Episode Transcript
I think what you’re touching on too, is kind of the identity shift.
You know, as you continue to grow in your roles, like there is this identity shift each time. So
you started at associate sales rep, sales rep, sales manager, regional director, and then
director, VP roles. So that’s your, your trajectory. Each of those I do have, do believe, have
some sort of this identity shift, whether it’s leaning more to leadership or unlearning things
you need to do and learn.
So if you had to identify one or more of those identity shifts, what
might that look like in your trajectory and your time at Medtronic?
There’s identity and then there’s the behavior shift that has to do
with that in order to be successful in these things. I, I’ve tried, I’ve tried to give myself
permission to stay me as I’ve ascended. That was one of the things that I was. I didn’t want to
become somebody else. I’m not, I’m not like an overly stuffy person. I’m not, you know, I’m
pretty authentic. I show up as me. I’m usually pretty fun.
And I wanted, I didn’t want to become the, you know, this stuffy
leader that no one wants to be around anymore. And so my identity, I think, like, kind of who I
am, has stayed pretty stable through this, but I’ve had to change how I operate and how I
behave in every role. So, you know, so the, the, you know, leading a US Sales organization, the
elasticity, I guess, between needing to understand the details and what’s in the weeds like you
would when you’re an associate sales rep or sales rep in the operating room and then also be
able to fly at 36,000ft and look ahead and, you know, understand what the team needs and,
you know, and work cross functionally and, and all of those things. So I think it’s that the
agility to flex and go back and forth between what’s needed in each of the roles. So I guess
that’s where if I were to try to be successful leading the US Sales organization and also be like
down in the weeds on, you know, on any given day, that that isn’t how I would be successful.
So, I had to learn to, you know, get out of my own way and not be an individual contributor as
much anymore and delegate and build the team around me and trust the team that I built and
get out of their way.
So I think those are the shifts was. Is really like understanding I
can’t do everything. I can’t be everywhere. So I need to put a really strong team in place that
can do these things and then trust that they can do it and get out of their way and let them.
How has your experience in sales being on. On that side of the, the
industry, that side of business, that side of teams, how has that informed your leadership
style?
I think because I have always. I, I hear it appreciation from the
field team that I lead a lot, that I did carry the bag. I do understand what they’re doing. We
actually, we’re in a, we’re in a pretty cool spot right now across all of CST where all of our
sales leaders, like, pretty much everybody that’s in the, you know, in the VP position, my boss,
my peer, the VPs that we all lead, everybody’s carried the bag, everybody’s done the job.
And so there is, which is, it’s a kind of a unique time where it
hasn’t always been that way. And so I think the fact that I came up in this business and grew
up in this business, it helps me lead the team for sure because I understand and there’s, you
know, it’s empathy. I understand what you are going through every day. I understand what it
means when we’ve got a backorder or a supply challenge. I know what it means to be on call,
you know, 24/7, work through the weekend, work through holidays. Like I’ve done, I’ve done
all of that.
And I, you know, there isn’t a world where I’m asking anybody to
do something that I haven’t done or don’t still do. And I think that when you, when you are
trying to. I’m such a player, coach, leader as well. I, you know, I still love to roll up my sleeves
and be in the field. I’m happiest when I’m in the field with my team in front of customers. And I
think if, when you’re, you know, when it comes down to, like that, you know, that end of the
quarter, and I need, we need to put some numbers on the board and all these things, I, I have
earned the right to ask, Ask my team to perform. My expectation is that we perform, that we,
that we hit our numbers, that we win consistently, and it’s. I don’t. I. I don’t have any trouble
asking for that because.
Because I have come up through the same business that. That
they’re in.
Yeah, I think that’s really interesting because I think that you have
to go through it to really grow. And then when you come onto the other side, you have earned
this credibility. So you’re able to ask unapologetically because you went through it yourself.
And I think that that is a really important way to think about leadership. And I very rarely get
a chance to ask what I would consider a personal question.
But don’t be afraid. It’s not that personal. Just your Social Security
number and your credit card number. That’s all I need. Other than that. When I was prepping
for this interview, I mean, I was really excited again about, like, being able to spe to another
salesperson. There’s this, like, vocabulary, there’s this way of communicating that really is so
special to that background. And I find when one of the challenges that I had and I wanted to
kind of get your feedback on this. One of the challenges I had is sometimes when I was leading
my teams, I would start to sell my team.
