Transcript | Episode 1 - Handling bad days, Embracing discipline & Taking risks | Michael Blackwell

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Medtronic - MDT Talks Michael Blackwell Podcast English Subs - Jan 29
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Intro: 0.01 – 0.37

Hello and welcome to Medtronic Talks Asia, our first-ever podcast for Asia Regions-led Market, where we bring to you our leadership team who talk about their professional life, their personal life, their leadership style, and much more fun. 

I am Masooma Pathare, Lead for Communications for Asia Regions-Led Market and today our first guest on the show is my friend and confidant Michael Blackwell, Vice President for India Medtronic. 

Welcome, Michael. 

Well, hello Masooma, there is certainly no one I'd rather have this conversation with other than you. You have been a true trusted friend. 

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About Michael: 0.38 – 1.54

Thank you, you're always kind with your words. So I know you very well, I mean, working with you over the last couple of years but I think for our audience it'll be good to know you more, so tell us about yourself.

Okay, from a recap standpoint, so I'm an American, I was born and raised in the United States. My parents have an interesting story, so my mom was an immigrant to the United States. My dad met her when he was stationed in London and somehow convinced her to move to the United States where then we started a family and they were married for over 50 years. 

Wow, 50 years! 

So, it's been great, I've got two sisters and a brother. I've loved sports and exercised my entire life. From a work standpoint, I've been in the healthcare profession for over 20 years now and for the last 17 years I've been here at Medtronic and had a number of different roles. 

I've had the opportunity to live all around the world, the United States of course, Canada, Singapore, and now India.

It's so amazing you know, the kind of vast experience that you have had traveling across the globe, seeping in the diversity and the culture. 

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Global Exposure: 1.55 – 3.27

Coming to your point that you are now here in India and you know, the kind of experience that you bring in over the years, I actually would like to know through your experiences, what kind of exposure have you got and how has that shaped your leadership style. 

I think the one thing that is 100% constant in the four countries I've lived in working with Medtronic, the US, Canada, Singapore, and India is the people. The people are amazing, both professionally and personally. 

I think being able to travel as well as live in countries, you quickly learn is the diversity and the value of diversity, and not just gender or ethnicity, but diversity of thought. 

Yeah. 

And when I think about how I've translated that into my professional career, I think it's taught me one of my best lessons on being patient and letting people be who they are. Let them shine. 

Yeah.

And then as I can coach and develop them further, it's a much easier journey. 

It's amazing when you say, you know, how it's not just diversity of gender and ethnicity, but the diversity of thoughts that, and it's so wide, you know, Canada, US, Singapore, India, way different cultures, very different, you know, way of working. 

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Learning from Competitive Sports: 3.28 – 6.02

While you were speaking about yourself, you spoke about how you have been involved in sports. And I know that basketball is something that is very close to your heart. So I would like to know, why did you choose basketball over any other sport? And how did that really shape up your leadership style? 

Yeah, so interesting story here. So, basketball probably chose me. My actual love growing up was soccer – football. And I played much more soccer and football before I started playing basketball. 

When I think about soccer, it is truly the team, it's the best team sport I can think of because it requires so much communication and trust. And so if you think about how young kids or youths play soccer, it's like a blob. 

They kind of follow the ball around. But as you get older and older, the fields get larger, people spread further around. So, that communication and that connectivity on how you possess the ball and move it really taught me that strong lesson in teamwork. 

Basketball was there and I excelled at it. And there were more opportunities for a scholarship in basketball. So that's when I traded from soccer/ football into basketball and that opened the door for a scholarship and then even some semi-professional play. 

Now, the interesting thing about sports is, it teaches so many life lessons. It's about competition, it's about winning, it's also about losing. 

The one thing that I've learned from that competitive environment around sports is that it mirrors in our professional world. And how that mirrors is, if you're a functional leader as you're bringing a product to market, or you're a Commercial Leader, or you're a Sales Rep in the field, and you're trying to hit your annual target or your quarterly target. 

These things are super important, so it drives competitive spirit and winning and being on stage winning a President’s Club (award). But most importantly, it's failing, it's losing, because we all learn so much more from the lessons defeat teaches us than winning. 

Absolutely right, and I think as you rightly mentioned, that sports really give you a very overall rounded characteristic, and it goes so well with what we do in our professional life. Many a times I think learning from failures, we forget, because we then get so devastated by it, but I think as you rightly mentioned, it brings such amazing life lessons with sports and all that stuff. 

