Francesca Lazzarin & Ian Coyne
HealthTech Leadership’s Place in History
Leadership has always been shaped by the systems around it. As complexity rises and technology accelerates, a new type of leader is emerging—bold, unconventional, and built for disruption. In digital health, this evolution isn’t optional. It’s historical necessity.
HealthTech founders and CEOs score in the 95th percentile for transformation—but also show a disruptive risk profile that demands careful team design and structural balance.
Leadership styles have always evolved in response to technological shifts—from command-and-control hierarchies to agile, collaborative models. But what happens when the pace of change itself becomes a defining force? In digital health, founders lead not only companies, but movements—against inertia, complexity, and slow-to-adapt institutions. Based on behavioral data from 50 HealthTech CEOs and founders, this article explores how today’s innovation leaders break with traditional models. They are daring, autonomous, unpredictable—driven to transform systems, not just navigate them. But that very drive comes with friction: teams burn out, structures lag, execution struggles. The challenge? Not to tame these pioneers, but to design organizations that can run with them—at speed.
When Leadership Disrupts the System:
How HealthTech Rewrites the Rules
What you’ll learn
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How leadership styles have evolved from the 1940s to the AI-driven 2020s
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Why today’s HealthTech leaders are radically different from traditional executives
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What behavioral data reveals about their innovation capacity—and risk profiles
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How traits like autonomy and unpredictability become both strengths and liabilities
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Why execution, structure, and self-awareness are critical to scaling bold vision
Francesca Lazzarin is Global Senior Advisor with a particular focus on companies growing from Italian headquarters and those expanding into Italy. She joined Coulter Partners in 2022, based in Milan. Prior to Coulter Partners, Francesca spent nearly nine years at Korn Ferry where she was Client Partner and Sector Leader R&D Pharma & Biotech EMEA, specializing in supporting international clients as well as local companies with pan-European assignments. Previously she worked at Ken Clark International and Euromedica for nine years. Before moving into executive search, she started her career in the pharmaceutical industry in GSK’s HR department. Francesca holds a degree in Science of Formative Processes & Psychology from the University of Verona, Italy. She is a native Italian speaker with fluent English.
About the Author
Francesca Lazzarin
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Ian Coyne works at the intersection of health, technology, and data, advising clients on their people growth journey. He joined Coulter Partners in 2019, based in London. Prior to Coulter Partners, Ian was Chief Growth Officer at Europe’s leading digital executive search firm, and previously Global Head of Knowledge for Russell Reynolds Associates. He holds a BSc in Computer Science and AI from the University of Manchester, UK, a Diploma in Advanced Business Management from the University of Edinburgh, UK, and an Executive MBA from ENPC in Paris, France. Ian is a published author.
About the Author
Ian Coyne
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