Stryker CEO Kevin Lobo reflects on leadership, early successes after nearly a year on the job (Mlive)
Since beginning his new job nearly a year ago, Kevin Lobo is enjoying all the firsts involved in leading medical device maker Stryker Corp. (download 4-page analysis of Stryker HERE) , including seeing the title Chief Executive Officer on his resume.
Within months of taking the reins, the 48-year-old gave the company a first, too.
Stryker’s first acquisition in China was made in January with the $764 million purchase of Trauson Holdings Co., China’s largest maker of pelvic reconstruction plates in a key emerging orthopedic market.
The move was bold, with a hefty price tag, and Lobo’s first as CEO.
“That was a heavy decision and I feel very good about it,” Lobo said in his first interview with MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette. “There are a lot of learnings. These are all firsts for me — my first time meeting with investors and analysts, managing and working with a board of directors, but with any new job you learn to make decisions.”
Lobo was named CEO on Oct. 1, 2012 after the sudden resignation of Stephen MacMillan in February of 2012. MacMillan, who also served as president and chairman, cited family reasons for his departure after eight years at the company’s helm. Curt Hartman, vice president and chief financial officer, stepped in as interim CEO.
Lobo, a native of Canada, first joined the company two years ago as Group President of Stryker Orthopedics, which is based in New Jersey. Prior to Stryker, Lobo held executive positions with Rhone-Poulenc, where he was based in England and France, before moving to Johnson & Johnson. He was eventually named president of Johnson & Johnson Medical Products in Canada in 2005. He became President of Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. in 2006.
“I’ve been fortunate to have had a lot varied experiences through the course of my career with different industries, different countries, turnarounds, startups, mature businesses,” he said. “It really helped prepare me to be battle-tested in many different scenarios.”
Nearly a year has passed since Lobo accepted the position to head Stryker, which now employs 24,000 people around the world, with its headquarters and largest concentration of business in Southwest Michigan.
He said with the new position, he set four company guiding themes of globalization, innovation, collaboration and cost-optimization. Of the four themes, he’s most pleased with progress made in terms of globalizing the company, which sells products in more than 100 countries and has more than 33 facilities around the globe.
“I’m pleased I have had the chance to speak to more than half of our employees this year around the world,” said Lobo, who is fluent in English and French.
While Lobo has not yet relocated his family to Kalamazoo, he works in the Portage corporate offices nearly every week when he is not traveling or working from his office in New Jersey. He does have an apartment on the Kalamazoo Mall in downtown, where enjoys dining. He spends as much time working in Kalamazoo as he would if he lived here, he said.
“There is no difference, more than 50 percent of this job is traveling – I was in Kalamazoo or New Jersey for about three days in January,” said the husband and father of two. “Within two years, we’ll move here after my son finishes high school. Initially, my plan was to move before, but once we started doing the commute, we realized this was working well.”
Kalamazoo and Portage remain crucial to the company, he said, where the Medical Division, Instruments Division, Corporate Headquarters, Craniomaxillofacial Business units are located and about 2,500 people are employed.
Lobo said the Instruments Division is looking to expand one of its facilities, and the craniomaxillofacial unit, which develops surgical facial plates, is growing in double digits. He said further expansion in facilities and/or jobs depends on areas of success.
“Kalamazoo is critical,” Lobo said. “It’s our largest hub.”
Learning to lead
Lobo said he was lucky to learn his most challenging leadership lesson early in his career.
While heading Rhone-Poulenc’s Phosphate Division in the United Kingdom, Lobo was supervising six manufacturing plants in an industry and country he knew little about. To make matters worse, the company was losing money. He had no experience supervising such facilities, let alone six.
“It was a stretch assignment for me,” he said. “It was lonely being a leader far away from the head office and I didn’t know anything about phosphates. But what I realized is that success hinges entirely on making sure you have the right people that are engaged and focused on performance. If you do that, it doesn’t matter what industry or country you’re in, you can have success.”
The turnaround took more than just a pep session with employees. He had to make tough decisions, including shutting down one of the manufacturing facilities. But there was light at the end of the tunnel.
The eroding business turned to profitability, and a leader — now at the top of one of Kalamazoo’s largest companies — was made.
Lobo said he approaches his position as CEO the same way he approached leading Stryker’s Orthopedics Group. The first step is always to listen.
“You listen, learn, engage the teams, be transparent and open, identify areas of opportunity, align the team and focus on winning,” said Lobo, whose competitive spirit may stem from being an athlete. He played on his high school basketball, football, soccer and squash teams. He now enjoys golf.
While Lobo set four goals for the company, he said he firmly believes no major changes in leadership style or company culture are necessary. After working at various companies, he said he knows no other company that is more discriminating in hiring in terms of assessment and competitiveness.
“Stryker continues to be a great company, but it was a great company before I took the chair,” he said. “I put emphasis on themes I want to dial up. We very much focus on people development. It’s a culture that’s been in place for many years.”