Leaders Eat Last – Dave Noesges

When we hear military leadership, we wrongly think of several concepts of management but not the true profound ones anchored in leading from the front while eating last. In this inspiring chat with Dave Noesges, a US veteran and pharmaceutical executive, we discussed leadership to its most profound meaning. For Dave, it is about 3 core pieces: Leading by example which translates into living the standards you want your people to have; Humility & Confidence; and Getting close to your people by caring deeply for them. We also talked about DEIB, high-performing teams, and several other learnings from Dave's extensive experience leading highly successful diverse teams. His final words of wisdom are so profound as for him now, after an inspiring successful career, people are the ONLY thing that mattered to him.

"Enjoy the journey, it is way more worth than the destination."

MEET OUR GUEST Dave Noesges a veteran and biopharma executive.

Dave Noesges is a retired pharmaceutical executive with Eli Lilly and Company, where he spent 31 years in sales, marketing, and general management roles in the US and abroad.  He spent much of his career leading sales forces in the Neuroscience and Diabetes therapeutic areas.  His last position was to lead the Lilly Diabetes sales force of nearly 2,000 people as Lilly re-established market leadership in diabetes over a 10-year period, and launched several best-in-class medicines.

Dave is a 1984 graduate of the United States Military Academy and served 5 years as a combat engineer in the US Army, most of that time in West Germany.  After the Army, he attended the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated in 1991, joining Lilly immediately after that.

He has been married for 35 years and has two grown children, one an elementary school history teacher and the other a Physician Assistant working in urgent care.

He devotes his time now to caring for his 90-year-old father, spending as much time as possible with his wife and daughters, and engaging in many charitable endeavors through his church.  He and his wife also travel extensively working on a long bucket list of international destinations.