Q. As the Senior Associate Dean of Yale’s School of Management once shared, “Having seen peer CEOs hang on his every word in private top leadership forums for many years, I have begged Fred Hassan to go public with this compelling gift of knowledge for a long time.” And it was interesting to see how the peer CEOs at the time of your published book, Reinvent[1], were not only from the biopharma sector, but also CPG, chemicals, and many other verticals.
With over five-thousand participants in last year’s executive education programming offered at MIT Sloan[2], several of these leaders have ambitions to secure executive roles. As a serial-CEO leading different Fortune 500s as well as chairing the selection committee meetings of the prestigious CEO of the Year program[3], what are the top skills which aspiring CEOs need to secure as they pursue their career aspirations?
A. (Fred Hassan)
Given my CEO, board, and private equity experiences over the past decades, there are three key skills which include authenticity, purposefulness, and connectivity within one’s ecosystem. Authenticity refers to a CEO being true to oneself and having the right intentions in what one does. Purposefulness for successful CEOs means having a sharpened sense of the customer and working on providing innovative solutions. It also means a messianic focus on the “whys,” and serving as a beacon of courage to the team, especially when obstacles come in the way. As for connectivity, it’s a leaders ability to “tune in” and to create teams which come together to solve the perceived unsolvable problems. And wrapping around these three attributes is the CEO’s EQ to lead, to coach and to inspire…while having fun along the way.
Having chaired the selection committee meetings of the esteemed CEO of the Year program[4], there are important common attributes for CEOs who have been selected as the best of the best across all verticals. https://chiefexecutive.net/ceo-of-the-year/ For your aspiring CEOs, I would recommend reviewing this well-regarded organization’s intellectual capital since it has been compiled and curated since 1977. And the organization has been the independent voice of the CEO community to help America’s business leaders tackle their most pressing issues and plan for future growth.
Q. Given your above comments, what potential career moves should the readership make, regardless of their industry vertical?
A. (Fred Hassan)
First, profitable growth is a table stakes accountability for most CEOs and any good P&L starts with a strong topline. For many in revenue generating functions, a frontline rotation to a customer-facing position is extra helpful – even as a time-limited assignment. Especially in turnaround situations, it’s often crucial to lead change from the top line. As one HBR article rightly captured, my primary focus in all turnaround situations that I have been asked to lead has begun with the top line. And especially with long-term corporate transformations, the turnaround playbook always begins with the sales force[5]; so, it is important to get that revenue-generation cadre to resonate with the corporate mission – early.
Second, recognize where you need help and then surround yourself with complementary colleagues who can help you achieve the team’s strategic goals. For example, within financial services, many talented players are adept at complex financial modeling and other analytical tools. Many of them need to access the help of “operators” i.e., ex-operating company executives to help them invest in or manage enterprises where practical working insights are needed – and especially where the front lines need to be kept aligned, motivated and execution-focused. As I’ve shared with mentees over the years, real money gets made when good people get together to get things done!
Third, engage with the “frozen middle” of your organization so that you can build sustainable change. While the biggest impetus and continued energy for cultural change comes from the “Team at the Top”– which is typically the CEO and this person’s C-Suite direct reports, Boards recognize that middle management must also become part of the transformation. Unfortunately, those in the “frozen middle” often feel undervalued or stymied. Many also feel insecure and are inadvertently encouraged to become “turf extenders” or “budget hoarders.” Moreover, as some middle managers might perceive that they have not been empowered to be part of the change and are frozen to inaction, they need to be recruited and constantly re-recruited by the “Team at the Top” to create the operating management group resonance that is needed to get amplified engagement down to the front lines…and ultimately success.
Finally, even if you are successful with these above three steps, celebrate and then raise the bar. Focus on the next mile and keep doing a good job with your current responsibilities. Support others’ career goals and make people want to root for you. Your personal branding, as a team player versus someone who is only concerned about securing the brass ring, can make all the difference in whether you are ever asked to serve as a CEO for an organization. And if/when you are fortunate to be selected as a CEO, be humble and remember the honor that has been placed upon you to serve your organization and its ecosystem of customers, employees, and investors.
Fred Hassan is a Director with the private equity firm, Warburg Pincus[6]. Mr. Hassan’s public boards include Precigen, EyePoint, Cocrystal Pharma, and BridgeBio. Fred Hassan is the former Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Schering-Plough Corporation. Prior to joining Schering- Plough in April 2003, Mr. Hassan was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pharmacia Corporation – a company that was formed in March 2000 from the merger of Monsanto and Pharmacia and Upjohn. He joined Pharmacia & Upjohn as Chief Executive Officer in 1997. Previously, Mr. Hassan was Executive Vice President of Wyeth, with responsibility for its global pharmaceutical and medical products business. He was elected to Wyeth’s Board of Directors in 1995. Earlier in his career, Mr. Hassan spent 17 years with Sandoz Pharmaceuticals (now Novartis) and became CEO of its US division. Mr. Hassan received a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the Imperial College of Science and Technology at the University of London and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Mr. Hassan continues to coach senior executives and CEOs. He chairs the CEO of the Year selection committee meetings – the ’23 and ’24 honorees being Bastian (Delta) and Su (AMD) respectively. In 2014, a CNBC panel named Hassan to a list of those who have had the most profound impact on the world of business in the previous quarter century.
Partha Anbil is a Contributing Writer for the MIT Sloan Career Development Office and an alum of MIT Sloan. Besides being VP of Programs of the MIT Club of Delaware Valley, Partha is a long-time life sciences consulting industry veteran, currently with an NYSE-listed WNS, a digital-led business transformation company, as Senior Vice President and Practice Leader for their Life Sciences practice.
Michael Wong is a Contributing Writer for the MIT Sloan Career Development Office and an Emeritus Co-President and board member of the Harvard Business School Healthcare Alumni Association. Michael is a Part-time Lecturer for the Wharton Communication Program at the University of Pennsylvania and his ideas have been shared in the MIT Sloan Management Review and Harvard Business Review.
[1] https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/reinvent-fred-hassan/1113525192;jsessionid=862DDB6DF86AFCEFF3B6C527C5FA7467.prodny_store02-atgap03?ean=9781118529898
[2] https://web.mit.edu/annualreports/pres21/2021.07.00.pdf
[3] https://chiefexecutive.net/about-the-award/
[4] https://chiefexecutive.net/ceo-of-the-year/
[5] Stewart, Thomas A., Champion, David, Leading Change from the Top Line, Harvard Business Review, July/August 2006
[6] https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/largest-private-equity-firms
