--- title: "Why Great Teams Don't Happen by Accident: Toni Burkard" description: Pfizer CentreOne's Toni Burkard on why great teams don't happen by accident, and how leaders build trust by elevating everyone around them. image: https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/ep-23-Toni-1.png --- [![Velocity Advisory Group](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Velocity-Logo-2023-Wide-1.png)](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/) ☰ Menu - About - [Meet Our Team](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/about/) - [Meet Our Coaches](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/coaches/) - [Careers](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/careers/) - [Speaking Engagements](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/velocity-speakers/) - Solutions - [Culture & Engagement](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/culture-engagement/) - [DISC Assessments & Training](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/disc-assessments-training/) - [Employee Experience](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/employee-experience/) - [Executive Coaching](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/executive-coaching/) - [Family Business](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/family-business/) - [Leadership Development](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/leadership-development/) - [Sales Training](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/5cs-of-selling/) - [Strategy & Implementation](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/strategy-implementation/) - Resources - [Activating Greatness Podcast](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/podcast/) - [Blog](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/blog/) - [Case Studies](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/case-studies/) - [News and Announcements](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/news-and-events/) - [OrderDisc](https://orderdisc.com/) - [Upcoming Events](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/upcoming-events/) - Industries - [Construction](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/construction/) - [Financial Services](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/financial-services/) - [Life Sciences](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/lifesciences/) - [Contact](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/contact/) Activating Greatness Podcast Episodes April 23, 2026 | Episode 23 # Great Teams Don't Happen by Accident: How Leaders Elevate Everyone — with Toni Burkard ## Great Teams Don't Happen by Accident: Toni Burkard on Trust, Mentorship, and Positive Gossip **In this post:** *Pfizer CentreOne Business Enablement Lead Toni Burkard explains how trust, discretion, growth assignments, and positive gossip built a high-performing team, and why credibility in a male-dominated field has to be earned.* Toni Burkard was already winning when her boss's boss gave her homework. She was a top performer in sales at Pfizer, collecting every award she could. Her manager thought she was meant for people leadership, so Burkard started asking around. One senior leader responded with an assignment: Find three leaders you respect. Find three people who report to them. Ask all six what makes those leaders good. The answers came back the same. All six said the quality that made these leaders people they wanted to work for was that "they invested in the people that were around them," Burkard said on Episode 23 of *Activating Greatness*, the leadership podcast from Velocity Advisory Group. That exercise shaped the leader she became. Today Burkard serves as Business Enablement Lead for Pfizer CentreOne, a group within Pfizer Global Supply. Her team spans marketing, commercial strategy, proposal writing, and technical and regulatory work. She calls the group "lightning in a bottle," but she does not credit luck. "Great teams are created and not just happen by happenstance," she said. ## A Winner Who Had to Learn to Win Through Others Burkard describes herself as a high D, high I on the DISC assessment: a driver and an achiever. In Velocity's Birds framework, that combination shows up as an Eagle and a Parrot. That wiring helped her rise in sales. It did not automatically make her a good people leader. "Winning through others or watching other people grow, that was a skill that I developed," she said. Early on, her instinct was simple. "I always am like, you should do it my way because that's the best way." Over time she learned there is more than one way to reach a goal, and that watching people take a different route taught her something too. ## Credibility Is Earned, and the Bias Is Real When Burkard started at Pfizer 20 years ago, she did not see many leaders who looked like her. Life sciences has long been male-dominated, and she faced a clear decision. "I could either fit into the mold that was not built for me, or I could decide to be effective and great and amazing and do all of the things that earned my name, my credibility," she said. She chose the second path. "In a male-dominated world," she said, "your credibility isn't just assumed, it's earned." The experience did not harden her. "It made me kind of more grounded and stable," she said. Burkard now mentors several women in science and leadership, and she does not soften the message. "The double standard is real, the bias exists," she said. "If we choose to ignore it, then we don't get to design the narrative." Her practical answer is rehearsal. Coming from sales, she role-played everything, and she encourages mentees to practice difficult conversations with someone they trust, someone who can say, as she put it, "When you said this, this is what I heard, and I know that's not your intention, so let's craft that message to be different." > "In a male-dominated world, your credibility isn't just assumed, it's earned." > > *Toni Burkard, Business Enablement Lead, Pfizer CentreOne* ## Why Everyone on Her Team Has Extra Work One of Burkard's choices sounds counterintuitive. Every person on her team is working on a growth gig, a special project beyond the day job. "I know that sounds kind of crazy to any other leader, because why would I give all of the people on my team more work," she said. "But I found that the more I invest in my people, the better work that they do." According to Burkard, her team members elevate their work and are happier because they know they are taking the next step in their development. Host Alec McChesney tied the idea to what Velocity sees with clients: People stay when they believe their leader invests in them, and they leave because of the manager. Carolina Alarco of Latinos in Bio described the same commitment to [mentorship and visibility in biotech](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-22-from-access-to-impact-carolina-alarco), and Jason Casarella explained the difference between [coaching and micromanaging](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-8-coaching-vs-micromanaging-jason-casarella). FREE ONE-PAGE CHECKLIST ### The Growth Gig Checklist Use it to match each person on your team with a stretch project tied to their goals, then check in on progress without adding busywork. [Get the free checklist](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/leadership-library/growth-gig-checklist) ## The