Leading when you don’t have all the answers: Russell Abberley on clarity, culture and mindset

Russell Abberley, Vice President and General Manager, UK and Ireland at Amgen, leads around 800 people across the UK and Ireland. In this episode of Beyond the Purpose, Russell talks to Jay Webster and James Cox about leading through change: being honest about what is not known, anchoring the team to its mission, purpose and values and providing clarity anyway. The conversation also covers the early decisions and habits behind that approach, from a first job at 21 to the way he prepares for each week.

Russell left university at 21 with a social and economic history degree and no clear plan beyond wanting to be part of something. His first job was selling space in the back of wagons for a parcel company. A university friend working in pharma prompted him to look at the industry, and he secured a role as a representative.

A few years into that role, he met a patient who had experience of one of the medicines he represented. Her gratitude and the story she told him became what he describes as an aha moment: this was no longer just a job. He realised that progressing would mean investing in himself, so he spent three years at night school every Monday on marketing qualifications, with three small children at home. That gave him the opportunity to move from sales into marketing and brand management. The choice, as he frames it, was between staying on one trajectory and getting very good at a single thing, or broadening out to make a bigger impact.

Three things keep Russell at Amgen: a clear mission to serve patients, a strong base of science and a culture he finds energising. No two years feel the same, and every day is a school day. His view of culture is that what is written down matters less than what happens when the leader is not in the room, which comes down to the everyday behaviours of colleagues. He treats his role as stewardship for the UK and Ireland organisation: holding it to a clear purpose and set of values, and creating a place where people can be the best version of themselves. Serious work and enjoyment are not mutually exclusive, and smiling and laughing are part of it.

Leading through change, in Russell’s approach, starts with honesty. Neither he nor his team has every answer, and claiming otherwise would not help anyone. The leader’s job is to provide direction regardless. That means controlling the controllables, anchoring the team to mission, purpose and values and being open about the headwinds and tailwinds ahead. It also means staying visible and approachable through town halls and one-to-one conversations, and course correcting as the world shifts. The organisation works to a roadmap with annual and quarterly goals, but the plan is expected to adapt.

When assessing talent, mindset is one of the most fundamental things Russell looks for. Twenty years of experience on a CV is only part of what a person offers. Attitude, willingness and resilience matter most, and the organisation can help with the rest.

Russell also describes two lessons from recent years. The first is to take the work seriously but not himself. There was a period when he was too serious and too driven, and it did not serve him well. Being the genuine version of himself, and enjoying the work, made him more effective.

The second is a weekly routine drawn from research on how CEOs prepare for their time. Many review their diary ahead of the week, deciding what to delegate, postpone or double down on. Russell has added a second step: asking which version of himself each meeting needs. That might be the leader who listens to the team, the observer who wants to learn or the driver who needs to get things done. His natural style is driven and analytical, and sustaining that for 40 hours a week would be exhausting. He repeats the exercise each morning.

His guidance for anyone stepping into a business unit head or general manager role has two parts. The first is to listen widely before changing anything: to the team, but also to customers, stakeholders and other functions. Each part of an organisation is one of many connected parts, and fixing one element in isolation risks missing the bigger issue. The second is to pause and think. Russell points to an Einstein quote about spending 55 minutes thinking and five minutes doing, and acknowledges that earlier in his career the balance ran the other way. Without regular pauses, every degree of drift takes a leader further off course. He applies this through a prioritised agenda, reviewed regularly with his own team rather than only at the start of the year.

Beyond Amgen, Russell’s industry work centres on a united voice for the sector and a strong, mature partnership with government. His priorities include clinical trials, vaccines and STEM education, so that the next generation is ready to continue the work. On AI, his view is that the industry needs to keep upskilling its existing and new workforces while retaining the human touch. He sees it as an enabler of the core mission: developing the next generation of medicines and connecting with the patients who need them.

What gives him optimism is how many diseases have still not been cracked and how many patients deserve access to medicines and vaccines. With advances in science, AI and technology, Russell sees a great deal still to deliver. He does not want a plaque, but would like to be part of something that made a difference, and to leave the sector a little better than he found it.

Listen to the full conversation with Russell Abberley on episode five of Beyond the Purpose, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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