February 7, 2024 • 26 mins
Michael Blackwell is the Managing Director and Vice President of Medtronic India, with over two decades of healthcare experience and global exposure of working across continents.
Known for his candor and discipline, Michael talks about his early days, the people who influenced him, and how he relates to the Medtronic mindset of ‘Act boldly’.
In this episode, Michael responds to questions on risk-taking, his fitness regime, and how he handles bad days at work.
Join us as we navigate the leadership styles and the Medtronic mindset- the cultural norms we uphold at our company.
In this episode, we cover-
00.01-00.37: About MedtronicTalks Asia
00.38-01.54: About Michael Blackwell
01.55-03.27: Global career experience
03.28-06.02: Learnings from sports
07.16-08.57: Leadership Style
08.58-12.04: Cultivating ‘Act Boldly’ mindset
11.48-13.21: Importance of failing fast
13.22-16.47: Am I White? Am I Black? Who am I?
16.48-19.15: Handling bad days
19.16-20.48: Fitness routine
20.49-22.13: Single Tasking
22.14-23.55: Favorite books
23.56-26.01: Leave the World better than you found it
26.02-26.29: Our next episode guest
Where to find our speaker and host
Michael Blackwell : https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-blackwell-96aa632/
Masooma Pathre : https://www.linkedin.com/in/masooma-sandeep-76b5427/
Book Recommendations by Michael:
The QBQ- The Question behind the Question by John G Miller
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Credits for quotes used:
Don’t walk behind me quote by Albert Camus
Walk with the Dreamers quote by Wilfred Peterson
See the full transcript via link here
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
Hello
and welcome to MedtronicTalks Asia,
our first ever podcast for Asia Region-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 Region-Led Market
and today our first guest on the show
(00:30):
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.
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
(00:51):
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.
My mom was an immigrant to the United States.
My dad met her when he was stationed in London
(01:12):
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,
(01:33):
I've been in the healthcare profession for over 20 years now
and the last 17 years I've been here at Medtronic
and had a number of different roles.
I've had the opportunity to live
really all around the world,
the United States of course,
Canada, Singapore and now India.
It's so amazing you know, the kind of
(01:53):
vast experience that you have had
traveling across the globe,
seeping in the diversity and the culture.
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 up your leadership style?
(02:14):
I think the one thing that is a 100% constant
in the four countries I've lived in working with Medtronic,
US, Canada, Singapore and India is the people.
The people are amazing, both professionally and personally.
(02:34):
I think being able to travel as well as live in countries,
what 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,
(02:57):
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,
(03:19):
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.
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.
(03:40):
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 before I started playing basketball.
(04:04):
When I think about soccer,
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.
(04:25):
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.
(04:46):
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.
(05:14):
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
(05:35):
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.
(06:00):
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,
we forget, because we then get so devastated by it,
(06:21):
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.
(06:43):
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?
(07:03):
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.
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
(07:24):
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 (07:47):
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.
(08:08):
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?
(08:28):
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?
(08:50):
So, thanks for that. I'm going to take that as my personal lesson.
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.
(09:11):
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.
(09:33):
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
(09:54):
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.
(10:17):
7,000 miles away from everything she knew,
a new culture, no friends.
And I think back, that has given 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.
(10:37):
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.
(10:59):
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.
(11:20):
And that's what 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.
And something I once heard that I think is so strong
(11:43):
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,
(12:05):
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,
(12:25):
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
(12:47):
and to think outside the box and to dare to dream.
Thank you very much. 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.
(13:11):
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,
(13:31):
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.
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,
(13:54):
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,
(14:16):
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
(14:37):
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 around 15 years ago,
I attended my first African descent network meeting in New Orleans.
There were about 50 people there.
(15:00):
It's well over 500, 750, and growing every year.
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,
(15:25):
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 when I think of the Medtronic Women's Network in particular,
(15:50):
it's not made up of just women. I'm a member.
There are several hundred males.
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.
(16:15):
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.
It's not difficult but I would like to know how you handle something like this.
(16:35):
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 of such days?
Yeah, this is definitely a good question.
So, for me, I have to turn either to athletics or routine.
(16:58):
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.
(17:18):
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.
(17:40):
With my workout. And fitness for me is,
I think of that 5 AM to 7 AM or 6 AM to 8 AM,
whatever those 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,
(18:04):
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.
(18:24):
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.
(18:45):
When I finish that, I'm ready to tackle the world.
That's what works for me.
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,
(19:07):
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.
"Nice plug!" There is an Asian region swim club.
If you want to join, please send me a message.