Conversation Stays in the Room Burkard's team covers for one another, and nobody comes to her to tattle. Asked how she built that, she answered immediately. "Number one, first and foremost is trust." She learned part of that from a bad example. Burkard once worked for a leader who "fostered a very nasty environment," she said, where people were praised for bringing the boss bad news about colleagues. "That's not something I tolerate." Her one-on-one conversations are direct and open, and they do not travel. "I don't go to the next call and say this is what colleague A said," she said. "That conversation stays where it is." In place of the old kind of gossip, she practices what she calls positive gossip: telling someone that a colleague praised them, or passing along that a recent presentation landed well. "It makes people feel good, and then that in turn makes me feel good," she said. ## Meet People Where They Are McChesney asked how she coaches authenticity in people who are not naturally outspoken. Burkard challenged the premise. "You can't push somebody to do something they don't want to do," she said, pointing to Sheryl Sandberg's *Lean In* and the seasons when people lean in or step back. If public speaking is not someone's thing, that is OK. "Maybe you're just not the person that's on stage," she said. So she starts every mentoring relationship by learning the person's personal and career goals. She recently counseled a mentee who felt pressure to build new skills but had no time because he was not yet strong in his current role. Her response: "Building a skill to be the best in this current role is developing the next skill." ## Rapid-Fire Leadership Lessons - **Daily habit:** Assuming positive intent. A negative outcome then becomes "something we can work through together." - **Most underrated skill:** Self-reflection, especially for women, given the perception bias they face. - **Stop doing:** Having favorites. "Although there is always going to be a shining star on every team, that doesn't mean that the light of everybody else's star needs to be dimmer." - **Best advice:** Building trust. If people will not open up to you, you cannot support them as a leader. HOW VELOCITY HELPS ### Velocity Culture & Engagement Burkard's team did not become "lightning in a bottle" by chance. Trust, discretion, and visible investment in people are habits that can be measured and built. Velocity's Culture and Engagement work uses culture assessments, engagement surveys, and stakeholder interviews to show where trust is strong and where it is breaking down. The High Performance Culture Workshop then helps leadership teams turn those findings into the daily behaviors that make great teams repeatable. See how Velocity works with [life sciences organizations](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/lifesciences/). [Explore Culture and Engagement](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/culture-engagement/) ## The Takeaway: The Work Never Ends Burkard closed with a reminder that development has no finish line. "We all have work to do, and even the top CEOs are still growing as leaders," she said. She encouraged anyone who needs support to find a mentor. Her own career proves the point. A homework assignment turned a top seller into a people leader, and that leader now builds teams on trust, discretion, and investment. Great teams do not appear by chance. Leaders build them one conversation at a time. ## Listen to the Full Episode Hear Toni Burkard's full conversation with host Alec McChesney on *Activating Greatness*. [Watch on YouTube](https://youtu.be/5tUyN_GD1RI), or listen on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/4LcgAut0KyYiGyDhFvMjPD) and [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1868386871). FREE GUIDE ### The Favorites Check Burkard says great leaders should stop having favorites, because one shining star does not have to dim the rest of the team. This short self-check helps you spot where favoritism may be costing you the trust and effort of everyone else. [Get the free guide](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/leadership-library/favorites-check) Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-23-why-great-teams-dont-happen-by-accident-toni-burkard) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-23-why-great-teams-dont-happen-by-accident-toni-burkard) [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-23-why-great-teams-dont-happen-by-accident-toni-burkard) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-23-why-great-teams-dont-happen-by-accident-toni-burkard) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-23-why-great-teams-dont-happen-by-accident-toni-burkard) [Team Alignment](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/tag/team-alignment) [Life Sciences & Healthcare](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/tag/life-sciences-healthcare) ## Ready to activate greatness on your team? Velocity Advisory Group helps leadership teams build the culture, strategy, and systems that let good people do their best work. [Book a discovery call](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/contact/) ## Related posts [Communication & Coaching](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/tag/communication-coaching), [Life Sciences & Healthcare](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/tag/life-sciences-healthcare) ## [Episode 47: Spotting Hidden Strengths in Employees: Lessons From Pfizer — with Jenny Gattari](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-47-spotting-hidden-strengths-jenny-gattari) [Alec McChesney](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/author/alec-mcchesney) Sep 14, 2026, 4:00:00 AM The Strengths You Dismiss: Jenny Gattari on Spotting Hidden Talent in Your People In this post:... [Read more](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-47-spotting-hidden-strengths-jenny-gattari) [Life Sciences & Healthcare](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/tag/life-sciences-healthcare), [Leadership Mindset](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/tag/leadership-mindset) ## [Episode 34: Servant Leadership in Sales: Turn KPIs Into a Classroom — with Tom Wilson](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-34-servant-leadership-in-sales-tom-wilson) [Alec McChesney](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/author/alec-mcchesney) Jun 22, 2026, 4:00:00 AM KPIs Are a Classroom: Tom Wilson on Servant Leadership in Commercial Teams In this post: AmbioPharm... [Read more](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-34-servant-leadership-in-sales-tom-wilson) [Accountability & High Performance](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/tag/accountability-high-performance), [Life Sciences & Healthcare](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/tag/life-sciences-healthcare) ## [Episode 48: Competition as a Leadership Engine: Scoreboards That Work — with John Worden](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/ep-48-competition-as-a-leadership-engine-john-worden) [Alec McChesney](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/activating-greatness-podcast-episodes/author/alec-mcchesney) Sep 17, 2026, 4:00:00 AM Share the Why to Get the Buy: John Worden on Competition as a Leadership Engine In this post:... 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