Well, think about this, I remember growing up asking my parents permission to do something. If they said yes, I smiled and just went on my merry way. But when they said no, I always asked why. So, sometimes you have to ask why when you have a ‘yes’ or an affirmative answer. 

That's like a parenting lesson for me! For someone who is now parenting a nine-and-a-half year old. Because, half the time he keeps asking me, why did you say no? And then I'm like, okay, can we move on to the next topic? 

You tell him, if I had said yes, would you have asked me why? 

(Laughs) He wouldn't have. He’d just run away. 

Go on. Go on.

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Leadership Style-Affiliative Leadership: 7.16 – 8.57

Okay. That brings me to the next question. If you have to describe your leadership style in one word, what would that be? 

Well, the one thing I have learned for sure is that it's imperative as a leader at any level in any occupation to be able to use multiple leadership styles. 

So, there are three core leadership styles that I use. 

But if you forced me to choose one. 

Yes. Yes, I would. 

It would be “affiliative”. 

Affiliative. 

Affiliative leadership style. And I think the easiest way to define it is by this famous poem: 

Do not walk behind me for I may not lead. 

Do not walk in front of me for I may not follow. 

Walk beside me and be my friend. 

So amazing. And you know what, when you say this, it's not just for leadership. I think it's so true for life, right? 

I mean, our relationships in life, our relationship, personal, professional, everywhere, you really want people to walk with you as a friend, and not behind and in front of you. 

And that's exactly the spirit of the definition of affiliative. 

It's how do you build relationships? How do you build a sense of community? And that's why I love it so much. And that's why I try to choose it all the time as my leadership style. 

Thanks for that. Because, I think I've heard this word, affiliative, as one word describing leadership for the first time. Because, many a times you really kind of, you know, box it in, into the regular leadership jargons, right? So, thanks for that. I'm going to take that as my personal lesson. 

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Acting Boldly: 8.58 – 12.04

Now, it is often said that the biggest risk is not taking any risk, right? And we all know that the Medtronic Mindset, which kind of stems out of our mission, is something that is guiding us over the years now towards growth and how Medtronic is going to look at itself in the future. 

And one of that is cultivating the “Act Boldly” mindset. How do you think you are trying to cultivate this in your team here in India or when you were in Singapore or in the Frontier Markets before? 

Sure. When Medtronic launched the Medtronic Mindset, I was really happy. I thought, what a great way to now show the ‘how’ we're going to do our jobs and how we're going to be successful.

But the first one, Act Boldly, is by far my favorite. Because, when I think Act Boldly, I actually think dare to dream. Let me go back to my parents for a second, because I think role models are so important. 

And they show us the way. And I think of my mom living in London around her entire family, acted boldly to follow her husband, my dad, to the United States where she knew no one. 7,000 miles away from everything she knew, a new culture, no friends. 

And I think back, that gave me so much strength and so much power. Well, then I think about acting boldly. My mom is a white Caucasian woman. My dad is an African American. They were married for over 50 years. 

They got married in 1960 in the United States. 

A different era altogether. 

Times were very difficult. They were not diverse. They were not accepting of this. So, those are the kind of role models and actions that I hope to live up to. So, when I think about being able to act boldly and dare to dream, all the experience, I've had 11 jobs at Medtronic. 

Medtronic has been so good to me and to my life and to my career. It's about taking advantage of the opportunities that Medtronic has, not just from a portfolio standpoint, but from a global perspective. 

And that's what I think I've done. I've been able to diversify all my experiences. But you have to have the strength and the belief that you can be successful. And that's what I try to coach and develop in others is, take a chance, act boldly, dare to dream. 

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Failing Fast: 11.48 – 13.21

And something I once heard that I think is so strong is when you're acting boldly, when you're daring to follow your dreams, failing fast is important. Because then you learn and then you can act boldly into something else. 

I like what you said, you know, failing fast. I think in the current competitive world or the current corporate environment, many a times, we do not act boldly because we are afraid of the failure. And whether anybody would accept that failure, just forget that mistake of mine and let me move on to the next one. 

And I think, as you rightly mentioned, the kind of culture that we are building here at Medtronic, it's all about that. We act boldly and it's okay to fail.

And translating it directly into business. Like, how do you take exponential jumps? 

We talk about the innovation. We talk about engineering innovation and imagination here at Medtronic. The only way to do that is to act boldly and to think outside the box and to dare to dream. 

