Author: Barry Duke, Managing Partner

by Barry Duke

As the hiring executive for one of your most important roles, you have worked your way through many candidates, narrowed the pool down to a few finalists, and have developed a strong preference for one candidate. Suddenly, someone in your organization, either solicited or unsolicited, delivers some dark feedback on the candidate. Perhaps they heard from someone who worked directly with your finalist in another organization, either as a supervisor, peer, or subordinate, and that person has provided less than flattering, or even decisively unflattering feedback. Worse yet, it’s your boss, another senior executive in your organization, or someone on the Board who brings this information to you. How do you handle it?

Perhaps the safest thing to do is to pass on the candidate – after all, you don’t have to hire any particular person. Of course, you need to weigh the importance of having the role filled now versus settling for a lesser candidate in your candidate pool, or perhaps starting the search from scratch again. Yet, you don’t want your decision to hire in the face of this negative feedback hanging over you, as any potential hiccup in performance or cultural fit by this candidate is potentially an “I told you so” moment by those in your organization, particularly if it’s your boss or another senior level executive. Why needlessly put your own career in jeopardy?

As a hiring executive myself for many years in the biopharma industry, I encountered this situation more than a few times. Now as an executive search professional, I see it with our clients. I really can’t blame anyone for not moving forward with a finalist under these circumstances. It’s hard to un-hear the doubt cast on your candidate. It’s even harder, or maybe even foolish, to put yourself out on a limb.

On the other hand, I can say that there were at least a couple times when I wished I had been more resolute regarding my finalist. In one case, I had insight into the candidate from personal experience, and understood why there might be some less flattering opinions of this person. Unfortunately, my boss heard an offhand comment directly from another C-level executive who had been a couple levels above my finalist in his most recent organization. I was aware that he had ruffled some feathers in that organization by raising the performance bar and holding people accountable. I caved and passed on him.

In retrospect, I wish I had maintained my confidence, carefully explained my understanding of the concerns expressed, outlined my own process for mitigation of any potential risks associated with the candidate, and provided my vision for the significantly net positive benefits that I expected from this individual. I was confident, and remain so to this day, that this person would have been a huge asset to my organization. Yet I lacked the courage of these convictions being relatively new in my position, and so chose the path I perceived to be safer with my boss. Did I do the right thing?

So how do you best manage these situations? The full answer lies beyond the scope of this short article which is more meant to be thought provoking than a how-to resource. A potential starting list of considerations: 

1. Explore the credibility of the source of the negative information including any unusual aspects of the source’s relationship and recency or relevancy to the candidate. I once heard negative feedback from an industry vendor whose firm had been fired by my finalist, which was not clear at the time he delivered the negative assessment.
2. Pursue your own trusted sources to dig further into the concerns raised. In my experience, former bosses are the most likely to provide a wholistic and objective view of a candidate.
3. Reflect on how robust your interview process has been in leading to this candidate. Senior level executives, especially if they have been a force for significant organizational change at different points in their career, will often have detractors. After all, people aren’t wired to love change or authority. Does your hiring system (sourcing, screening, interviewing, reference checking) give you the confidence that you can assess accurately, even with the less than positive feedback that may find its way to your ears? If so, proceed. If not, find the weaknesses in your process and strengthen those areas. 

Effective hiring practices will always bring competitive advantages to you and your organization, and even then, your courage may be tested. 

Barry Duke, Managing Partner

Why LinkedIn Is Not an Option, It’s a Must!

If you’re a business leader reading this, you may be thinking, “I’m not looking for a job, so why should I bother?”

Here’s why: contrary to popular belief, looking for a job is not the top use for LinkedIn. In fact, the two main reasons are thought leadership and to attract top talent. With professionals signing up at a rate of more than two new members per second, having a strong profile and presence is essential. Not only do employers in every industry use LinkedIn for talent acquisition, it is still the number one site for professional career networking.

However, with over 8 million C-suite executives on LinkedIn, it is easy to get lost in the crowd. LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network on the Internet, with nearly 675 million members in over 200 countries and over 184 million in North America alone. Needless to say, in order to stand out, you need to optimize your profile. 

