Sara Skyttedal, former KD politician, has been appointed head of strategic communications and societal impact at pharmaceutical giant GSK. After leaving politics and appearing on TV4's 'The Traitors,' she looks forward to working on health issues. She emphasizes the importance of keeping people healthy rather than just treating the sick.
Sara Skyttedal has built a varied career in politics and media. She left the Christian Democrats (KD), founded the Folklistan party which failed to enter the EU parliament, and ran her own consulting business. Recently, she appeared on TV4's reality show 'The Traitors,' a psychological power game where participants scheme and vote each other out. As one of the traitors, she managed to stay under the radar deep into the game.
'Is one good at 'The Traitors,' one has skills that can be valuable in many workplaces,' she says about the show's relevance. 'It's fundamentally a strategic and social game. Being able to create successful strategies and win over people is something valuable in most professional roles.'
Now Skyttedal steps into a top job at GSK, where she will lead strategic communications work and societal impact. 'After politics, I wanted to do something that feels meaningful,' she explains. Her focus will be talking to Swedish politicians about improving healthcare and helping people live longer. She sees the industry's innovations as key to turning an aging population into an asset rather than a burden.
'Today we have a health and medical care system that says resources should be allocated to the most severely ill. It's a good principle, but we also need to allocate resources to keeping people healthy,' she says.
Skyttedal also defends lobbying, or societal impact, as a link between companies and politicians. Despite the government's proposal for a lobby register, she believes it is not undemocratic. 'It's not about forcing through an opinion or change, but practically finding common ground. Often, it's rather a democratic problem that there are good companies that do not invest in Government Affairs.'