Thank you very much. I think it's a thank you for sharing. And I think the way you connected it with your own role models, right? It was indeed acting boldly by your mother and your father to do something like that in 1960, believe in themselves. 

And yes, with 50 years, great life together. 

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Am I White? Am I Black? Who am I?: 13.22 – 16.47 

OK, moving on to the next one, because we have been speaking about diversity and really accepting diversity and really kind of bringing those diverse thoughts. 

I know that you have been active member of many ERGs. What is your personal belief that actually made you to participate in these initiatives, to be part of these ERGs? What was what is your passion to be part of these ERGs? What is your passion or what your belief is personally to kind of be part of these? 

Yeah, thanks for this question. I have to go back to my childhood. I think about when you have a black father and a white mother, and you live in an environment that is all Caucasian, all white, I was searching for my identity. 

I think that is actually very typical of kids growing up, always trying to search and find who they are. I remember writing a paper in university called, Am I White? Am I Black? Who am I? 

And the realization, and I think sports helped me here too, by that competition and winning and building confidence, it showed me that I'm not white. I'm not black. I'm Michael. 

And so I think those are my early experiences with trying to battle through diversity. But over the last 20 years, and we've seen such a change across our industry and this world, and that Medtronic has these employee resource groups that truly invest in diversity. 

Let me share another story. So probably 15 years ago, I attended my first African descent network meeting in New Orleans. There was about 50 people there. It's well over 500, 750, and growing every year. 

But the first part of employee resource groups are creating an environment that makes everyone feel comfortable in those particular groups. When you look at how do you then come together and feel safe, but then grow? And that's what I've seen the employee resource groups do at Medtronic, not just a social gathering of African descent people or Asian descent people or the Medtronic Women's Network. It's about skills and skill development. 

And I think when I think of the Medtronic Women's Network in particular, it's not made up of just women. I'm a member. There's several hundred male. And from the Medtronic Women's Network came the Men Advocating Equity. 

So the interlinking of the ERGs is what is critical to drive inclusive environments where everyone feels like they belong. 

Absolutely and I think when you have that passion and you know that you can bring about a change why not do it and be part of the change or drive the change as we want to. Thanks Michael. Actually now it brings me to a little difficult question for you. 

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Work-Life Balance vs Prioritazion: 16.48 – 19.15

It's not difficult but I would like to know how you handle something like this. Not every day is a good day for all of us. There are these times when it's not a great day, you're not in highest of your spirits. How do you handle such moments orf such days? 

Yeah, this is definitely a good question. So, for me, I have to turn either to athletics or routine. The one thing, when you have a demanding life with work or personal or balance, you have to find space for yourself. 

Like we talk a lot about work-life balance. The reality is, in the type of jobs we have and the challenges, it's very difficult. There really isn't work-life balance. But what I really try to focus on for myself, as well as what I try to teach or coach, is presence and prioritization. 

So prioritization, for me, starts generally about 5 AM. 

Okay. (Laughs) 5 AM? Okay. 

With my workout. And fitness for me is, I think of that 5 AM to 7 AM or 6 AM to 8 AM, whatever that two hours, that's my time. That's my time to do whatever I want to do. And sometimes, it works. It may be listening to something or responding to some emails, or it's focusing on the next day. 

But it has become such a routine that when I don't have it, I'm not good for the people that depend on me – family, friends, and employees.

About 18 years ago, I started doing a workout. And I still do that workout every day, a part of a workout. It's a high-intensity workout. So, it's a very difficult workout in a very short period of time. 

And I literally think to myself, at least two or three times a week, I'm doing the hardest thing that I'm gonna face all day today. When I finish that, I'm ready to tackle the world. That's what works for me. 

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Swimming & Walking : 19.16 – 20.48

That's amazing. I can never think of getting up at 5 AM and maybe that's particularly me. But I think, as you rightly just mentioned, what worse can there be? You've already tackled the most difficult thing at the start of the day, so how bad can it get? 

And I think that's really a nice way to kind of look at the whole day in a very positive manner and bring your positive self to everyone. 

I know recently you've turned to swimming. I mean, almost planning to start a swimming club in Medtronic. 

There is an Asian region swim club. If you want to join, please send me a message. 

Yes, I think I will. I think that's something that I'm also trying to do now, kind of get that routine in my life. 

