Challenging Authority: The Art of Strategic Dissent

This interview series is designed to inspire game-changing strategic leadership - an elite level of performance estimated to be achieved by about 5% of leaders today. Leaders like Indra Nooyi, Herb Kelleher and Howard Schultz.

It features insights and experiences from innovators, creators, leaders, authors and strategic leadership experts - each working at a current edge of discomfort to amplify their strategic impact and transform the future of leadership. Each guest is invited to take my Strategic Impact Quiz, which identifies where they are on their journey to game-changing strategic leadership - are they a THINKER, PLANNER, CREATOR? Or have they achieved the elite performance level of a TRANSFORMER?

I hope their stories inspire you, each day, to be just 2% more of that trailblazer you are called to be.

I was pleased to connect with Nir Nimrodi for this edition of the GAME CHANGER series, known for his ability to rethink paradigms for game-changing action. Nir is Chairman - and until recently also CEO - of Accellix, a cell analysis platform, and is serving on several boards of directors in the biotech and life sciences industries.

Q. You started in finance and moved to general management and eventually to be a CEO and a board chair of science heavy companies. How can you be effective without a technical background?

I never stop learning. I never stop asking questions. I never stop listening. I would admit that my first role as a CEO (of a diagnostics company) required a major adjustment from me.?

Embracing the fact that I don’t need to try and be the “smartest” person in the room was humbling. Once you realize that you can always learn; you then lean in, listen and come out a bit smarter at the end. After more than 25 years working with scientists, at least my questions today are more informed and help me drive faster to a decision.

Q.? What’s a significant moment of strategic impact?? What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome??

I will share one of the more recent examples. Accellix, a company that has developed a sample-to-answer cell phenotyping system for bed-side immune profiling of sepsis patients, struggled to achieve market traction. The clinical need was hard to establish, and the hospital market segment was impossible to serve (for a company of this size). I joined the company as its Chairman and CEO mid 2019 and helped pivot the company into the cell therapy market.

The biggest challenge was convincing all stakeholders (and mainly our customers) that we are able to displace large entrenched competitors that have owned this market for 20 years.

Clear corporate, product, and go-to-market strategies were developed. Clear goals were set. Gaps were identified on the team level and such gaps were then filled by hiring the right people and supporting them. With these factors in place, the climb up this challenge became possible. The company today serves all the top cell therapy companies, several of which are among the top 10 biopharma companies globally.

Q: Looking back on your career, what do you wish you’d learned sooner about leading strategically?

You can be tactical without being strategic. But you cannot be strategic without being tactical. To develop a successful strategy, you must develop a tactical plan to support it. You can then assemble a team that is better than you in tactical execution. But you cannot expect a break from the details. Hence, listen, learn and adapt. The more I learn, the more curious I become.

You can be tactical without being strategic. But you cannot be strategic without being tactical.

Q. You grew up and earned your BA and MBA in a land far away from all the action (Israel). Was that a challenge or did it actually help you be effective in what you do?

We are all a product of how we were raised, who raised us, and of the experiences we collected along the way. I was raised by two wonderful parents. They were immigrants and both did not complete school past 10th grade and yet they taught me more than anyone else.?

They taught me to seek solutions to challenges myself rather than to look for someone else to solve my problems. They taught me to be happy with what I have and yet to always strive for more by believing in myself. They also taught me to challenge authority; not what you would expect from your parents. They did all of that, not by lecturing me, but by leading through example.?

In my service in the Israel navy, I learned the power of clear goals setting, meticulous planning and the synergistic impact of a team. I also learned that I am a bit tougher than I knew I was.

Q: You're known for challenging the status quo, even when that means questioning authority. How can a leader do that effectively without jeopardizing their career?

Challenging authority is embedded in me from a young age. People often mistake ‘challenging authority’ with disobedience or even rudeness. I disagree.?

If you can rationally support, with data and proof, and with conviction, that your approach is superior to the one prescribed to you, then go ahead and convince your stakeholder. If you fail to convince, be open to accept that you might be wrong but demand the same level of rationalization that you provided.

?Q: In my blog, I define a game-changing strategic leader as someone who creates and drives bold, disruptive strategies with strong alignment and engagement. Do you agree? What do you find hardest to put in practice?

I agree. A strategic plan remains a nice combination of words (or in other words… BS), unless a clear and actionable plan is developed and implemented.?

Such a plan must be owned by those who execute it. The CEO, her/his team and the entire company need to be aligned. Achieving such alignment is not done by sharing slides in a town hall meeting. It requires constant reminders, adjustments and reinforcement.

The hardest part is to not stop and continuously adapt.

Being relentless about implementation of a plan is not an exercise that provides a swift reward. Make the effort daily so people will later say you got lucky.

Q. Were there defining events that, when looking back, made you who you are today professionally?

At the risk of using a cliché, I learned more from failing than from succeeding. I worked in large companies (Life Technologies and Teva) and in several startup companies. I failed to bring two of my start-ups to the success we aimed to achieve. Learning to admit failure and move on is a critical capability any CEO needs to have, and one needs to fail to earn this capability.

I was the CEO of a cell therapy company that developed a unique cell-based therapy to treat acute spinal cord injuries. We completed a successful Phase 1-2 clinical study and several of the patients regained certain sensory and motor functions.?

The euphoria is unmatched when clinical end points are met, and you are part of a team that is developing a therapy for such a debilitating condition.?

This euphoria turns into utter devastation when you then fail the subsequent, larger, and way more expensive clinical study. A study you and your team led after raising tens of millions of dollars from supportive investors.

This experience contributes to the way I assess risks, the way I elect to invest resources, the way I manage expectations and above all, the way I design a corporate strategy.

Q. When it comes to game changing strategic leadership, I often talk about the need to lead with conviction and connection. How do you balance these seemingly opposing characteristics? Which has been the greatest area of development?

I am sure that people have a lot to say about conviction. I will just say that it cannot be faked. If you don’t really have a conviction, don’t bother. You are not in the right place and you shouldn’t lead.

Connection is less obvious. Different people create connections in different ways. There is no generic prescription to create connections. You cannot teach leaders to genuinely care. Depending on the individuals involved and the scenario in front of you, leading with connection must adapt to the situation.?

I learned through the years that you need both conviction and connection. They are both hard and both cannot be faked. You cannot work hard to gain conviction in something you don’t believe in. You can, however, work hard and focus on leading with connection.

Thank you for participating in the Strategic Impact Quiz, Nir, and contributing to this series.

Readers, have you been at the helm of some exciting emerging tech?? How have you led your organization through unpredictability?

Take the Strategic Impact Quiz to discover if you are a CREATOR, PLANNER, or a THINKER.? And let me know if there are any strategic leaders, at whatever stage of their journey, that you’d like to see in the Game Changers series.

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