By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady
The New York Times recently introduced a feature in its Sunday Business section featuring interviews with company CEOs. Unlike a lot of “celebrity” interviews, these are short and focused on a few key things that made a difference in the subject’s career.
Recently, Kevin W. Sharer, CEO of Amgen, the biotech company, talked about how he transitioned into the CEO role. When he took over as the company’s leader, he spent his first few weeks meeting with the top 150 people at Amgen. He posed several questions:
- What are the three things you’d like to make sure that we keep?
- What three things would you like to change?
- What is it that you would like me to do?
- What is it you’re afraid I’m going to do?
- Is there anything else you want to talk about?
150 Meetings
He then met with each of the 150 for an hour. He urged them to bring in written responses, and at the meetings he spent his time listening, not campaigning for his causes. Not surprisingly, people were enthusiastic, and Sharer said that both sides benefited from the chance to get to know each other better.
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Afterwards, he reviewed and synthesized their answers into a report that said, in essence, “Here’s what you guys said, and here are our priorities.” He used the report to communicate how he intended to manage the company, and the fact that so many people had a say in its creation made it better and more forceful.
Simple Process
Sharer’s approach is impressive for several reasons. First, it was face-to-face. He didn’t use a survey. He didn’t use staff. He didn’t use e-mail. He met with people one-on-one. Everyone involved had to feel good about that.
Second, he listened, rather than talked. (As a longtime CEO, I can attest to the difficulty of doing that.)
Third, he used a simple process, replicated across 150 people. “One-off” approaches for every individual, especially if they are complicated, usually go off the rails quickly. Complicated things require a lot of administration.
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Good Managers Listen
In my observation, good managers instinctively know how to start out with a new team. They have different styles, but almost always they demonstrate their commitment to listening.
Sharer’s process was a pretty simple one that could be adapted for almost any supervisory or management job. It recognizes the fact that as soon as someone becomes “the boss,” communication changes and the boss is in danger of becoming isolated. The higher up the corporate hierarchy, the greater the risk of isolation. Sharer’s process provided a simple, effective way to open the door to communication.
If you have a process or an idea of how you start off in a new job, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at Rbrady@blr.com.
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