A Kid From Maine – Basil Upton

In this episode of Spread Love in Organizations, Naji Gehchan welcomes Dr. Basil Upton, executive business director at Eli Lilly, servant leader, and catalyst behind the podcast itself. Basil shares his deeply personal journey from growing up in Maine under the guidance of his grandparents to building a 24-year career in healthcare. With a background in psychology and counseling, Basil reflects on how his desire to help others ultimately led him to pharmaceutical leadership, where purpose, performance, and people intersect.

The conversation dives into Basil’s doctoral research in Educational Leadership and Organizational Innovation, which examined how leadership styles influence employee engagement during periods of both strong and weak performance. His findings challenge conventional thinking: engagement is driven not by shifting leadership styles, but by consistent servant leadership behaviors — active listening, empathy, recognition, and collaboration — especially during challenging times. Unexpectedly, Basil also highlights the powerful role of peer relationships and teamwork, sometimes outweighing even a supervisor’s influence on engagement.

Together, Naji and Basil explore what it truly means to “spread love in organizations.” They challenge leaders to rethink engagement as a core performance metric, not a soft concept, and to recognize the profound impact leadership has on people’s lives beyond work. Basil leaves listeners with a call to action for healthcare leaders everywhere: seek feedback, lead with humility and accountability, embed servant leadership into the DNA of organizations, and intentionally create environments where people — and patients — can truly thrive.

"The impact a leader has on someone’s life beyond work is tremendous."

MEET OUR GUEST Dr. Basil Upton, Executive Business Director at Eli Lilly.

Basil is a purpose driven transformational and servant leader dedicated to helping others reach their potential. He is entering his 24th year with Eli Lilly and Company where he is an executive business director. His teams have consistently exceeded performance expectations for numerous years. Basil’s work accomplishments include business director of the year, Elite coach, Platinum Performer, and recipient of several Coaching Awards. In the summer of 2024, Basil graduated from Marymount University in Arlington, VA with a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership and Organizational Innovation. He studied how a supervisor’s leadership style affects the engagement of pharmaceutical sales professionals during periods of varied sales performance for his dissertation.