Exercise great caution in hiring academic or government employees into the industry as leaders, as you may have to spend years of “on the job training” to have them reach the state that many industrial managers are at today. Many academic and government managers or scientists never adapt adequately in industry, and a company takes a great risk when it hires these people.
Are the company’s managers mainly living in the past, present or future? How many are in the present and keeping an eye on the future while planning how to get there? Where are you living?
Professional talks and presentations are not like mystery novels where you build to a glorious climax and conclusion. Share the conclusions up front with your audience. Tell them what you will tell them, then tell them, and then tell them what you told them.
Bert Spilker, PhD, MD is an independent consultant who was most recently the Senior Vice President of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs for PhRMA. He is the founder of Bert Spilker & Associates (BS&A).