And I only realized I was doing that when I was prepping for this
interview with you. And I went, oh, I wonder. I wonder if that was the right way to go. Because
I wanted to be authentic and I wanted to be mission driven, but it was almost impossible for
me to take out the salesperson in me even when I was leading a team. So how do you. One, do
you identify with that at all? And two, if you do, you know, how do you balance that being
authentic with your team, being real with them, but also still there is some positivity to selling
them?
I like this question. So there’s, you know, we’re a big organization
and there’s a lot of noise, you know, coming at us all the time. And there’s, you know, a lot of
different corporate initiatives and different things that matter to different, you know, cross
functional groups all the time. And it’s my responsibility to toe the company line and to make
sure that, hey, we’re all rep. This is the direction of the organization and we need to, to move
with it. And so sometimes there’s, you know, there are moments when I do have to sell the
team on something like, hey, you know, crew, we’re going in this direction.
And, and I think this is where the, the authenticity thing matters
and the fact that I, you know, I really do, like, strive to get to know my team in the field and
get out there and work with them. And so if it’s something that, you know, I don’t think is
going to resonate with that sense of purpose, I’m not afraid to say, team, this is a box we need
to check and I just need you to check it, right? Like, I’m not asking to have like this amazing
foundational belief in the 19th survey that you’ve got to fill out to this week for, you know,
whatever, but I am asking you to do it.
And then there’s, so I just think it’s okay that, that, you know, at
times we’re, we’re real and we own, you know, this, this is still, you know, a very large
corporation and there’s a lot of stuff going on. And so, yeah, I have to sell my team all the time.
Most of the time it’s not difficult because we are, you know, CST and enabling technologies.
Like what we, what we do is really cool. I think it’s, you know, the best business in the business.
So I, fortunately, I’m not in the position of having to do that a lot, but there are, you know,
there are times and I just think, you know, when it’s something that, that isn’t really landing
or resonating. Just own it and move on.
I love that. I’m gonna let that sit for just a second. Just own it. Yeah,
own it. Let’s, you’re, you’re educating me, so let’s continue this education. Can you help me
unpack what exactly is enabling technologies? And if you want to frame it within the CST
division, please feel free. But what does that mean?
Yeah, I don’t think you’re supposed to use the word to define the
thing that you’re trying to define, but enabling technologies truly is the technology that
enables the procedure in the context of CST and enabling technologies. Right now I would, you
know, the cocktail party speak on this would be, it’s, you know, it’s navigation, imaging,
robotics, you know, high speed drills, all of the things that you need to you know, to move a
brain surgery or a spine surgery forward.
And what we’ve done within our branded ecosystem, which is the
AiBLE ecosystem, I think fundamentally the importance there is the connectivity between all
those things. So all of these individual technologies on their own are best in class. You know,
the O-arm imager is, you know, the market leading best imager for spine surgery that there is
stealth navigation market leading navigation technology.
What we’ve done now with Stealth AXiS, our brand new platform
that we just got clearance on is it’s the first time we’ve brought planning, intraoperative
navigation, interoperative robotic execution and reconciliation together into one connected
ecosystem that’s informed with a very strong data and AI platform.
Congratulations. So first of all, woo, woo. I mean that is, it’s a huge
feat. So that was in February that Medtronic announced the FDA clearance for Stealth AXiS
for spine. So and that’s part of the AiBLE ecosystem. One, I would just love you to continue to
expand on what that. So how does stealth access for spine fit in to or what its relationship to
the AiBLE ecosystem? I just want our listeners to really understand that relationship, the
technology and then we can talk about what this means for Medtronic in your division.
