Harris’s Story

Friday, February 6th, 2009 at 6:30 am

After a four-week executive education program, Harris Roberts, thirty-nine, returned to his job ready for change. A regulatory affairs director at the health-care firm Pharmaco, Harris longed for bottom-line responsibility. He had advanced as much as he could as a staff person. His dream was to head one of the company’s major divisions.

The executive program, a general management course for young high-potential managers, was part of a well-laid plan, concocted with the help of the firm’s CEO, Alfred Mitchell, his longterm mentor. His promise to Harris was, “When you come back, we’ll give you a business unit.”

When Harris returned, a complicated new product introduction delayed the long-awaited transition. The CEO asked him to postpone his dream. He was needed. Instead of the top job, he was given a role as senior vice president, reporting to the division president, with responsibility for operations. Harris was disappointed. It was too much like what he had done before, and he was still not running anything.

But, always one to put the company first, he assented, after clearly and passionately reiterating his hopes and goals to his mentor. “There’s no challenge anymore,” he explained at the time.

Bring me any product and I can foresee the path it will take, the hurdles it will face, and how to best position it. I know I can make it work, whatever it is. I’m a good tactician. But I want to be a strategist. I want cross-functional experience so that I can move from executing a strategic plan formulated by someone else to being part of the team crafting the strategy.

As insurance, he created for himself a network of mentors, all senior members of the firm, to watch over his development and help him find the next role.

It was a busy period. He had been the alumni coordinator for his executive program cohorts, the one charged with making sure they all stayed in touch. But as the pace picked up, Harris let his contacts fall by the wayside. Managing the approval of a radically new drug left him little time for extracurricular affairs. And the birth of his second child made it harder to squeeze in discretionary outside activities, like the conferences he liked to attend.

Headhunters had started to call after the executive program. Many health-care start-ups were seeking senior talent. People he admired left the company, including a close peer from the early days, Georgina James, who expressed to Harris her disillusionment with Pharmaco. “All my peers had already grown to the VP or presidential level,” Georgina explained.

We had created a new, creative, cutting-edge business. There were no road maps. We really built the division. I doubt whether I’ll ever again experience such great years. But new people entered the equation. The firm became more structured, more political and bureaucratic. I had helped build the company, but I didn’t know how to improve the bottom line anymore. My former boss went to a spin-off. His replacement didn’t compare. Under his reign, no one grew.

As did many of his peers at Pharmaco, Harris entertained the idea of joining a late-stage start-up as a senior manager, potentially as CEO. But he fixated on what he perceived to be his short-comings: finance and cross-functional experience. The executive program was supposed to round him out, but he still lacked confidence: “I didn’t even know what the résumé of a small-firm CEO ought to look like.” With a young family depending on him for a stable income, there were certain risks he wasn’t prepared to take. When it came to the idea of his leaving a well-paid and secure post, his wife was the voice for stability.

Luckily, an unexpected turn of events allowed Harris to test his mettle as a general manager. His boss abruptly stepped down, leaving him to assume leadership of the business unit. They had butted heads about a restructuring plan for the organization, but now Harris was free to implement his own plan. Three months into his tenure as general manager, he was proud and confident. “It’s going great,” he reported.

I have taken full advantage of the opportunity to modify the business the way I believe necessary. So far, so good! I’m getting great support from the CEO and the board as well as from the rank and file. The people needed someone motivated to move the business forward and not simply to strip it down to a breakeven, as had been the game plan before. We are having frank, open discussions as never before. Wall Street seems to like it, too. We are focused, and the short-term financial results show it.

Taken From: Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career