Leadership: Former Stryker President Jim Heath

In Medical Sales? Watch my free webinar on How I Booked 35 Hospital Deals in 60 Days Using LinkedIn https://bit.ly/3Artujf When you visit Stryker's website there are two people listed that the board and management thank for their contribution to the organization. One of them is Jim Heath. Jim Heath spent 27 years at Stryker and served as the President of the Instruments division. During his six-year tenure as President, division sales grew globally from approximately $1.2 billion to $1.8 billion. You can imagine how surprised I was when I messaged him in 2017 for book recommendations and he replied back with great advice and suggestions. We finally met virtually this summer and I asked if he would come on the show and he agreed. When I posted about it, there was an outpouring of former employees, mentees, and peers who commented on the post with paragraphs about how he had a positive impact on their career and life. In this episode, Jim shares his journey and what he learned about leadership, strategy, and life over the past three decades. He also shares untold stories about Stryker's historic rise, turbulence during the 2008 financial crisis, and what made the organization what is today. Chapters 29:51 The Zimmer vs Stryker Rivalry 32:04 The one product that gave Stryker it's first major edge in the market 39:00 Jim's first big break at Stryker 42:21 What helped Jim move up the ranks at Stryker 48:00 The resources top sales people should tap into 48:22 How Jim started a Stryker sales newsletter in the 80s 50:39 Jim's take on having a career plan to move up 54:26 How customers reacted the day Jim became president 56:51 The hardest medical sales role to fill 58:00 What Jim learned from Gallop about hiring top medical sales talent 59:46 The mistake hiring managers make when looking at a resume 60:00 Hidden qualities of a great sales manager 63:00 Where great medical sales leadership starts 63:30 What former Intuitive Surgical and Mazor Robotics VP of Sales Chris Sells did to develop top talent and strengthen teams 64:01 The skill a medical sales manager must have 66:06 Why you shouldn't always hire people you worked with 71:00 The importance for medtech execs to optimize their fitness and health 78:10 The hole Stryker was in during the 2008 financial crisis 78:52 Why the FDA put Stryker on Double Secret Probation 83:00 How Jim almost got fired his first year as president 85:00 What helped Stryker get traction to grow revenue and get traction after the 2008 financial crisis 87:00 How "The Instruments Way" Roadmap at Stryker paved a road to success 90:00 How Nepture became the workhorse of Styker's growth 96:00 Lessons learned from Stryker's acquisition of Mako 101:30 Jim reflects on his biggest lessons of his time as president 104:00 Questions from LinkedIn: What was your approach to keeping everyone engaged and motivated? Brian Knop 106:40 Questions from LinkedIn: What were the 2-3 qualities you've seen in the most successful reps? Justin Morris 107:30 Questions from LinkedIn: What is something most people get wrong about you? Beth Whitten 109:00 Caleb Lohman's hilarious story on meeting Jim 109:42 Former Strkyer Vice President of QA/RA & Clinical Sciences Mike Baca's experience working with Jim 109:54 Brian Lee's President's Breakfast story 111:20 Jim's book recommendations 120:00 Jim's advice to Dylan Crotty as president Subscribe to our Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGpL_rGt1LQJwinMq_K7gfg Subscribe to our LinkedIn Newsletter https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-state-of-medtech-6863578381842288641/ Follow The State of MedTech on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/thestateofmedtech Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stateofmedtech/ Twitter https://twitter.com/StateofMedTech Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stateofmedtech/ Follow Omar M. Khateeb on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/okhateeb/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/omar.m.k