Here are three easy ways to give your LinkedIn a makeover in 10 minutes or less:

1. A good profile picture – It may seem obvious, but first impressions really do matter. While it doesn’t necessarily need to be a professional headshot, it does need to be clear. It is the first thing people will see and if you don’t have one, it looks like you’re hiding.
2.  Create a customized URL – This shows the world that you are savvy enough to edit the default URL. When you don’t take the extra second to make this change, it sends the message that you’re potentially out of touch with current trends.
3.  Share your accomplishments – Your profile needs to be more than just a job history list. It’s meant to showcase who you are as a professional, and accomplishments present a well-rounded picture. You don’t need to list everything, but do be sure it’s up-to-date and relevant. 

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s kick it up a notch:

• Change the default banner picture – Get rid of the LinkedIn constellation. Your banner should reflect you. It’s simple and it’s free! Consider it to be part of your personal branding. If you’re looking for inspiration, check out LinkedIn Background.
• Write in first person – Show others that you are aware of modern social media best practices. Third-person summaries put a wall between you and the reader. On social media, it’s all about connecting.  
• Choose your keywords wisely – Remember you are found through an algorithm so consider keywords for you and your organization. When choosing keywords consider how others will search for you or your company. Then repeat those words in various sections of your profile.  
• Focus less on promoting and more on connecting – One of the biggest mistakes people make on social media is heavy self-promotion. To strengthen your presence, you need to become part of a community and find ways to engage in genuine dialogue with business partners, industry influencers, and potential clients. 
• Effectively convey your company vision – An easy way to do this is to share content that reflects your brand’s mission. More specifically, this means telling people what your company does and why. Explain the value your business brings to the table. As a general rule, with every piece of content you post, you should always be asking yourself: why should they care? What’s the takeaway? 

Are You Ready to Take Your LinkedIn Strategy to the Next Level?

The bottom line: You cannot establish yourself as a thought leader without utilizing social media – and LinkedIn is the best place to start. And the benefits go beyond better personal branding. By boosting your executive visibility, you’ll gain more credibility, generate more engagement for your business and significantly broaden your network.

Over two thousand years ago Aristotle noted that “Well begun is only half done,” and that seems an apt way to think about bringing new executives into an organization. The signed offer letter is the culmination of one part of the process, but on-boarding is the other and its often done badly or not at all. A wrong hire at the executive level is never good: It’s disruptive, time-consuming and expensive in multiple ways. A mistake is bad for business plans and needs, and if hiring mistakes are repeatedly made, they are also detrimental to a company’s “brand” in the market for talent. These situations are obviously also bad for a newly-hired executive, who likely left a prior organization to join yours.

While a rigorous hiring process consistently applied can greatly lessen the risks of hiring the wrong person, it’s not foolproof. Also, companies may have indeed hired the right person, but various errors of omission and commission in bringing them into the organization doom the marriage. In that instance, the first anniversary gift of paper, is a severance package.

Based on my 20 years of life sciences retained executive search experience over roughly 250 client engagements across the US, Europe and elsewhere, I believe that executives rarely fail in new situations because of shortcomings in functional competence. Instead, the culprit is usually a failure to build and manage relationships in a new situation. This can make early credibility-building wins harder, can camouflage organizational “landmines” and can obscure informal realities that often govern the rhythm of how things get done in a company.

When companies put an internal candidate into a role, the executive’s strengths, weaknesses and developmental needs are usually well known. Additionally, the executive in question knows the organization; its culture and while usually not everyone, its people. She/he has a built-in network they can call upon for advice to help them transition into a new position. Candidates hired from the outside don’t have that, though they usually bring other skills and experiences to a role that hiring executives need and value that weren’t available internally.

When executive appointments fall apart in the first year, the fault usually lies with both the person and the organization. Often new executives don’t fully appreciate the importance of formally and informally building a wide swath of relationships in their new company, and are also too slow to ask for help or coaching if they are struggling. Organizations in turn are often too passive in helping new executives accelerate their internal network-building. And hiring executives can also be too slow to help clear unreasonable internal obstacles for the new executive, and also to send clear messages of support to others internally who might not be fully invested in the new person’s success (maybe a peer wanted the job and didn’t get it, maybe other peers see the new person as a rival, or perhaps feel that the new person will get resources that they need). Internal competition is good in the executive ranks, but it shouldn’t be allowed to sabotage the overall goals of the organization.

