Boston Scientific Chair and CEO Mike Mahoney [Photo courtesy of Boston Scientific]
“We really try to bring the best of very large companies and smaller companies in my past,” he said in a recent interview with J.P. Morgan Global Research Senior Medical Supplies & Devices Analyst Robbie Marcus, who shared the transcript with Medical Design & Outsourcing.
Boston Scientific is the world’s ninth-largest medical device company, according to our 2025 Medtech Big 100 ranking by revenue.
“We have our values in advancing science for life all over the globe, but culture really happens locally with your manager or with your supervisor regardless of what people in Marlborough talk about or Boston or the headquarters,” Mahoney said. “When I think about culture, it’s really how myself, how our leaders behave, and how hopefully that gets emulated. And so to me, it’s all about staying very humble, not arrogant. You’re part of a team. It’s not about yourself. I think it’s super important to build trust with your employees.”
That trust needs to be strong enough that employees can disagree with leaders in front of others, “have debates, and be active that way,” he said.
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“And then we have an insatiable desire to be a large company, but not a large slow company,” he continued. “So we really put a premium on appropriate speed and agility — trying to constantly root out bureaucracy — and appropriate risk-taking.”
And Boston Scientific employees “don’t want to just be a good company. We want to be the best company,” he said.
“We want to win. … We’ve talked about the winning spirit quite a bit in the company. I think besides the culture that everyone has values and so forth, it’s really what you and your leadership team and your leaders emulate to your employees. Those are some of the traits that I try to focus on personally.”
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