Diversity – Strawn Arnold

Meet John Groover, long-time Partner and Leader at Strawn Arnold. John’s medical device career spans over four decades, providing an ideal foundation for his transition into executive retained search.

John began his medtech career in 1982 with Ethicon Endosurgery. “There were 25 of us in their first sales training class, all white, one woman,” John shares. “This one woman trainee ended up running all of Ethicon Endosurgery.” Indeed, John has made diversity a priority, identifying and recruiting the next up-and-coming diversity superstars in medtech. “One of my proudest achievements is placing perhaps the highest-ranking female executive in large cap medtech to be recruited from outside of the organization. We all talk about how important diversity is, but to make an impact with key diversity placements takes more than just talk.”

After five years at J&J, John spent equal time at GE Medical, Edwards Lifesciences, and Sulzer Carbomedics, where he served as President. In 2002, after the sale of Carbomedics, John considered two CEO offers but chose not to relocate his family. He joined Strawn Arnold in 2003 to start their medical device practice. Initially, he placed key executives at Medtronic, J&J, Boston Scientific, and Abbott, before focusing on the venture community. Over the past five years, John has placed dozens of C-level executives with smaller, mostly privately-held medtech entities, primarily as CEOs.

John credits his 20 years in industry leadership roles for his success in retained search. “To perform like a partner for clients, you need to have sat in their chair. Companies succeed or fail based on the successful outcome of the search. You need to take full ownership of that to be successful.”

We at Strawn Arnold celebrate John’s dedication, which has placed us at the forefront of medtech retained search for two decades.

by Jeff Dodson

In Homer’s timeless epic, “The Odyssey,” we follow the hero Odysseus on his perilous journey home from the Trojan War. He is forewarned by the goddess Circe of the Sirens, enchanting yet lethal creatures who lure sailors to their doom with their captivating songs. Circe’s warning of a “meadow filled with skeletons” serves as a stark reminder of the perils that await those who succumb to the Sirens’ beguiling call.

This ancient tale echoes in modern boardrooms and hiring teams, where companies often seek out senior executives with the promise of “new thinking” and rapid advancement, yet paradoxically, they also desire candidates with a proven track record in the same or very similar job—”been there, done that” profiles. While not an impossible feat, an overly rigid focus on experience in the exact position, without a willingness to embrace new mindsets, can be a siren song leading to failure. It’s akin to ignoring the meadow of skeletons of past hiring missteps, with assurances that this time, there will be no need for change.

Over my twenty-four years in executive search, including over 300 successful searches primarily within life sciences, I’ve witnessed a growing trend: firms almost exclusively pursuing executive candidates who have already walked the path they seek to tread, often in the same job. This approach is particularly prevalent among private equity firms, whose understandable objectives are to rapidly increase EBITDA over a short time period. For them, long-term executive development and cultivating a robust talent pipeline are secondary.

Companies with a vision for the long-term should not be constrained by these limitations. Executives often express frustration with the limited growth potential within their teams and the desire to bring in new talent that can ascend to higher roles. They seek individuals who can inject fresh ideas and perspectives. Yet, despite good intentions, many organizations falter. The culprits? A pervasive risk aversion and internal resistance that stifle innovation and defer too heavily to consensus when making pivotal hiring decisions.

To excel in hiring practices, companies must navigate common pitfalls with a robust process. Here are some insights and helpful tips to improve the hiring process:

· At the executive or senior director level, consider whether past experience in the same role is as crucial as leadership qualities, the ability to drive change, and strategic acumen. The ideal candidate will likely have a team or organization handling the day-to-day tasks and the executive must focus on larger things. It’s not about transplanting a factory manager from General Motors into pharmaceutical R&D leadership, but rather recognizing that innovative solutions can be valuable and are usually present in any industry.

· While there is still much to be done, companies have made commendable progress over the years in various aspects of diversity, and it must continue. However, diversity of thought and diversity of experience often receive insufficient attention, overshadowed by traditional industry practices – i.e., this is the way it has always been done.

· Too much focus on what a candidate lacks can blind organizations to the potential of that person to bring fresh perspectives to the table – things that more functionally narrow people may not possess. Failure of imagination can mire an organization in short-term thinking. Hiring teams must assess candidates not only with short-term goals in mind but also with a vision for the future and appreciation for what a non-typical candidate can offer.

· A hiring process can be undermined by too much reliance on consensus. While executives may publicly welcome internal competition, they often look for excuses to dismiss potential rivals. They may find it easy to dismiss unconventional candidates for not having the typical “been there, done that” experience, which becomes a convenient reason to eliminate them.

The art and science of executive hiring lie in recognizing the trade-offs in candidates and finding a balance. Just as the most rewarding home renovations are those that reimagine the space, not just polish the floors and repaint, the most strategic executive hires are often those who think differently.

Shakespeare’s words in “Measure for Measure” resonate profoundly in this context: “Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.” It’s a reminder that our hesitations can be our downfall, leading us to miss out on the success that a bold approach to executive recruitment could bring. The blunt views of Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth are also useful to recall. She in essence speaks about the importance of process, mindset, and resolve when she tells her husband, “The attempt and not the deed confounds us.”

In the end, it is the courage to pursue the attempt that defines our path and propels us forward – the boldness to try, to innovate, and to potentially transform our organizations.

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