She is one of Britain’s top executives, who rubs shoulders with world leaders, was honoured for services to industry and runs a drugs company saving thousands of lives. But Dame Emma Walmsley does not think she — or any other chief executive — has superpowers.

In a rare public discussion on leadership style, the boss of GSK said it was “important to recognise as a leader you’re not some kind of all-powerful superhero that has the answers to everything.

“I’ve never believed in that and sometimes I think it’s unfortunate how chief executives are set in that way.”

In a wide-ranging discussion with Octavius Black, the Old Etonian who co-founded MindGym, the AIM-listed workplace training company, Walmsley said she had “never, ever woken up, wherever it is in the world, and thought, ‘Gosh I feel powerful’ … It’s just not what I feel … Being the leader is how you unlock the individual possibilities but also the team’s collective possibilities”.

GSK, one of the UK’s two big pharma companies, employs about 69,400 people and operates in more than 80 markets.

Walmsley, 53, who has been the company’s chief executive since 2017 and is also a non-executive director of Microsoft, said she had to be “really careful” to manage her energy and its impact.

“One of the things that happens when you’re in a leadership job, not just as a CEO, for all of us, is this consciousness of the impact that you have [on others].

“Whether you’re standing on a stage in a large boardroom or you’re in a one-on-one with somebody, the transfer of energy you give, whether you come in a bit tired off a plane, you can lift someone, you can inspire them, you can clarify them, you can reassure them, you have to listen really carefully.

“One of the things I’ve learnt the most, it’s not that you are powerful, but you need to be acutely conscious of the impact you can have to help people do more and want to do more.”

Walmsley also acknowledged the influence of her background on her role, saying that “because I’m the daughter of a naval officer, if you’re trying to captain the ship, you are setting a direction, you have a clear destination, you need to articulate to people why that is the right place to go, what it is, create a vision of that future”.

She also gave an indication of how she is managing the threat of thousands of potentially costly lawsuits in the US alleging that Zantac, an old GSK blockbuster heartburn drug, caused cancer.

“If there is a lawsuit on a drug that takes an enormous hit to the market cap [value] of several companies in the sector and is a drug that was launched when I was in high school, does that mean GSK is going to change the amount of investing? Does it mean this is going to change our strategy? Does it mean my job is affected?

“And so we very quickly explained to everyone, ‘The science is on our side. We are going to defend our position rigorously, it’s going to take time because this is the situation in the US legal operating model … but don’t worry, we’ve got all the best lawyers working on it.’

“We have a small really expert group working on it. Our job and the rest of the company, 98 per cent of the rest of the company, is to focus on discovering and developing medicines and vaccines.”