Coaching Testimonials
Isabelle was recommended to me by my HR Head. They got to know each other from a workshop.
I am in a special stage of my career. On one hand, I feel my development is stagnant due to my capability limitations in communications and people skills. On the other hand, my current position is at risk due to the transformation of the whole company. It’s the right moment to share my vulnerabilities and get professional feedback from a person like Isabelle.
Isabelle gave me 6 coaching sessions in 6 months and helped me learn more about my strengths and encouraged me to find out the answers and solutions to address my concerns about communication and people.
Awareness is the beginning of change. I need to own this change and make it happen. I really appreciate Isabelle’s extremely rich mentoring capabilities.
Quan Yuan
Operations & OpEx Manager for APAC Region, LMM Platform
Novartis NTO
China
I approached Isabelle for coaching sessions as I had changed the career path within my company. The created role was in its function not only new to me but also new to my employer. So, no experiences were available for positioning. Additionally, I had no peers I could compare with and align on the state-to-be.
In this set-up the root-cause of the challenges was very complex: my personal approach to the role AND/OR dysfunctional organization AND/OR adaption period of the new setup….. Isabelle with her great and broad business experience could perfectly understand the business/organizational challenges, but was also able to understand the impact that is has to me as human person. With this valuable combination she not only helped me to sort out the different functional layers but also supported me in finding an approach that reduces tension within the entire situation and as such saves important personal resources on my side.
Global Leader Commercial Strategy
Switzerland
I approached Isabelle because I was in a transition career period. I had an extensive experience in science where I did a Ph.D. followed by a PosDoc, and by that time I had finally moved into a consulting role for supporting biotech start-ups business development. However, I was always fascinated by the Pharma industry and how I could find myself a role in that environment.
Isabelle helped me by taking her time and describing me all the exciting roles in Pharma and giving me an extensive overview of potential roles that might be a fit considering my previous experiences.
One thing I liked was her ability to access my vulnerabilities and taking care that would consider my self-assessment to check where I could perform and deliver the responsibilities behind the roles. In order words, she helped me to learn more about myself and work-related values, interest and personality type.
The result was that I stayed in consulting based on those assessments and my interest for working on multiple projects at the same time, non-routine tasks and traveling lifestyle. I found her mentoring extremely rich because of her guidance and the confidence to make these decisions.
Camila Mendes, PhD
Management & Strategy Consulting
Pharma Commercial
Digital Transformation
Switzerland
I’ve been working with Isabelle as my coach for over a year — it has completely changed my life. I started working with her with the goal to navigate changes professionally, increase my confidence, and better outline my goals and future path. Isabelle helped me see my situation objectively and better evaluate how to handle challenging situations so that I was able to better tackle each case and come up with solutions. She helped me significantly increase my confidence by focusing on my strengths.
She also helped me to put a system in place to better evaluate my progress. What has been most impactful is how she’s helped me create a future roadmap to help me achieve my goals — this has resulted in me feeling more confident, prepared and successful. Isabelle is a fantastic listener and provides meaningful insights. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking to drive positive change in their lives.
Global Business Development Director
United Kingdom
“I approached Isabelle because I was always taking the role of giving feedback based on assessments performed on a professional level and on a personal level to all members in my team. Given the position I am in and also the nature of the business, I never got the opportunity to receive any such assessment or feedback about myself from anyone else and also, I never got a chance to pause and perform a self-assessment.
I was facing organizational challenges. There was a sense of instability and insecurity in peer groups due to high employee turnover within short period of time. These events resulted in austerity planning and the times ahead were quite uncertain. Needless to say, I was working in a high pressure environment. Isabelle helped me by taking her time in listening my challenges on a day to day basis and asked several questions which helped me to view and assess all challenges I am facing from a completely different angle.
One thing I liked was her ability to actively listen patiently, understand complex situations quickly, ask thought provoking questions and develop sense of trust in you which is quite important to confidently discuss my view points, concerns and challenges openly. It indeed in turn helped access my vulnerabilities, my opportunities and viewing the entire situation from a totally different outlook. Isabelle really helped me to learn more about myself.
The result was that after the session, I have a clear idea on what my objectives and options are after doing a thorough evaluation on what is available in front of me. I found Isabelle’s mentoring extremely beneficial and it is because of her guidance, I believe, I now have a clear vision on what need to be achieved and what is important in both professional and personal path.”
K.V.
International Head: Medical Governance
United Kingdom
Consulting Testimonials
When I first started working with Isabelle, Grifols did not have a systematic process for responding to medical information queries outside the US; just a patchwork process within a few countries. I thought it was important to work with a consultant that not only understood the principles of delivering good medical information, but someone from Europe that has worked on global systems. This helped tremendously with establishing credibility with the various stakeholders involved in the journey. Of course we started by identifying the baseline and then Isabelle helped us map out where we wanted to go. We ended up with a globalized, harmonized system that worked for the company.
John C. Warwick, PharmD
Director, Medical Information, Grifols
We had the pleasure of collaborating with Isabelle on a software development project focused on Medical Information. Isabelle’s exceptional ability to pay attention to detail while also seeing the big picture made the entire process a seamless experience. Her invaluable guidance regarding the needs and expectations of the Medical Information industry, coupled with her proactive follow-up on project progress, truly added significant value. Isabelle’s outstanding communication skills and ability to moderate discussions make her an absolute pleasure to work with. If you’re seeking assistance in the realm of Medical Information, we highly recommend reaching out to Isabelle first. Her extensive expertise, knowledge, and network are sure to help you overcome any challenges you may encounter.
