Why an exec at biopharma giant Gilead Sciences prefers energy management over time management

For Johanna Mercier, Gilead Sciences’ chief commercial and corporate affairs officer, leadership starts with a clear accounting of what sustains performance across a global role. In a job that rarely conforms to fixed hours, she focuses on her energy: what drains it, what restores it, and how to protect enough of it to lead with steadiness in a business where the stakes are measured in patients’ lives.

Mercier describes energy as a kind of running reserve, something she tracks with intention.