The Background

Five years ago, Centrient Pharmaceuticals faced a pivotal moment. As a global leader in sustainable antibiotics and statins, the company was transforming fast—expanding internationally, strengthening its culture, and elevating expectations for leadership at every level.

But there was a challenge: to truly lead its next chapter, Centrient needed leaders who were not only brilliant experts, but people who could inspire, collaborate, and navigate the complexities of a rapidly evolving industry.

Hiring such leaders isn’t simply about identifying talent. It’s about predicting how someone will lead, how they’ll behave under pressure, and whether they will strengthen or strain the culture you’ve worked so hard to build.

That’s when Centrient partnered with Human Edge and made a bold decision: to embed the CORE^TM X and CORE^TM Leadership assessments into every leadership hiring and development process across the organization.

What followed changed the way they built their leadership teams—and the trajectory of their talent strategy.

The Moment of Realization: Expertise Isn’t Enough

Centrient had always prided itself on hiring strong technical experts. But as the business grew and demands increased, something became clear: technical brilliance doesn’t automatically translate into great leadership.

Some leaders struggled not because they lacked skills, but because of derailers—those overused strengths that can turn into obstacles. A detail-driven leader might become controlling. A passionate expert might become resistant to other viewpoints. A high achiever might push too hard and burn out teams.

These patterns are hard to spot in interviews. Yet they are exactly the factors that determine whether a leader will thrive—or stumble.

Centrient knew they needed a better way.

The CORE^TM Model: A New Lens on Leadership Potential

The CORE^TM Assessment Suite offered something powerful: a science-based, globally consistent, and deeply insightful look at how leaders think, collaborate, and behave under pressure.

But what made the partnership truly transformative was the first step—mapping Centrient’s leadership framework and company values directly to the CORE^TM model.

Suddenly, the assessment results spoke the language of Centrient’s culture. They didn’t just reflect generic leadership traits—they illuminated the exact qualities the organization valued most, such as:

• Purpose-driven decision-making
• Customer focus
• Integrity and collaboration
• Strategic thinking
• Ownership and accountability

This alignment ensured the data wasn’t abstract—it was immediately actionable.

Rolling It Out Worldwide: A New Global Standard

Once the leadership framework was aligned to CORE^TM, Centrient didn’t pilot the tool in one region or for a handful of roles. They took a bigger step.

CORE^TM became the worldwide standard for selecting senior leaders and key experts.

Every major hiring decision—from site leaders to global experts to heads of commercial teams—now included CORE^TM as a required assessment.

This last step quickly became a favorite among Centrient’s HR teams: instead of reading an assessment report alone, they had a partner walking them through the nuances, interpreting behavioral patterns, and connecting insights directly to the role and team dynamics.

The result? More confident hiring decisions, stronger alignment across regions, and a shared leadership language across the company.

The Impact: Less Hiring Risk, More Cultural Fit, Better Leaders

From Hiring to Developing: The Evolution of the Partnership

Once CORE^TM had become indispensable in recruitment, something surprising happened: leaders who completed the assessment began asking for their results, curious to understand their own profiles.

This sparked a new chapter.

Centrient began using CORE^TM for leadership coaching and development, giving current leaders the same deep insights used in hiring. With targeted development conversations, leaders gained greater self-awareness and clearer paths to growth.

Instead of one-off assessments, CORE^TM became a continuous development accelerator—effectively creating a common leadership language across the organization.

A Five-Year Journey— and a Strong Leadership Pipeline

Today, more than five years into the partnership, CORE^TM is woven into how Centrient defines, hires, and develops leadership. It is no longer “an assessment.” It is a strategic foundation.

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Ultimately, CORE^TM helped Centrient do something powerful: place the right leaders in the right roles at the right time — and prepare them to shape the future of the company.

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