(19:29):
Yes, I think I will. I think that's something that I'm also
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.
(19:49):
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
(20:10):
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.
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,
(20:35):
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.
(20:56):
And then what it ends up doing in effect
is whoever you're talking to, you have a 100% focus.
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%
(21:19):
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,
(21:40):
you're moving on to your next task.
With multitasking, you really don't know how many windows are open on your screen.
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.
(22:01):
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.
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.
(22:23):
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,
(22:45):
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,
(23:06):
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.
(23:28):
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?
(23:49):
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,
(24:12):
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.
(24:34):
So, I wanted to share everything I knew about
Janet to the world.
And, 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
(24:57):
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.
And I think it's the perfect way
(25:17):
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.
So, that was our first guest, Michael Blackwell.
Amazing story, great leadership learnings.
(25:38):
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.
Hello
and welcome to MedtronicTalks Asia,
our first ever podcast for Asia Region-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 Region-Led Market
and today our first guest on the show
(00:30):
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.
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
(00:51):
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.
My mom was an immigrant to the United States.
My dad met her when he was stationed in London
(01:12):
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,
(01:33):
I've been in the healthcare profession for over 20 years now
and the last 17 years I've been here at Medtronic
and had a number of different roles.
I've had the opportunity to live
really all around the world,
the United States of course,
Canada, Singapore and now India.
It's so amazing you know, the kind of
(01:53):
vast experience that you have had
traveling across the globe,
seeping in the diversity and the culture.
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 up your leadership style?
(02:14):
I think the one thing that is a 100% constant
in the four countries I've lived in working with Medtronic,
US, Canada, Singapore and India is the people.
The people are amazing, both professionally and personally.
(02:34):
I think being able to travel as well as live in countries,
what 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,
(02:57):
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,
(03:19):
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.
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.
(03:40):
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 before I started playing basketball.
(04:04):
When I think about soccer,
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.
(04:25):
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.
(04:46):
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.
(05:14):
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
(05:35):
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.
(06:00):
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,
we forget, because we then get so devastated by it,
(06:21):
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.
(06:43):
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?
(07:03):
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.
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
(07:24):
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 (07:47):
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.
(08:08):
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?
(08:28):
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?
(08:50):
So, thanks for that. I'm going to take that as my personal lesson.
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.
(09:11):
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.
(09:33):
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
(09:54):
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.
(10:17):
7,000 miles away from everything she knew,
a new culture, no friends.
And I think back, that has given 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.
(10:37):
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.
(10:59):
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.
(11:20):
And that's what 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.
And something I once heard that I think is so strong
(11:43):
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,
(12:05):
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,
(12:25):
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
(12:47):
and to think outside the box and to dare to dream.
Thank you very much. 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.
(13:11):
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,
(13:31):
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.
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,
(13:54):
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,
(14:16):
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
(14:37):
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 around 15 years ago,
I attended my first African descent network meeting in New Orleans.
There were about 50 people there.
(15:00):
It's well over 500, 750, and growing every year.
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,
(15:25):
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 when I think of the Medtronic Women's Network in particular,
(15:50):
it's not made up of just women. I'm a member.
There are several hundred males.
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.
(16:15):
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.
It's not difficult but I would like to know how you handle something like this.
(16:35):
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 of such days?
Yeah, this is definitely a good question.
So, for me, I have to turn either to athletics or routine.
(16:58):
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.
(17:18):
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.
(17:40):
With my workout. And fitness for me is,
I think of that 5 AM to 7 AM or 6 AM to 8 AM,
whatever those 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,
(18:04):
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.
(18:24):
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.
(18:45):
When I finish that, I'm ready to tackle the world.
That's what works for me.
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,
(19:07):
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.
"Nice plug!" There is an Asian region swim club.
If you want to join, please send me a message.
(19:29):
Yes, I think I will. I think that's something that I'm also
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.
(19:49):
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
(20:10):
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.
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,
(20:35):
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.
(20:56):
And then what it ends up doing in effect
is whoever you're talking to, you have a 100% focus.
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%
(21:19):
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,
(21:40):
you're moving on to your next task.
With multitasking, you really don't know how many windows are open on your screen.
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.
(22:01):
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.
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.
(22:23):
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,
(22:45):
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,
(23:06):
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.
(23:28):
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?
(23:49):
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,
(24:12):
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.
(24:34):
So, I wanted to share everything I knew about
Janet to the world.
And, 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
(24:57):
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.
And I think it's the perfect way
(25:17):
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.
So, that was our first guest, Michael Blackwell.
Amazing story, great leadership learnings.
(25:38):
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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