In my experience, a few simple on-boarding processes, regularly applied, can minimize the chances a new executive will fail in their first year in a new role. Below are four suggestions each for organizations and executives in this regard:

For the Organization

• Require that references in the hiring process contain detailed observations of the executive’s developmental gaps/weaknesses, especially with respect to leadership and relationship-building behaviors. Most importantly, the hiring executive should pay attention to these and incorporate them into how the executive is managed, developed and coached.
• While the new executive obviously needs to get up to speed, gain traction and have a timely positive impact, the hiring executive cannot just assume that the auto-pilot has been switched on and nothing else will be needed. The hiring executive must actively and publicly invest in the new person’s success, and if needed move quickly to stamp-out destructive political or unhelpful behavior (by peers, others and the executive) if counter-productive developments are unfolding.
• The hiring executive must give ongoing, candid feedback to the new executive. The hiring executive should also remember that patience is a virtue in these situations. Coach actively and often, but resist the urge to jump to conclusions and make snap judgments about the wisdom of the recent hire.
• The hiring executive, alone or in conjunction with HR, should conduct a formal 360 degree internal reference process with the new executive periodically in the first year (e.g. at three and nine months). The executive should be interviewed as to their assessment of how things are going, where they feel they need help etc. and others with whom she/he interacts should be queried as well. The hiring executive should then deliver the 360 feedback to the executive and set plans if needed to act on the findings. It is critical that this process be done in the spirit of a joint investment by the organization and the executive for development and effective on-boarding, and not as a punitive “gotcha” process.

For the New Executive

• Be aware that your ability to build relationships, influence and manage conflicts with your peers as well as with other senior executives may determine whether you succeed in your new role. Of course, executives must manage their own organizations well too, but they sometimes neglect peer and other senior relationships at their ultimate peril.
• Have an honest and realistic view of your skills in the whole relationship arena. Are you generally fast or slow to build new relationships or do you even think it important to build them? If these areas aren’t your strengths, you need to work hard to get better at them, fast. Talk to people, study up on relationship building behaviors and even get a coach if needed. And remember, honest, well-intentioned feedback, even if you don’t agree with it, is a gift. Accept it as such and regularly seek it.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help, from your boss, peers, your own organization or others.
• Be patient and honest with yourself if things aren’t going well. If this is the first time you’ve changed organizations in many years, realize that it may not be your best skill. Don’t despair and instead keep working the problem. If on the other hand you’ve seamlessly changed organizations multiple times, use past experience to diagnose the current situation and devise new paths for success.

Bringing new executives into an organization is a significant investment of time, money and emotion for all concerned, and the costs of failure are typically not unimportant. The suggestions above are simple and can be used by organizations of all sizes. Awareness and a genuine commitment to use them or something similar are all that’s required. Too often however, parties think the work is done once the new executive starts work. Uncertainty will always feature to a degree in the executive hiring process, but the thoughts here are a relatively simple way to tilt the odds of success strongly in your favor.

Strawn Arnold & Associates (SAA), a premier provider of executive search to the healthcare and life science industries, is pleased to announce the addition of Jenny Millsap Crutchlow as Director of Recruiting.

“As we at SAA continue to grow and meet demand, we remain dedicated to our business model, which relies on former industry executives who enter search with the experience necessary to fully relate to the client and their needs”, says John Groover, Managing Director. “Having a proven recruiting specialist such as Jenny who can optimally support this model with exceptional sourcing and candidate identification skills is a big boost for our business as we move forward.”

