From Scientist to Leader: How Danaher’s Sarah Kehoe, PhD, Gained Confidence in Her Career

While confidence is important for any professional, it’s essential for those who want to grow their careers and lead teams. Just ask Sarah Kehoe, PhD, Vice President, Execution & Process Excellence, Danaher Diagnostics (one of Danaher’s three platforms). Sarah intentionally sought out people within Danaher, especially female scientific leaders, who she could learn from to develop more confidence, while also pursuing growth opportunities to practice on the job. 

Even from a young age, Sarah knew she wanted to make a difference in the fight against disease to improve patient outcomes. So after earning her PhD in molecular cell biology and working her early years at a cancer institute, it’s no surprise that she eventually landed at Beckman Coulter (a Danaher business) in 2010, and over time, worked her way up to the Chief Innovation Office for Danaher Diagnostics. 

As Sarah’s responsibilities grew, so did her need for leadership training and development. Fortunately, Danaher is committed to developing future leaders who can turn ideas to impact and accelerate Danaher’s mission to innovate at the speed of life. The company saw Sarah’s leadership potential and invested in her.   

Stepping up to become a leader  

“Over the past 15 years, Danaher has invested a lot in my career development as a leader,” she said. “I’ve attended multiple leadership programs and have taken the Harvard Core Credential of Readiness ‘mini-MBA’ business course, which Danaher graciously paid for. Danaher also invested in me from a mentoring perspective, pairing me up with different leaders according to my development goals and targeted areas for growth. Some of these have included business presidents and general manager mentors that I met with quarterly.” 

As Sarah’s career progressed, she also received timely coaching through Danaher’s Women + Friends Associate Resource Group, which gave her the confidence to write a 250-page proposal that won Danaher an $8 million BARDA award to develop AI algorithms for infectious disease applications. 

“Without that coaching, I wouldn’t have had the courage to try,” she said. 

Sarah’s numerous sponsors, mentors and coaches, including a former boss that became a “mentor of a lifetime,” left an incredible impact on Sarah’s career and her own personal and professional journey.  

“I learned how to delegate, how to give real-time and fair feedback, and how to be more self-aware,” she said. “Most importantly, I learned how to be an effective and authentic servant leader, even in times of stress. By learning empathy-based and logical decision-making techniques, I was able to create a high-performing team without compromising my values of ensuring psychological safety and intellectual honesty.”  

Countering those “inner gremlins”

Based on her previous scientific roles, Sarah can definitely relate to other female leaders in STEM fields. During her career, she has encountered “imposter syndrome”—feelings of self-doubt and personal incompetence that persist despite one’s education, experience and accomplishments. But she never let these negative feelings stop her. 

“One particular book—Tara Mohr’s ‘Playing Big’—which I was gifted through the Women + Friends Associate Resource Group, really impacted my career and how I deal with my ‘gremlins’ and inner critics that drain energy and cause self-doubt,” she said. “Those feelings never go away entirely but learning how to keep them in check so that you can be in the right headspace is essential to creativity and innovation. This is especially applicable but not limited to women.”  

Learning to play big

“During my time with Danaher, I’ve learned how to play big,” said Sarah. “I’ve found out how to shed fear. I’ve learned that even though you’re out of your comfort zone, you go for it and you grow—and you lean into becoming a leader, even if you don’t feel ready. Danaher supports you in getting you there.” 

In fact, those times of stretching are now among Sarah’s favorite memories. 

“Some of my proudest moments at Danaher were when I was pushed out of my comfort zone and when people believed in me enough to take a chance on me,” she said. “For example, in 2022 I was given sponsorship responsibility for Excellence in Innovation—an annual awards event where Danaher brings together hundreds of people from all over the world to celebrate our Diagnostic companies’ top science and technology innovators. I had to go on stage and read from a teleprompter, which I had never done before, to recognize the top innovators in the company, including a special award honoring the legacy of my former boss who had been a driving force in sparking a culture of innovation at Danaher, but had recently passed away from breast cancer.

In 2023 the stakes got higher when I was invited to moderate a patient panel at the “Danaher Summit: Diagnostics Insights to Impact” in front of 200+ executives and world-renowned scientists inclusive of Nobel Laureates, Danaher’s founders and Danaher’s CEO.

Watch Sarah moderate the panel, “The Access Odyssey: When Health Equity is Not Equal” at Danaher’s 2023 Summit

Confidence-building experiences like these are what keep Sarah happily growing at Danaher.  

“I’ve been with Danaher 15 years because Danaher offers so many opportunities to grow and learn as a leader, while doing work that is helping to improve patient outcomes,” she said. “I’ve had many roles over the years and have influenced the creation of my own future roles by identifying business needs and pitching ways I can help. Danaher is very data-driven and uses logic in their decision-making, which my ‘inner scientist’ greatly values.”  

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