it. Everyone thinks they are, but in most situations, they only see what’s on the surface.” Despite these challenges, Hinds is emphatic about making coaching a priority: “When you become a leader at any organization or any altitude, the job is coach. There is not any single thing that is more important than coaching.”
He recommends self-blocking calendar time for coaching activities. “You’ve got to carve out 30 minutes every two weeks, once a week, once a month, whatever the cadence is,” he advises.
The ultimate goal of coaching is to develop behaviors that continue when the leader isn’t present. As Hinds puts it, “You’re not coaching for the situation or the one or two days [you’re with the field rep]… You’re coaching for the footprint you’re trying to leave behind.”
“You’re not coaching for the situation or the one or two days [you’re with the field rep]… You’re coaching for the footprint you’re trying to leave behind.”
To achieve this, it’s important to adapt coaching styles to individual team members. “You’re building a relationship with individuals. You’re understanding what their motivational triggers are. What fills their bucket,” Hinds said.
Organizations that have successfully implemented personalized coaching approaches report not only better performance metrics but also improved retention rates and higher employee satisfaction. Personalization doesn’t mean lowering standards—rather, it means recognizing that different paths can lead to the same destination of excellence.
There’s an important distinction between responsibility and accountability. Frontline leaders should view themselves as accountable for results rather than responsible for them. “Being accountable is understanding that you’ve got to lead through others. You’ve got to influence through others,” he explains.
This mindset shift prevents leaders from reverting to a directive, “super rep” approach in challenging situations, which may yield temporary results but isn’t sustainable long-term.
When asked for his most valuable advice to frontline leaders, Hinds emphasized that coaching fundamentally requires trust: “Coaching is a trusted partnership. And coaching and being a leader isn’t about hierarchy. It’s not, now I’m the boss, and I have a hierarchy position on you. It really should all be rooted around authenticity and continuous improvement.”
By creating an environment of mutual growth, leaders establish the foundation for effective coaching relationships. “While we’re together, we’re going to always both be trying to get better and have continuous improvement,” he concludes.
The future of coaching in life sciences belongs to organizations that can develop frontline leaders who effectively bridge the coaching perception gap and create sustainable performance improvement. By investing in coaching capabilities and fostering a culture of accountability, organizations can ensure that coaching efforts translate into meaningful improvements in field execution and commercial success.
We sat down with Daniel Hinds, U.S. National Sales Director at J&J Innovative Medicine, to unpack what it really takes for frontline leaders to drive sustained performance in today’s complex Life Sciences environment.
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