John Lechleiter on strategic investment
From Retired Eli Lilly CEO John Lechleiter Talks About His Life and Career · · Catholic Education Foundation
“I think in terms of what we ended up doing and there were many saying you know you need to you know cut costs substantially you need to merge you need to buy somebody you need to spin off a division instead we chose to invest more in research and I think the the the product of that is evident uh today it wasn't so evident then and and yet we thought that's the heritage of the company that's what's gotten us uh where we are now where the company is now and that was the right direction and that's what you did.”
On , John Lechleiter, Former Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer at Lilly (Eli), spoke about strategic investment during Retired Eli Lilly CEO John Lechleiter Talks About His Life and Career on Catholic Education Foundation.
About John Lechleiter
John Lechleiter, former chairman and CEO of Eli Lilly, has remained active in public speaking and community engagement. In a 2020 discussion, he reflected on leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that enterprise risk management exercises at Fortune 500 companies in 2019 had not listed a pandemic as a risk. He also discussed Eli Lilly’s response to the loss of patents for products representing roughly 40% of 2009 sales, stating that the company chose to increase R&D investment despite falling revenue. Lechleiter expressed support for Indiana’s school voucher system, describing it as a “fairly progressive approach” to educational choice, and mentioned the Central Indiana Community Economic Relief Fund, which raised $23 million for pandemic relief. In a 2024 commencement address at Xavier University, his alma mater, Lechleiter urged graduates to be discerning, kind, generous, and courageous. He emphasized the importance of independent thinking and resisting the tendency to follow the crowd. In a 2025 TEDx talk, he discussed the concepts of mavericks, icons, and geniuses, citing figures such as Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and Mother Teresa, and described his own role at Eli Lilly as an opportunity to contribute to the company’s mission of developing life-saving medicines. He also appeared in a 2024 video honoring the John C. Lechleiter Award, which recognizes Eli Lilly’s partnership with Providence Cristo Rey High School, a work-study program he helped establish.