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[Image omitted] - Laura Schumacher
Concentrating on the job at hand
Company: AbbVie
Title: Executive Vice President of Business Development & External Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
It's hard to know where a career takes its inspiration. Mentors are important, as AbbVie's ($ABBV) Laura Schumacher attests, and being a mentor has become equally important.
"I have benefited greatly from outstanding mentors in my career and I believe all senior leaders should be dedicated to developing the next generation of leaders," Schumacher said. "A former boss and mentor once told me that for true leaders, it is never about you, it must be about your team. As I've advanced in my career, I have tried to live by this while also imparting the same on leaders I have had the pleasure of helping to develop."
Schumacher, who earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and went on to law school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wears many hats in her role as general counsel and executive VP of business development for AbbVie. But she's found her experience as a litigator was the best preparation for her current duties. "I am a litigator by training, and I find that the decision template that makes one successful in litigation is often useful in many other business contexts. That template teaches you to separate relevant and irrelevant issues, to anticipate outcomes and to collect all the facts in support of a decision but also to consider the alternative point of view."