Insights from J&J's leadership program participants

Trace back the career paths of many leaders at J&J and you’ll find a common point of origin—not a school or a skill set, but one of our best-in-class leadership development programs. What sets these unique rotational programs apart, what do you stand to gain—and how might the experience accelerate your career growth as well? 

Go behind the scenes with four participants to find out.

“Improve society through my day-to-day work" 

Prior to participating in a leadership development program at J&J, Nicolette S. had already racked up some noteworthy professional experiences, particularly in the field of public health, her area of expertise.

For starters, she’d helped evaluate and implement public health programs both in the U.S. and around the world. And she’d earned a master’s degree in public health, on top of an MBA, from Johns Hopkins.

Yet a leadership development program at J&J offered something unique in Nicolette’s eyes: a way of connecting her passion to work that she could see translated into meaningful real-world impact on a daily basis.

“I remember feeling like I’d finally identified a company where I could positively impact people’s lives and improve society through my day-to-day work—and my hunch turned out to be correct,” she says. “I’ve found an organization that’s devoted to patients and to doing good in the world.”

Not surprisingly, Nicolette has also since moved on to a much broader role: Director, New Products and Business Development, Solid Tumor. Still, her essential mandate remains the same: spearheading healthcare innovation and impacting the lives of patients every day.

“A more well-rounded skill set”

Fresh out of the MBA program at Cornell, Meg R. was a burgeoning expert in the field of medical device innovation. Still, she felt like there were gaps in her knowledge that she wanted to fill. “I didn’t have an in-depth understanding of the entire ecosystem—of both upstream product development and downstream sales execution,” she says.

Which is why the rotational structure of our MedTech Marketing Leadership Development Program was a key differentiator and selling point for Meg.

“I was confident that I’d have a much more well-rounded skill set after working in three different roles throughout the course of this program,” she says, adding that the program delivered on that premise—and then some.

“I’m also grateful for the other participants I had the chance to meet and work with,” she says of her cohort. “It was amazing to have this shared experience, and going through common challenges really brought everyone together.”

“I grew up hearing stories about Our Credo”

While no two paths to our leadership development programs are the same, there’s something that makes Megan C.'s story pretty unique: growing up, both of her parents were employees at J&J. 

“I was raised hearing stories about Our Credo and the amazing culture at Johnson & Johnson,” Megan recalls, adding that she came to view the company as simply an extension of her family.

So, after graduating from Princeton with the desire to build a career in HR, Megan had at least one idea of where she might land.

“Above all, I saw this as a chance to positively impact the lives of people around the world and to really make a difference,” she says. “I knew that was the mission at J&J, and I knew that I wanted to be a part of it.”

And so she continues to be. Today, in fact, Megan is living out that vision in her role as Senior Manager, Business Architect, Global Talent Management, where she holds responsibilities every bit as far reaching as those early-in-career ambitions. “It’s a dream come true,” she says.

“A really strong foundation throughout your career”

Lead Financial Analyst Steven D., having started his career as an undergraduate intern on our team, later returned to participate in the Finance Leadership Development Program at J&J.

He remembers having a particular goal at the time: “I wanted to come away from the program with a high-level understanding of the way finance works—to be able to speak to every line of a financial statement with confidence, accuracy and knowledge." 

Looking back, Steven says he's grateful to have built such a strong professional network along the way, in no small part thanks to the rotational structure of the program.

“That was one of the added benefits, which I didn’t quite realize the value of right away,” Steve says. “But at a certain point I did think to myself: Regardless of what path you choose to pursue, this is going to serve as a really strong foundation throughout your career." 

Accelerate your career growth

Wherever you want to go in your career, our best-in-class leadership development programs at J&J will help pave the way—as Nicolette, Meg, Megan, Steven and many others can verify. Looking ahead in that vein:

• Learn more about leadership development programs at J&J
• Check out all of the available roles on our team right now
• Sign up for our global talent community—it's an easy way to stay in touch and get updates about jobs that might interest you in the future