How CEOs Lead Through Uncertainty: Zoetis CEO Kristin Peck

You are never ready for the obstacle that is going to appear in front of you. Food security is national security. Healthy animals lead to healthy, productive people. I really believe that culture is a competitive advantage.

For starters, I'd say the journey was probably, if I look back, a little more of an obstacle course than a journey as it went. My journey started in real estate finance and then went through investment banking, private equity, management consulting, manufacturing and supply, HR, commercial, you name it. But I think as I look at what are the lines that go straight through, the first thing was follow great leaders. I think if you're always learning and learning from someone that you really trust and is willing to challenge you. As I look at almost every job I've ever had, I followed a leader I really believed in who I think I learned a ton from. The line that was new to me as I progressed in my career was really making sure there was purpose behind what I was doing. And I think that for me came the summer of my investment banking where I didn't know that I believed deeply in what I was doing. And I realized for the first time how important that was to me to feel that my job was aligned with my personal purpose and that I was committed to the purpose of the company that I was at. And I would say the third line was really curiosity. As you look at all the different types of companies I've worked for and the different jobs I've had, the one thing through all of it was I'm always a really curious person. I love to learn more. And I think that broad mindset and the curiosity to constantly be learning something new has, I think, served me well throughout my career. I can't say when I started it I ever did imagine that I would be CEO. That probably didn't happen until my early 40s that I thought maybe that was something for me and maybe interesting. I just always wanted to be learning and growing, and I think that was the line that really went through it all.

I was raised by two parents who never told me no on anything in the sense of what I wanted to dream. As many people know, my aspirations as a child was to be quarterback of the New York Jets and then president of the United States. It didn't work out in either one of those for lots of different reasons. The Jets might still be able to use me, but I would say just I always was curious, always liked trying new things, and just was encouraged to try things out.

Yeah, what I was really thinking about is everyone's like, "I'm waiting to be ready." And the one thing I know about leadership is you are never ready for the obstacle that is going to appear in front of you. But the fact that you're not always ready doesn't mean you don't move forward. What gives me the confidence to do that is three things. The first is discipline. I'm an incredibly disciplined person and I control the controllables. Whether you're looking at COVID or the war breaking out, there's been so many different challenges over the last six years. You control what you can control. You can control the team that you surround yourself with, making sure they're smart. You can control how you operate the business with the company that you have. You can control how you spend your time. And so I always say to people, when you're going through a challenging time, focus on what you can control and doing your best at that. And I think that'll get you a lot farther than you probably sometimes realize. The second thing is constantly a growth mindset. I talked before about curiosity. The world is moving really quickly. I don't think anyone had imagined a pandemic before it happened. I don't think anyone had really imagined the possibility, potential, and risk of Gen AI until it happened. But if you're always willing to learn and try to understand the new trend that's coming, I think that's incredibly important. And the last is mental discipline. These are trying times. And the more you can lean into the discomfort of whatever it is and know you're going to get through it, and that mental discipline to know, "I have faced hard before and I got through hard before, so I can do this yet again," I think is incredibly important. I know we all sometimes say, "I can't wait till this is over when things get easier."

It actually has never gotten easier, is what I would say. I think what really changes is you get better at doing hard. And for me, if I focus on just keeping that discipline, that growth mindset, and that mental resilience to continue to lean into the discomfort and knowing with a phenomenal team and with good discipline that we'll get through it—and not only we'll get through it, we'll thrive, because I think these are the opportunities where you can actually increase the distance between you and your competition if you're willing to lean in.

I shared it with our colleagues at our national sales meeting, and I've written about them, and I'm sure you've seen some of the podcasts about it. To me, I think often about leadership and about what I need to be doing and what I am doing. I reflect a lot on what made me successful in this situation and what could I have done better. I think that sort of mindset is fundamental to me.

First and foremost, it starts with our purpose, which you mentioned, which is to nurture the world and humankind by advancing care for animals. It's not enough to just meet today's needs. It's about increasing the level of care and raising the bar every year. And I think we do that by focusing on where the unmet medical need exists, whether that's in companion animals or in livestock. As you focus on companion animals, the reality is animals today are living longer. Your dog and your cat live longer, 1.5 to 1.7 times longer than they did 25 or 30 years ago. That's because we're taking better preventative care of our animals. That's because today's pet owners really have a stronger bond with their animals. We used to say 25, 30 years ago, the dog might have been outside and then moved inside. It's now on your bed and it probably has a shrink. You're really willing to spend a lot more. But that also means we need to solve new diseases, because as animals live longer, chronic diseases become more important. Osteoarthritis pain, renal, look at cardiology, look at oncology. There's entirely new areas we need to focus on. But even as you think about livestock, there's a growing demand for protein across the globe. And there are new diseases emerging at all times. So we've got to be focusing on what is the new vaccine that's needed, how do we even breed animals that are more likely to be healthier and more productive that really stays at the forefront of everything that we're doing. And we look at sort of innovation in that pipeline as really driving the impact of the future, certainly for Zoetis, but more importantly for society.

I think one of the most fundamental and important parts of every society is the ability to feed their society. Food security is national security, and I think that's clearer and clearer, as well as the fact that from a One Health perspective, 70% of infectious disease in humans is zoonotic. It means it started in an animal. So taking good care of your animals, whether that be your livestock or that is your pets, also helps take better care of people. We really fundamentally believe at Zoetis that taking a One Health perspective to everything we do serves the pets that comfort you through challenging times, but importantly ensures the food supply is safe and affordable. As you think about the communities that produce, whether you are in Sub-Saharan Africa as a smallholder farmer, the ability for you to keep your animals healthy keeps not just your family fed, your community fed, but it probably ensures your kids get education and you can be safe and healthy, that might help you afford healthcare for your family. If you really think about it, animals in so many societies, whether you're in Sub-Saharan Africa or a fifth-generation farmer in Nebraska, keeping that herd healthy helps the family stay healthy, the community stay healthy, and really the nation stay healthy.