Jenny joined Strawn Arnold & Associates, Ltd. in May of 2018 as Director of Recruiting. Jenny uses her extensive experience at some of the top retained search firms in the country to partner with the senior leadership at Strawn Arnold to design search strategies and to source, recruit, screen, and develop candidates for our clients. Her career in executive search began at Diversified Search, one of the top 5 retained executive search firms in the country, in their Technology/CIO, Industrial/Manufacturing, and Diversity practices. She then spent three years honing her skills at Solomon Page, the 6^th largest retained executive search firm focused on Health Care, placing Director, VP, and C-level executives at some of the top health care companies in the United States. Prior to entering the world of search, Jenny worked for several major financial firms and hedge funds in New York City, following a national performing career as a singer and actress. Jenny earned her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College, her Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance and her Bachelor of Arts in Plan II from the University of Texas at Austin where she was invited to join Phi Beta Kappa.

May 14, 2018 – Strawn Arnold & Associates (SAA), a premier provider of executive search to the healthcare and life science industries, is pleased to announce the appointment of industry veteran Jeff Frazier as Executive Vice President. Jeff has a tremendous background as a senior Human Resources leader, with almost 30 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in Europe and the United States.

“As we at SAA continue to grow and meet demand, we remain dedicated to our business model, which relies on former industry executives who enter search with the experience necessary to fully relate to the client and their needs”, says John Groover, Managing Director. “Having executives such as Jeff who choose search as a second career, and are also committed to conducting the search process in a non-leveraged model, are the backbone of our business and our continued success.”

Prior to joining SAA, Jeff was The Medicines Company (MDCO) Executive Vice President and Chief Human Strategy Officer from June 2014. During his tenure, he was an officer and member of the Executive Management team that lead the business transformation from an 800 person organization with multiple “in market”, hospital sector products to a development stage company of 60 people focused exclusively on Inclisiran, an important cardio vascular product in late stage development. Three distinct divestitures were executed from 2016-2018, which generated $1 billion in non-dilutive capital plus the potential of an additional $1 billion in milestone payments. This capital infusion was required to complete phase III trials and bring Inclisiran to NDA filing. Inclisiran, is an investigational agent which is potentially a first-in-class lipid-lowering drug, to reduce LDL-cholesterol. The Medicines Company is a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company with market capitalization of around $2.8 billion.

Prior to joining MDCO, Jeff was the Corporate Vice President of Human Resources and Public Affairs at Novo Nordisk Inc. from 2004 to 2014. His leadership resulted in Novo Nordisk being named the number one “Best Place to Work” in New Jersey for four out of six years (2004 – 2010), and in being named to the Fortune Magazine “100 Best Companies to Work For” for six consecutive years (2009-2014). Before taking his position at Novo Nordisk, Jeff was Head of Human Resources for Pharmacia Corporation’s Global Pharmaceutical Business unit, where he served as a member of the global commercial leadership team. There he supported international commercial operations of 12,500 employees in 50 countries, through the design and execution of human resources strategy and programs. Prior to that role, he held a number of different senior human resources positions in Europe and in the USA. Jeff received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Kent State University.

August 15, 2017 – Barry Duke joined Strawn Arnold & Associates in 2017 after a successful 30+ year career in the BioPharma industry. Most recently, Barry served as EVP, Chief Commercial Officer at Collegium Pharmaceutical, building a launch ready commercial organization from scratch with over 200 employees and supporting infrastructure within 15 months. Prior to that role, he served as VP of Sales and Marketing for Sanofi/Genzyme and was the US commercial lead for a $400M orthopedic product. Before those two roles, Barry’s career includes working in leadership positions of increasing responsibility from small and mid-size to large, well-established organizations including: The Upjohn Company, Centocor, Astra USA, The Liposome Company, Élan, and Enzon. Barry has been consistently recognized in his career for strong leadership skills, including hiring and developing exceptional talent. Barry has spoken on multiple occasions at industry forums on leadership and commercial innovation.

The focus of Barry’s search work is on senior leadership placements at the Board, C-Suite, VP, and Director levels. Barry’s extensive experience as an operating executive within the BioPharma industry, which includes a broad network of contacts across commercial operations, medical, regulatory, clinical and business development, provides a unique foundation for valued insights for clients making their most important and impactful hiring decisions.

Barry earned a BA from the University of Virginia and suffers every Sunday in the fall supporting his Carolina Panthers.