But yeah, and I should just comment there, like joining athletic clubs or clubs of this nature, one of the greatest benefits is having your peers or your friends being posting what they're doing. And it actually, it's not just encouragement, but it has made me want to swim more so I can post my result and things like that. 

I do wanna say for those people that don't wanna go to the gym in the morning or aren't swimmers, like just walking. Walking is so important. And one of the things that I try to tell my staff and have been for the last 10 years is if you're having a basic phone conversation and you don't need your laptop or support, put your wireless on and just walk. 

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Single Tasking: 20.49 – 22.13

Walk and talk, walk and talk. And that really goes back to focus because there used to be a day where the people who could multitask, that was the key, whoever's the best multitasking. But there's been a shift into single tasking. 

And we all know if you're on a call in front of your computer, it's very easy to start looking at emails or going onto a Google search or to some other search. So that's single-tasking piece. And then what it ends up doing in effect is whoever you're talking to, you have 100% focus. 

I know I went away from the question there, but that's what triggered kind of the ability to walk and talk is now you're doing something for yourself or your fitness, you're getting a break. And you're focused on the conversation. 

I think you bought up such a valid point, you know, you're giving your 100% to the person whom you're speaking. I think it's much more efficient also because I mean, in the last few years or decade we made multitasking as like the skill set that you need only to realize how inefficient can it be. 

But if you're kind of giving 100% to a task, you're quicker, you're faster, you're finishing up, you're moving on to your next task. With multitasking, you really don't know how many windows are open on your screen. 

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Favorite Books: 22.14 – 23.55

So, thanks for sharing that. That brings me to our last question. What is that one book or podcast that you turn to whenever you're looking for inspiration? 

Ah, I really want to give you two. Can I give you two? 

Okay. 

I'll give you the first one. I just thought of this. There's definitely a book that I love, but there's also a book called “The QBQ” – The Question Behind the Question. 

Okay. Interesting. 

It's a very short book. It's an easy read. It talks about stories. But one of the biggest takehomes from that book for me was around accountability. 

You'll hear lots of people talk about making people accountable. Well, this is the first book that I ever read that talked about, you can't make a person accountable. You can be the carrot or the stick, but you can't make them (accountable). 

People learn accountability from their parents, from the way they were raised, from years of that piece of accountability. So, I think this podcast, this conversation just made me bring up and think about that book. 

My all-time favorite book, if you had to say one, and I think it is the perfect epitome of this conversation that we're having, is “The Alchemist”. 

Oh, I love that one. My favorite too. 

And if I can leave the audience with one thing, is grab that book. But the theme of our lives, or I try to, is focus on the journey. 

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Leave the World Better than You Found It: 23.56 – 26.01

Thank you very much, Michael, for joining us today. I think this was an amazing conversation. I personally take back a lot of things, notes in my mind, amazing stuff that you said, some notes that I'm taking back from a leadership point of view. 

Before we close this podcast, is there something, last thoughts that you want to share with our audience? 

I would actually. And there's a poem that came to me 14 or 15 years ago in really difficult times. My best friend that I've known since I was four lost his mom to a car accident. 

And I flew back to Kansas. 

I remember the night before the funeral, just wishing I could say goodbye to Janet Robinson, and someone I loved dearly, it was like a second mom to me. I woke up the next morning and Mike and his brother, David had come to me and said, Michael, we'd like you to give the eulogy. 

I broke out in tears at that moment, but I was so ready for this opportunity. So, I wanted to share everything I knew about Janet to the world. And there was a, there was a poem though, that I started and I ended with. 

And I just wanted to share that with our listeners. 

Please, we would like to hear. 

Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, 

the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the cloud 

and their feet on the ground. 

Let their spirit ignite a fire within you 

to leave this world better than you found it. 

So amazing. So amazing. I think it just sums up our conversation where we started a few minutes that we have been in this podcast. Thank you very much for sharing that personal story. I don't think it's a perfect way to leave our listeners with that thought of leaving the world behind better than you found it. 

So, thank you very much, Michael, for joining us. It was my personal pleasure to have you and thank you for being our first guest. 

Awesome. Thank you. 

Thank you.

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Our Guest for Next Episode: 26.02 – 26.29

So, that was our first guest, Michael Blackwell. Amazing story, great leadership learnings. 

I had an amazing conversation with him. I'm really looking forward to the next episode with another Asia RLM Leader, Emma Press. She is our Legal Head for APAC and she's going to talk to us about delivering results the right way. 

So, stay tuned for our next episode of Medtronic Talks Asia. 

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