June 10, 2025 – 8 min read
While frontline leaders directly drive team performance, it’s often the “coaches of coaches” who create lasting organizational impact. Second-line leaders occupy this critical position, yet their unique challenges and strategic value frequently remain underexplored.
In a recent conversation with Daniel Hinds, U.S. National Sales Leader at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, he discussed how these pivotal leaders develop the coaching capabilities that ultimately shape commercial excellence.
The transition to second-line leadership represents a considerable advancement in responsibilities. Hinds emphasizes: “It is a significant jump going from a first-line leader to a second-line leader, coaches of coaches.”
This transition requires a fundamental shift in focus. “When you get to a second-line leader and you’re coaching coaches, it becomes much more the balance of operational detail versus strategic thinking. You’re at a different altitude now.”
“It’s about a 70/30 split as a first-line leader of tactical strategy. As a second-line leader, it becomes a 50/50 split,” notes Hinds. Second-line leaders must focus on “driving innovation, cross-functional collaboration, and the most important one is really the ability to understand the bigger picture.”
Second-line leaders must focus on “driving innovation, cross-functional collaboration, and the most important one is really the ability to understand the bigger picture.”
Second-line coaching requires a different approach to problem-solving. Hinds emphasizes that these leaders must “refrain much more from being solution-oriented. Because you have to be able to see that your coach [frontline leader] can formulate the next steps.”
As Hinds explains, “You have to ask the right questions, understand the situation, and really understand how much did your second-line leader really understand and gather insights. You can’t move the needle until you understand what’s really happening.”
The goal is guided discovery: “You’ve got to be able to probe and put pieces of the puzzle together and be able to lead someone down the path of getting to a solution that, ultimately, you want the first-line leader to come up with. You don’t want it to be your solution as a second-line leader.”
Coaching excellence doesn’t happen by accident. Second-line leaders need practical, targeted methods to build these critical skills in their frontline leaders. Hinds shared specific approaches that have proven to create meaningful impact.
Second-line leaders juggle countless responsibilities—operational meetings, customer interactions, and unexpected crises that constantly demand attention. Amidst these pressures, the simplest yet most powerful coaching tool remains allotting dedicated time.
Without intentional scheduling, coaching often becomes an afterthought rather than a strategic priority. Hinds emphasizes that second-line leaders must “inspect what you expect” by regularly reviewing coaching reports and development plans. This deliberate focus signals the importance of coaching while providing opportunities to reinforce good practices and course-correct when needed.
Effective coaching requires more than good intentions—it demands consistent methodology. Hinds recommends using coaching rubrics that provide a clear structure to what might otherwise become unfocused conversations.
These serve as “a framework of what is the flow of coaching. What does it look like? What is an opener or all the way to closing, and how are your folks walking their direct reports through that journey?”
By establishing a common language and approaches, second-line leaders help their frontline reports develop systematic skills that translate across different team members and situations. These frameworks transform coaching from an intuitive art to a repeatable process without sacrificing personalization.
The best coaches are perpetual learners themselves, constantly refining their approaches and expanding their toolkits. Hinds advocates for connecting coaching development to broader learning initiatives.
He emphasizes “finding the connectivity between coaching and whatever learning platform you have at your disposal. It’s about finding the learning component and tying that into the coaching opportunity.”
This integration ensures that coaching practices remain current and grounded in proven methodologies rather than stagnating. By modeling continuous learning, second-line leaders also reinforce a growth mindset essential for coaching excellence throughout the organization.
Creating environments where second-line leaders can fully leverage their talents requires balancing guidance with autonomy. Hinds’s leadership philosophy centers on a simple yet profound principle:
“You’ve got to let people go and be great. You’ve got to let people go and show their skills and their capabilities.”
This approach isn’t just idealistic—it’s pragmatic. Second-line leaders have already proven themselves through consistent performance. Hinds implements this philosophy by creating visibility opportunities for his frontline leaders at national calls, including letting them take the lead in QBRs and encouraging calculated risk-taking. This builds confident, resourceful leaders who develop these same qualities in their frontline teams.
Another crucial aspect of coaching for second-line leaders is their ability to guide frontline leaders through a myriad of competing priorities. Achieving success in this area demands a strategic mindset, in which frontline leaders are encouraged to actively seek solutions rather than merely presenting problems to their second-line leaders. “At the end of the day, everyone I hope to work with in my organization are problem solvers, not problem finders,” said Hinds.
This approach shifts the focus from simply identifying issues to proactively exploring potential solutions. Frontline leaders are expected to inform their second-line leaders about the options they have considered and discuss their thought processes behind these solutions. By asking critical questions and offering additional insights, second-line leaders help their frontline reports develop the skills to arrive at effective solutions independently.
By asking critical questions and offering additional insights, second-line leaders help their frontline reports develop the skills to arrive at effective solutions independently.
The art of providing impactful feedback lies in its delivery and personalization. Imagine knowing precisely what motivates each frontline leader, transforming generic advice into a powerful catalyst for growth. “You need to tie it to their individual aspiration,” explains Hinds. “And understand those motivational triggers. Some people are motivated monetarily, some by recognition, some by their team’s success.”
By aligning feedback with these unique drivers, second-line leaders can ignite a genuine desire for improvement.
Building a sustainable coaching culture requires a fundamental shift in how an organization views development. Authentic cultures start at the top and thrive through peer connections and shared learning. Effective second-line leaders model coaching behaviors, participate in their own development, and create environments where challenges become learning opportunities. They understand that coaching should feel natural and integrated into daily interactions.
“Coaching is a trusted partnership. And coaching and being a leader isn’t about hierarchy. It’s not, now I’m the boss. It really should all be rooted around authenticity and continuous improvement,” said Hinds.
This perspective transforms coaching into a collaborative journey, fostering a sense of community that accelerates learning and innovation across the organization.
Technology offers new opportunities to enhance coaching. “The integration of advanced technologies continues to transform how leaders develop their teams. From AI analytics to CRM tools, second-line leaders have unprecedented resources, if used strategically. But, you have to be careful [with technology and data] as a second-line leader, and honestly, even as a first-line leader, as you can get into analysis paralysis,” said Hinds.
The most effective leaders use technology to inform conversations and track progress, but always in service of deeper coaching connections, not as substitutes for genuine development.
Second-line leaders hold a unique and vital role within life sciences organizations. They bridge the gap between strategic vision and practical execution, balancing higher-level goals with field realities. This position enables them to foster coaching skills in their frontline leaders while ensuring alignment with the organization’s broader objectives. By modeling a top-down coaching culture, second-line leaders create a ripple effect that enhances commercial performance with the ultimate goal of delivering more therapies to more patients and driving the business forward.
We continue our conversation with Daniel Hinds, U.S. National Sales Leader at J&J Innovative Medicine, to explore the unique challenges and opportunities facing second-line leaders in Life Sciences.
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