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From the Top: What Makes a World-Class Manager
When
talking about the Israel high-tech scene, one
often hears the comment that we here in Israel
are very strong on innovation and entrepreneurship,
but fall short when it comes to the management
skills required to build companies for the long
haul - companies that can become major players
in the global arena.
Mounting awareness of and sensitivity to this
issue is leading to initiatives and programs designed
to identify and strengthen the entrepreneurs who
have the "right stuff" to join Israel's
growing cadre of professional, world-class managers.
Earlier this month I had the pleasure of participating
in the conference "Management Challenges
in the Life Sciences Industry" organized
by the Life Sciences division of the Israel International
Cooperation & Export Institute. I wanted to
share some of the thoughts that arose during the
panel discussion on "Management Skills," with
Dr. Shimon Eckhouse, serial entrepreneur, investor,
currently chairman of Syneron Medical; Dr. Yael
Margolin, CEO of Gamida Cell; Dr. Noga Kap, general
partner at Walden Israel Venture Capital; and
Dr. Boaz Shalit, senior organizational psychologist.
Early in the discussion, Dr. Shalit introduced
the metaphor of a company's management team being
a group of people sharing a journey together on
a bus. The bus driver needs to be smart enough
to know who are the right people to let on the
bus -- people who will contribute to the success
of the journey -- and who are the people who need
to be let off because, for one reason or another,
they are no longer contributing to, and may even
be obstructing, the group's mission.
The first question that arises from this metaphor:
How does a company hire the
best person to drive the bus? In other words, what qualities should
the CEO have?
Here are some of the winning qualities the panel
members touched on:
Intellectual honesty: A good CEO must be capable
of understanding and responding to reality as
it is, and not as they would like it to be.
Decisiveness: A good CEO must be capable of listening
to others and getting a variety of points of view
on an issue. Ultimately, however, he or she must
be able to come to and implement a decision.
Team-builder: A good CEO must not be afraid to
let smart, ambitious people board the bus. Once
surrounded by all these smart people, however,
the CEO has to be prepared to invest the time
and skill necessary to overcome the natural tensions
that will arise within such a high-achieving group
and foster the cooperation necessary for effective
teamwork.
Vision: One of the most effective ways for a CEO
to strengthen teamwork is to ensure that the team
shares a common vision for the company. The CEO
must be capable of articulating that vision clearly,
and of getting the team to buy into it.
It was also fascinating to hear the panel members'
thoughts on issues such as how to manage the hiring
(and firing) process, and how to deal with entrepreneurs
in a way that harnesses their drive while letting
more professional managers take over the company.
But
I guess I had better stop here before I'm fired
for obstructing the publication of this month's
Trendletter!
Tina Ornstein, Managing Director,
Trendlines International
Israel's premier business development and
marketing consulting firm. We provide a range of business
development, seed investing, and marketing communications
services.
Building on our experience, we research and analyze markets and opportunities to understand your business.
From that understanding, we develop a plan and help you implement it.
We think our 6-factor formula sums it up well:
Experience + Research + Analysis
= Understanding --> Planning --> Implementation.
SAVE THE DATE: MarketReach America Life Sciences 2008
The next MarketReach America
program will be held July 9-10,
2008, on the Johns
Hopkins campus in Baltimore, Maryland.
This sixth MarketReach
America conference, run by the Maryland/Israel Development
Center and its Israel representatives, Trendlines,
helps Israeli companies in the life sciences sector
accelerate their entry into the
U.S. market by meeting investors and potential strategic
partners. The program
has made significant contributions to its Israeli
participants over the years. As a direct result of
last year's program alone, three companies received
investments and others formed strategic collaborative
relationships. Read about last year's MarketReach
America program.
Next month's Trendletter will include
more program details and application information.
Until then, however, contact Tina Ornstein (04.958.3323,
ext. 120) for more information.
A Regulatory Primer (Part 2)
Roger
Gray, director of global regulatory affairs at Donawa
Consulting, continues his series about regulatory issues.
This month Roger takes an in-depth look at the U.S.
Food & Drug Administration classes and guidelines. Read the full story.
View from the States
Mark
Dollinger, president of Trendlines America, explains
why the current economic situation in the United States
might just be the right time to introduce a novel product. Read
the full story.
Grant Opportunity in Homeland Security Science & Technology
The
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology
Directorate is seeking international research/collaboration
projects -- tools, approaches, data, and models -- designed
to contribute to homeland security science and technology.
Estimated total funding of the project is $1.2 million.
The current closing date for applications is September
30, 2008. Read the grant summary.
Thanks to Christopher Cushing of Wolf Block Public
Strategies, LLC for bringing this grant program
to our attention.
International Home & Housewares
Show
Trendlines
was on the scene at the 2008 International Home & Housewares
Show in Chicago (March 16-18).
Todd Dollinger (chairman, Trendlines and
CEO, T.I.F. Ventures),
Mark Dollinger (president, Trendlines America),
and Debbie Yerushalmy (senior consultant,
Trendlines International) were on hand to walk the aisles
and meet with industry representatives.Watch for their observations
in next month's Trendletter.
Kamada signs agreement with PARI Pharma GmbH ... Olive
Engineering's
innovative helicopter-elevator featured in Globes ...
OTI wins contract to install e-passport system ... Perrigo to jointly market drug with Teva and delivers generic
Prilosec ... Congratulations to Mark Heifets and the
entire Inphodrive team on their successful efforts at
CeBIT. Read
all the client news.