Yeah, it is the first time that the connection between preoperative
planning, which, which is if you just kind of even back up from that a little bit, that’s really
important in spine surgery. You know, millimeters matter and, and getting a patient’s
alignment correct in spine surgery is a really strong predictor of a good, a good or a bad
outcome. Poorly aligned patient is usually not happy and a well aligned patient is. And so
what we’ve done is we’ve brought preoperative planning into the operating room with the
connectivity to stealth access and the patient can see with our live aligned segmental tracking
system if they are achieving their preoperative plan in real time, which has been a
major problem that we’ve solved and something that’s been a
pretty big gap in the way that spine surgery has been done up to this point. So we’re incredibly
excited about it. It’s a really meaningful change. Like I said, it solves a pretty big problem. I
think that’s one of the most important questions in med device and in MedTech that we should
all be asking ourselves what problem are we solving with this technology?
And this one is, this is a really big one. So, so we’re very excited
about all this and what it’s going to do for patients and outcomes in spine surgery.
And more congratulations are in order. There was FDA clearance
for Stealth AXiS for cranial and ENT. So I assume, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I assume
that it, the, the outcomes and the workflow benefits are relatively the same. What I’m
interested, and again please correct me and expand. But what I’m interested in and what is
that signal? So you just were cleared for spine, now you’re cleared for cranial and ENT.
What is that signal? When a platform starts to move across
specialties like that, what does that mean for the industry?
Great question. So this is a multi platform system. So and I think
that’s one of the things that’s, it’s, it’s modular and it can do more than one thing. It isn’t like
there’s a Stealth AXiS for spine and a Stealth AXiS for cranial as one system and it’s got
multiple different software packages that can be loaded onto it. So if you’re a hospital
administrator or you know that’s, that’s exactly what you’re looking for. It’s not just one
system per specialty, it’s one system multi specialty.
And we are one of the things that I think is really important here,
the processing power that’s been built into this particular system. It’s very future proofed. So
there’s, what we’re launching today is magnificent and game changing and has all of this, this
incredibly new meaningful functionality. It’s also, there’s a 10 year software roadmap that
we’re going to continue to iterate and improve on the same platforms.
So we’ll continue to, this isn’t, you know, this is just the beginning.
We’re going to continue to iterate, improve and improve on this existing platform for years to
come. Which is also music to your ears if you’re a surgeon or an administrator. Because
everybody fears, you know, investing in a technology platform and then having it be outdated
in one years, two years. So this one is really, this is built to last.
You touched on something that I think is a waves is a big question
with a capital Q. So when hospital systems and surgeons are adopting enabling technologies,
where do you see the biggest friction points? You already gave me an example. I like wires. I
don’t need wires. I mean where, so where are those friction points? How does do you and your
team make the biggest difference in getting the adoption to stick?
Yeah, that’s a great question. It, I really think it’s, it’s workflow.
Everybody loves change, right, Kayleen? Like, everybody loves to change. And so if we’re, if we
launch something that requires a surgeon or an operating room to completely abandon their
existing workflow and adopt a completely new workflow, those technologies fail. It doesn’t
really work. And so the, the procedure needs, or the technology needs to be sympathetic to the
most efficient workflow that’s in place in the operating room. So I think that’s barrier number
one to adoption is if it’s just too much inefficiency, then it doesn’t take off. And I can give you
200 examples of that particular, you know, problem.
And then on the administrative side of things, it’s, you know,
there, there are all other things there. It’s cost, it’s concern around if we adopt this, then, you
know, is there going to be something else in two years? You know, what is the total cost of
ownership? What’s my return on investment? There’s always, you know, a strong economic
story that needs to. That comes into play when administrators are making these decisions,
and very rightfully so. They of different specialties and even within spine and cranial surgery,
probably, you know, competing priorities and, you know, and different, different surgeons
raising their hand for different technologies.
So it’s. That’s. That’s one of the things that my team and I really
try to. To distill for, for administrators is this is, you know, this is what you’re getting. This is
your total cost of ownership. This is your return on investment. And this is why this is
meaningful technology to invest in for your patients. And that’s back to sort of the front end of
the conversation. And being in sales, it’s not a hard thing to do because I really believe in it.
And so, you know, I’m not having to tell some story that is, you
know, that’s difficult to tell because it, you know, perennial navigation is standard of care. You
know, you wouldn’t want somebody going in and doing a biopsy in your brain without image
guidance. It’s the same with, you know, the predictability of planning and interoperative
execution and reconciliation. Real time in the OR for spine surgery. I would want somebody to
use that on me.
