“Trials
and Tribulations of Taking on a Leadership Position”
Gaetano Crupi
President
and General Manager, Eli Lilly Canada Inc.
Mr. Gaetano
Crupi was appointed to the position of President and General Manager
of Eli Lilly Canada Inc. in February 1999. Prior to coming to
Canada, Mr. Crupi was the Global Product Team Leader for Infectious
Diseases and Gastroenterology at the company’s head office
in Indianapolis, Indiana. Since joining Lilly in 1978, Mr. Crupi
has held various international assignments in many countries,
including Brazil, Venezuela and the United States. He served as
Director of Pharmaceutical Marketing in Venezuela and Director
of Pharmaceutical Operations in Brazil.
Mr. Crupi
is a member of the Intercontinental Executive Committee reporting
to the President of Intercontinental Regional Operations of the
global corporation of Eli Lilly and Company. He also leads the
Senior Management Team of Eli Lilly Canada.
Mr. Crupi
serves on the Board of Directors for Canada’s Research-Based
Pharmaceutical companies (Rx&D); is a member of the Executive
Committee of Rx&D, and was elected Treasurer for the 2003
fiscal year. He serves as Chairman of RX &D’s Public
Affairs Committee and Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Research
and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) Canada Committee.
Mr. Crupi
received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. He
is fluent in four languages- English, Spanish, Portuguese and
Italian.
The presentation
began with a review of background information on Lilly. The company
has major research and development facilities in nine countries
and manufacturing facilities in 78 countries worldwide. Lilly
products are available in more than 158 countries, with sales
in the year 2002 exceeding US$11 billion worldwide. In 2003, for
the fourth consecutive year, Eli Lilly Canada was named a “Best
Company to Work for in Canada” by The Globe and Mail’s
Report on Business magazine.
Lilly’s
mission is to provide customers with “answers that matter”
through innovative medicines, information and exceptional customer
service, to enable people to live longer healthier and more active
lives. This puts a “stake in the ground” of what the
company stands for. “Answers that Matter” is founded
on service to customers.
The company’s
strategic intent is to outgrow competitors through a constant
stream of innovation. The company will be successful by addressing
unmet medical needs- for example by developing “best-in-class”
medicines for many therapeutic areas such as severe sepsis and
schizophrenia. Lilly will use the right science, and focus on
the right areas, to get to the right product.
The company
is guided by the values of
An example
of Lilly’s commitment to these values is the recently announced
program with the World Health Organization and other partners,
through which Lilly has donated the technology to produce two
drugs for treatment of Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (capreomycin
and cycloserine) to nations where this problem is most prevalent.
Lilly is one
of the leading companies for worldwide research and development
as a percentage of sales. New products will be costly- but the
company must recoup its R&D investments in order to continue
the discovery of new products that will satisfy unmet needs.
Leadership
versus Management
Quoting John
Kotter of the Harvard Business School, Mr. Crupi noted that management
is about coping with complexity, while leadership is about coping
with change. Leadership complements management, but does not replace
it. Mr. Crupi likened this to a rubber band: managers stretch
to become leaders, and leaders stretch to become managers (but
neither should be stretched all the time!)
Similarly,
setting a direction is not the same as planning or even long term
planning. Planning is a management process, deductive in nature,
and designed to produce orderly results. Setting a direction is
more intuitive.
On
Motivating versus Controlling and Problem Solving
Systems and
structure help normal people complete routine jobs successfully.
Motivation and inspiration energize people, not by pushing them
in the right direction as control mechanisms, but by satisfying
basic human needs for achievement, a sense of belonging, recognition,
self esteem, sense of control and ability to live up to one’s
ideals.
The organization’s
vision should be articulated in a manner that stresses the values
of the audience they are addressing. Leaders regularly involve
people in deciding how to
Achieve the organization’s vision. This gives people a sense
of control.
Be flexible,
and listen. Some mistakes are rubber balls and bounce back, but
some mistakes are crystal balls and not worth the risk.
On
Developing Leaders
Recruiting
people with leadership potential is a first step. It is also important
to manage career paths. Leaders will have had opportunities during
their 20’s and 30’s to try to lead, to take a risk,
and to learn from both triumphs and failures.
Visionary
Leaders
Members of
management at Lilly stretch themselves to be visionary. Vision
is a powerful commodity that creates energy, increases ownership,
provides focus and reduces trauma. Leaders with a vision will
“Feel it, see it, own it and communicate it”.
The
“Hows” of Leadership Behaviors
Good leaders
will
