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Patrick Verguet
President Europe
Edwards Lifesciences Employee Since 1984 |
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For Patrick Verguet, moving his family to Salt Lake City two years ago was not nearly as challenging as when he left his home village of Vernantois, France with its 260 inhabitants to live in urbane Paris. But it offered just the kind of opportunity he had come to expect from his more than 17 years in the Edwards family.
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"At Edwards Lifesciences, we recognize very quickly the talents of the people and provide a lot of opportunity. If you want more responsibilities and more challenges, as long as you meet your primary objectives, you can take on as much as you want." |
"I get a lot of assignments," said Patrick. "If you look at my resume I've probably had 12 jobs in 17 years. Edwards is always giving me the opportunity to develop my skills and take on new challenges. I first worked in France as a Sales Representative, then I was promoted with product management and sales management responsibilities for Europe. I've been responsible for managing several countries, strategic planning, and taking a new, multi-division franchise to a global level. And now my current responsibilities in Salt Lake are leading the marketing, manufacturing and R&D efforts for the Coronary Artery Disease product area."
For Patrick the opportunity for growth has been tremendous. "My goals are initially set. Once I've accomplished them, the leadership team says, 'Alright, now that you've been able to meet those goals, we are now going to give you another. It's a stretch, but we know you can do it and we will support you.' I know folks who've joined other big corporations which tell them you cannot grow if you don't have X number of years put in."
Working in teams is critical to success here. "The more you grow in the company, the more you understand that even if you are a very smart person, you are working in a matrix environment. You must rely on others to help you achieve your goals, even if the people aren't reporting to you. You need to be flexible to be successful and flexible to be happy, too."
Patrick believes the openness of the company's culture and its entrepreneurial spirit are key to his longevity. "I feel that I can tell anything to anybody. If you want to call any of the company leaders, you just do it. The door is always open for input, brainstorming, and feedback. I'm not sure it's possible in any other corporation.
Edwards is a solid company with an entrepreneurial spirit. This means that we try to do new things despite the fact we are already a big corporation. We try to be as entrepreneurial as the venture capitalists or small companies, but we have the strong financial backup. This makes you feel you can make decisions which are going to be supported."