It makes that whole thing easier to drive the adoption. And then
the last thing I’ll say is we have a really amazing field team and clinical team that are boots
on the street that are in the operating room to support these procedures and make sure that
they’re going well, which is a tremendous investment on Medtronic’s part to make sure that
they’re, that the, you know, we don’t drop something off in a hospital and then it becomes a
coat hanger. We are very, very, very invested in the utilization of, of the technology and, and
making sure that, that we’re building programs in partnership with our customers.
And it’s, you know, the, the, the necessary transaction of the
capital sale has to happen. But that’s, that’s really the starting point of where things go and
you know, and after that we’re, you know, we’re committed to the program.
Excellent. So last thoughts around enabling technologies. As we’re
seeing more procedures move to ASCs, how does that change what customers need from
enabling technologies?
Yeah, so the ASC market is, I think spine is starting there and
what we’re seeing is that it’s going to move there and there’s a tremendous desire to, you
know, for spine surgeons and from it is patient driven as well. People like the idea of going to,
you know, going to an outpatient center and, and I think with enabling technologies in spine
surgery in particular, it needs to be a minimally invasive surgery, at least, at least not
maximally invasive if we’re going to get that patient out in under 24 hours. And what we do in
Medtronic enabling technologies is mis. Enabling.
So, you know, being able to see, you know, where you’re going and
do all of this under image guidance with, you know, robotic execution enables that. So I think
that the two are going to be very hand in hand. Transitioning to an ASC for spine surgery will
be reliant upon enabling technologies in many ways in order for that transition to be able to
fully happen. So we’re in, you know, in partnership with, with those, with those customers,
those ASC owners, those, you know, those surgeons that want to make that, that transition.
I want to round us out in the conversation because unfortunately,
we’re coming to the end about leadership. So I’ve heard you say that you help people build
confidence, purpose and joy in their work. In this conversation alone, we’ve talked about that
multiple times. What are maybe two to three practical things that, that you do consistently to
develop those qualities in yourself and then with your team?
Yeah, I think there’s a lot of just delegation and letting people run
and allowing the team back again to trusting myself that I’ve got the right team in place and
then giving them the autonomy to do their job. So one of my favorite things to do when people
bring me, you know, hey, we’ve got this problem or we need this thing or we don’t have this or
this isn’t working. Well, excellent. You are now the leader of a tiger team.
To go, you know, go pick a team and go solve that problem and
ask me. It really does work when you, you know, because it’s. If there’s something about, you
know, bringing a problem without a solution, I try not to do that. I’m certain that I do, but, but
anyway, I think that helps people learn how to go solve their own problems. I love that it’s a
good strategy. So. And it, you know, it, because I do have a wonderful team in place. We’ve
solved a lot of big problems through those, those tiger team endeavors.
It reminds me of what you were saying at the start of our
conversation, that when you were first starting in sales, that your sales lead pushed you in the
deep end and how that helped you. I mean, there’s something to be said about that problem
solving. What is it? The, the mother of innovation is necessity.
Necessity. Yeah, exactly. That’s right.
What about future leaders? So how do you spot them on your
team? What single signals you look for besides just the numbers? How do you choose those
future leaders?
It’s funny how they make themselves known. You know, they just,
it’s the people that are, that are standing up, looking for, you know, for additional
responsibility. They’re not the whiners. They’re not the, you know, they’re the ones that always
are in there and they’re always willing to kind of, you know, lock arms and figure out how we
solve problems together and move forward.
I have a decent eye for talent, and I think that the future leaders
are the ones that are, they’re looking ahead and they’re seeing what’s coming, and they’re
helping move in that direction. They’re the ones that help us lead through change instead of
being resistant to it. They’re the ones that are, you know, I also love, love, love, love, love to be
challenged. I don’t, you know, I don’t want to sit in an echo chamber where, you know, I don’t.
I’m the only one that, you know, is, is solving problems. I lean on my team a lot to, to, you
know, to kind of, hey, guys, I’m thinking about this thing this way. Are you thinking about it
the same way?
And so if you’ve got a good team around you, they will, they will
challenge you. Those are your leaders. And so they, they kind of rise up. And I think that also
comes from creating a safe space for leaders to develop where, you know, if you show
vulnerability to people, they’ll, they are willing to, to tell you, hey, you might have a blind spot
on this. So I think those are the, those are the people that I’m looking out for. It’s the, it’s the
innovators, the challengers, the, you know, the future thinkers, the ones that, you know, they
usually are a little more positive and the infrequent whiners.