Vilius Fokas
MI Technology Project Director
Biomapas
We engaged with Isabelle to deliver a very specific project which formed part of a wider ongoing project. Isabelle very quickly got up to speed with the wider project, understood the context and proposed an efficient plan to reach our goal. Isabelle’s strong experience in working at a global level, teamed with her approachable nature was a winning combination and ensured that the regional and local affiliate teams quickly engaged with her. Isabelle summarized the results of her consultation interviews and presented it in different formats which meant further analyses and use of the information was very easy. Based on the analyses Isabelle provided some very useful suggestions for the project. She also undertook a very useful benchmarking exercise based on our discussions which we then could use and really supported our thinking. Isabelle went the extra mile on our project and I would strongly recommend her services. She has a wealth of experience and is very adaptable and approachable and very easy to work with.
Ghiesla Nel
Head of Global Medical Information
Ipsen Pharma
Ich möchte Ihnen herzlich danken für die produktive Zusammenarbeit bei unserem IT Integrationsprojekt. Mit dem «go live» am gestrigen Tage haben wir einen entscheidenden Meilenstein erreicht, an dem Sie massgeblich beteilgt sind.
Translation by Isabelle Widmer: I would like to offer you my heartfelt thanks for our productive collaboration on our IT integration project. With yesterday’s “go live” we reached a decisive milestone. Your involvement in the team reaching this milestone was substantial.
Michael Preiss, MD
Senior global director; Global medical information and training
Global Medical Affairs
Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd. A Janssen Pharmaceutical company of Johnson & Johnson
As part of our continuous improvement processes, we engaged Dr Widmer to take a lead role in redesigning significant elements of our Innovative Leadership in Medical Affairs programme. Her work product was excellent. Similarly, when we deployed her to deliver materials and lead masterclasses for a top-10 pharma client, she generally distinguished herself and was very quick to adapt to trainees’ interests.
Nathan Pike PhD FRSB PFHEA RTTP
Director of Training and Higher Education
Oxentia, Oxford’s Global Innovation Consultancy
I worked with Isabelle on a major worldwide digital innovation project. Isabelle was highly respected and became the go to person for guidance on all aspects of the project. Isabelle was very organized and provided essential support to our affiliates to help them manage the changes in process and ways of communicating. She was instrumental to the successful design and implementation of the project. I would recommend working with Isabelle for her can do attitude, expertise in designing and managing global transformation programmes and efficient project management. On top of all that Isabelle is open, approachable and very easy to work with.
Global Director Medical Information
Top 5 Pharma Company
Isabelle delivered a workshop focusing on performance excellence and continuous improvement for Medical Information and Promotional Compliance team. Isabelle’s ability to quickly understand complex processes, identify gaps and suggest improvement is quite impressive. Isabelle is quite structured in her approach and ensured that she got complete picture regarding team and processes before arriving onsite and commencing the workshop. Isabelle ensured that workshop is quite interactive to get most out of the team and suggested valuable improvements. Isabelle’s experience with other top pharma companies were reflected in this session and added significant value to the overall session.
Vinod Koshy
Medical Information and Promotional Compliance Head
Aspen Pharma Trading
Thank you very much for all your efforts, engagement and time. You have really “lighted” the Med. Affairs path for us. For small and busy companies as ours it is of tremendous support to have a reliable and experienced partner as yourself.
What is left for us is to find the time and energy to act upon your recommendations and implement your comments. I will make sure we start in the following days before we are run over with the daily business.
Boris Lapachev
Labatec Pharma SA
We sought the counsel of Isabelle Widmer in 2016 to fine tune operations relating to a regional affiliate Hub supporting medical information. We have stood to benefit a great deal from Isabelle’s former experience in dealing with the provision of a regionalized service. She was able to tease out the issues/concerns faced by affiliates who really are customer-facing in a very objective fashion. She conducted a workshop with thorough follow ups and assessments of the set-up and was very pragmatic in her proposals especially bearing in mind the lean nature of our company’s operations. This was of benefit to us as often times proposals reflect big-pharma and cannot be realized in companies where resources are limiting. The outcomes of these workshops resulted in the successful launch of a regional EU hub support service that operates targeting specific needs of some EU affiliates. Her conscientious approach to dealing with potential change management issues helped us in delivering a targeted solution that was well received by some of our EU affiliates. Isabelle’s personable nature made even sensitive discussions relatively easy.
Sangeetha Anand
Global Lead Medical Information and Knowledge Management
Vifor Pharma
Isabelle has expert level knowledge and understanding of industry best practices for Medical Information/ Communication and Commercial business processes. I have interacted with Isabelle during several medical information industry conferences in the past. I have enjoyed attending some of her insightful presentations. I have also got a chance to interact with Isabelle during a recent RFP evaluation process (global MI software system evaluation/ selection). Isabelle was very organized in her communication and provided essential support needed for our team to complete the responses to RFP. She came across as a thorough professional and applied consultative approach to address the goals of the sponsor/ customer throughout the process. Isabelle is a real pleasure to work with.
Satya S S Sagi
CEO & Founder
Techsol Corporation
Isabelle has helped us on two projects with her insight. We were very impressed with the depth of her preparation and collaborative style.
ML
Director at Large
International Strategy Consulting Company
I have known Dr. Widmer for a number years through the DIA. Her presentations at DIA have always been insightful and challenging. She does not accept the status quo, but is always pushing the boundaries to improve and enhance the relevance of medical information and medical affairs. She is very engaging and enthusiastic in her presentation style and motivates her audience to keep the patient in mind and strive for the best.
Evelyn R. Hermes-DeSantis, Pharm.D.
BCPS Director
Drug Information Service
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Clinical Professor
Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration
Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
