On September 5th our regular Wednesday afternoon seminar was privileged to host the recently retired Eli Lilly and Company chairperson, president and CEO, Dr. John Lechleiter who spoke on Science and Leadership: One Chemist’s Story.
Shortly after arriving in Indianapolis, John was in contact with our department. He became an adjunct faculty member, teaching undergraduate labs for us when we were still at the 38th street campus, where he demonstrated his love of teaching and ability to connect with students.
Prior to his seminar, he had lunch and a roundtable discussion with our chemistry students. In his meeting with the chemistry faculty, he noted how delighted he was to have the opportunity to connect again with our students and faculty and engage with us about many current topical areas.
Dr. Lechleiter’s seminar was divided into two parts: his doctoral studies and leadership. He noted at the start that it had been forty years since he did his doctoral research and that he spent several evening “brushing up” on his dissertation. We were impressed with his ability to discuss his earlier research in detail, make it understandable and demonstrate that he truly is a scientist at heart.
He gave details on the total synthesis of (+/-)-10-Epijunenol, [JACS 1978, 100, 4321]; the total synthesis of (+/-)-Coronafacic Acid, a biologically active substance [unpublished]; and of (+/-)-Isabelin, [JACS 1980, 102, 6340]. John has processed many ideas including the mononuclear heterocyclic rearrangement in EL-187, a broad leaf herbicide, which was eventually marketed jointly with Shionogi, a Japanese firm. Fifty routes were explored – none was cheap. Finally he spoke about the synthesis of EL-107-Flexidor, also quite expensive.
The second part of John’s talk was about his ideas on leadership. He began by stating that he had a hard time leaving the lab (he noted that he cannot drive a nail straight, does not golf, and does not have an MBA – and, at the time, he only knew organic chemistry!). Nonetheless, John advanced rapidly at Lilly by accepting ever-expanding roles in senior leadership positions in pharmaceutical product development and regulatory affairs, both locally and in Lilly’s global efforts.
He noted that, back in 1979 the number of hands working on a project was the limiting factor for progress in chemistry, but today it is information processing. He proposed two fundamental requirements for leadership: getting along with people and learning the ropes of your business – in his case science and business.
Getting along with people is the most important requirement for leadership; be a servant leader, find out what makes the other person tick, walk in his or her shoes, and always listen to them. Be honest and trustworthy and demonstrate your character to others. While at Lilly he was often seen chatting with his employees in the halls and regularly sent hand-written notes to those who had accomplished a mile stone.
A core aspect of the business of pharmaceuticals is to guide a product to market, which can take fifteen or more years. You have to be on top of patent issues and pay attention to the bottom line. This may mean a need to merge, cut dividends, suffer criticism, and make the tough decisions about closing a given program or letting people go. You have to have the courage to go against the grain, the resilience to overcome obstacles, and the confidence to stick by your decision, especially if there is no right or wrong in that decision. If a team is successful, its leader will be successful as well, and vice versa. People don’t bring their problems to you for a solution; they bring their problems for you to listen.
It was so refreshing to have a speaker so accomplished in the business world, and who, years ago, was an adjunct faculty member here at IUPUI. We were honored to observe a person with a continued excitement about science and a passion for improving the welfare of humanity.
By: Erwin Boschmann
This article benefited from input and discussions with Professors Martin O’Donnell, William Scott, and Partha Basu, all of whom attended the seminar.