So I love that. I completely support that and I completely get that
rounding us out. This feels like a very natural transition to what leaders should I know about?
So are, are there any female leaders, allies, organizations that you’d like to shout out?
Wow, there’s so many. So on the, in the, in the world of, you know,
one person that comes to mind, I would shout, do you know Linnea Burman? Do you know
that name? I would shout out, Linnea. She’s amazing. Do you know her?
I actually just interviewed her yesterday for the Women in
MedTech podcast.
And I know she was originally in CST and now she’s president of
Neurovascular.
So Linnea gave, put me in the, you know, was, gave me a shot at a
national VP role. And it’s just did it in a way that it was not an easy time. It was not, you know,
there were many, many, many challenges that we were facing and she gave me the
appropriate level of space and support and, you know, and supported me through what was,
what was honestly a really tough transition. And, and I just, you know, I just love her. She’s. So.
You met her. You. I don’t need to, to, you know, say any more about J’dore. Yeah, she’s, she’s
incredible.
And then the, and then from an, you know, from an
organizational standpoint. I know this is, you know, this podcast is about women. I have had a
23 year career of supportive men in my life at Medtronic. So it’s just, you know, they’re, they’re
the advocacy from, you know, across the board at Medtronic. It’s been, and it’s been an
incredible journey. It exists to this day and there’s just been, you know, it’s been endless and
really supportive. And I would also shout out Mike Carter, who’s one of the most back to kind
of authenticity and vulnerability.
He’s special as well. So I look at him all the time and I’m like, I can
be me. He’s so him. He just, you know, he just shows up as the most, you know, real authentic
person. So, yeah, Medtronic’s loaded with people like that. And that’s, you know, that’s why
someone like me sticks around. For 23 years, I had said that
I look like the crying emoji. Now I look like the emoji with the
hearts all around me. Like, oh, I love that so much. Well, Melaine DiLuzio, Vice President of
U.S. sales for Enabling Technologies at Medtronic CST Division, thank you so much for joining
me on the podcast. Boy, this was a lot of fun.
Thank you. I agree. This has been wonderful. Thanks, Kayleen, for
having me. Appreciate it.
I’m going to close out this episode by reminding you of this quote
from one of the most important questions in MedTech that we should all be asking ourselves is
what problem are we solving with this technology? That question should inform absolutely
everything we do. So thank you so much, Melaine, for bringing clarity and insight to our
conversation. And also thank you so much to HID Global for sponsoring this episode of the
Women in MedTech podcast. And thank you, of course, to my in studio guest, Caryn Mills,
Medical device Sales Director for HID Global.
Now, what made Caryn and my conversation such a compliment to
my interview with Melaine was how it was directly connected. RFID isn’t always the first
solution that product developers think of, but as Caryn showed us, when it’s built with
purpose, early, thoughtfully, and tied to a real problem, it can become an essential layer of
confidence and reliability. If you want to learn more about how HID Global works with
medical device developers, please visit their website at www.HIDglobal.com and please mark
your calendars for their upcoming webinars.
This October and December, visit
medicaldesignandoutsourcing.com to register for that. Now, before you go, I’d love to know
what surfaced for you. When you’re evaluating a new technology, are you starting with the
problem? Are you starting with the tool? Find me on LinkedIn to tell me all about it. I’m
Kayleen Brown, Managing Editor for DeviceTalks, and while you’re there, please follow
DeviceTalks. And speaking of following, if you haven’t already, click that subscribe Follow
button on your favorite podcast player for the DeviceTalks Podcast network and the Women
in MedTech podcast with Kayleen Brown so you don’t miss miss a future episode of these great
MedTech conversations.
Now, we did mix things up a little bit by bringing you a Women in
MedTech podcast today when we normally publish our DeviceTalks weekly. I’m going to do it
again next Friday, but after that we will start bringing you back your DeviceTalks weekly
podcast. Once again, I’m Kayleen Brown, managing editor for DeviceTalks. Thank you so
much for listening.
