Breaking Through

Instead of working in a linear fashion – typically you would do some drug discovery and consider your testing strategies, start to design trials, begin to work on reconfiguring your manufacturing – we just did everything at once and it was really the only way that we could achieve such a boldly ambitious agenda for the company. At the same time, I felt I needed an equally brave intention.

And for me it was that we would use this moment to really reintroduce to society what happens in big bio-pharmaceutical companies and particularly at Pfizer. Our reputation, frankly, had been struggling; big pharma had many detractors, and yet we make life-saving medicine, so this was the opportunity to reintroduce ourselves and change the course of the narrative for the industry.

Rachel Salaman: So, what did you learn about corporate communications during the pandemic?

Sally Susman: I learned that there is no substitute for full transparency. We took some of our intellectual property that’s treasured information in our company and put it on the website because it was important that we could build confidence.

I learned about the irreplaceable asset of authenticity; we made our scientists readily available to speak to the media or government officials so people could hear directly from those people who were in the laboratories and closest to the work.

I learned so many things, it’s hard to know where to begin and end, but they are chronicled in my book, “Breaking Through,” which really takes decades of learning but things that crystallized for me during the pandemic.

Rachel Salaman: And you are still serving in your senior roles at Pfizer; how did you write this book and why?

Sally Susman: You know, it’s funny, my boss has asked me that same question. How did I find time to write this book during what was the busiest time of my life?

But I don’t know about you, if you’ve ever been working in an intense situation, really kind of a year-long, multi-year crisis, and what I found was that it was within the cauldron of that crisis, ideas that I had been thinking about and rolling around in my head for decades, they really became so crystal clear to me.

These ten principles, Rachel, that sound so easy – have the courage for candor; channel your intention; take time to pause – they sound simple, but they are hard to do, and during the pandemic I had to do them. It was really the only way to handle a worldwide conversation of such high stakes.

So, it was during this time that I wrote the book and of course I spoke to my CEO and received his blessing to pursue the book and shared the manuscript with him before I turned it in to HBR Press and I think he was very pleased that someone was telling the story. I consider it part of my job to be the archivist for the company, the chronicler of our history, so I think he appreciated that very, very much.

And the other thing to remember is the time when we were locked down, so I wasn’t traveling, going to business dinners and social events and while I missed some of that, I also cherished the focus that I had by being still and so while I was super busy, I also found pockets of time.

Rachel Salaman: The book is called “Breaking Through” and that points to the idea of breakthrough communicators which runs throughout the book. Could you just take a moment to tell us what you mean by that term, “breakthrough communicator”?

Sally Susman: Sure, so over the course of my career I’ve worked for nine Chief Executive Officers, Cabinet Secretaries, Senators, government officials, and heads of civic organizations and they’re all smart, hardworking, talented people. You don’t rise to those positions by luck.

But in observing these leaders very, very closely I noticed that a few of those actually broke through and by that, I mean they were able to express a vision, create followership, build enthusiasm, stir momentum, stir people’s hearts, open their minds, and change the world.

So, three that come to mind and that I write a lot about in the book, one is Ken Chenault, who was the CEO of American Express and in the days following the 9/11 incident here in New York City, his headquarters was right at ground zero and he took important steps to bring people together.

Their headquarters was shut down but Ken decided to rent out Madison Square Garden, which is an enormous venue, and invited all of the American Express colleagues to come in and he spoke to them. He tore up the script that had been provided to him by his team and he spoke from the heart.

He waded into the crowd and embraced people, expressed real empathy, and was a purveyor of hope and optimism at the time that his company needed it and the world needed it. And that talk from Ken was heard around the city, around the country, so Ken is one example.

I could speak also about Leonard Lauder who built his mother’s company. It’s called the Estée Lauder Companies, it has her name, but he was really the guy that got the stores involved, got the people working, built a proud workforce that has built that into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise; and of course, Albert Bourla and his quest to take Pfizer through to the vaccine in record time.

So, the key point is that the best leaders, the ones who make the most change, know that communications is not a soft skill but a rock-hard competency and they respect it as such, as important to them as finance, sales, quality, manufacturing, etc.

Rachel Salaman: Now you mentioned the ten principles that underpin the ten chapters of your book; could you talk a bit more about the structure of the book and how you decided on those ten principles?

Sally Susman: It’s funny, I had a lot more principles but I think when I first started writing the book, I had 18 principles but I was guided by a thoughtful editor at Harvard Business Review who explained to me something I should have known which is in today’s world it’s helpful to people to have a manageable number of chapters. Each chapter is a principle.

It starts usually with something that went wrong, typically a mistake I made, and I share a lot of my mistakes in this book. Then I talk about the principle and why I think it’s important and then I give examples of people who I think demonstrate it really well. And so the ten seemed like a nice round number that people could wrap their minds around, that was full and complete but not overwhelming.

Rachel Salaman: Yes, so the first chapter is about the importance of intention. In any kind of communication, we need to figure out what we’re trying to say; what do you think gets in the way of people doing this seemingly simple first step?

Sally Susman: Yes, again, seemingly simple but hard to live. Why, what breaks it down? We’re always multi-tasking. It’s a terrible thing. I’m finding people are looking at their iPhone while they’re supposed to be engaged in a Zoom call or they’re on a conference call but they’re really starting to cook their supper and so you’re never really there.

And I feel that it’s important to set an intention before every single communication that you do. So, when I speak with my elderly parents, I say to myself, “Be patient, take the time with them, be patient.” When I speak to my young adult daughter, I say to myself, “Don’t be judgmental, just listen to her, let her speak.”

Before our conversation today with your listeners, I tried to center myself. I want to try to offer insights that can help people in their own journeys to break through. And by setting those intentions, you know why you’re there, what you’re saying, and it’s a really good exercise. I encourage people to try it.

Rachel Salaman: I guess you can try and do this directly before you have the communication or it can even be a couple of days in advance, I guess. It doesn’t really matter as long as you focus on your intentionality.

Sally Susman: Well, for the big events you can take days or weeks or even months to focus your intentionality.

Rachel Salaman: True.

Sally Susman: Two weeks ago, I gave the commencement address at my college and believe me, I spent a long time thinking about what did I want to convey to these people on this important occasion and, you know, I hope I was successful.

My intention was to inspire them, to believe that they can build a better world, that society needs these young graduates to do that, so depending on the import of the occasion, you can alter the intention exercise to fit the moment.

Rachel Salaman: You mentioned courage and candor earlier and there’s a chapter on this principle. Do you think there is ever such a thing as too much candor, especially in corporate communications? Where do we draw the line? How do we draw the line? Is there a line?

Sally Susman: Well, that’s a great question. I actually just came off a session with my team where we were talking about being candid and authentic and real in the workplace and I think one of the positive outcomes, if we can say that, from the pandemic is it a little bit broke down the hard lines between work and home, who we are as professionals and who we are as people.

I was on many Zoom calls where I would see the cat or the dog crawling across the desk or hear the young child in the background and it’s very humanizing and I think that is really great.

In terms of where is the line and how much candor can the corporation take, it’s important to be thoughtful about that. We come to work to work and I have felt that I am able in the corporate setting to express my views in appropriate ways. If I disagree or don’t feel that I was able to fully express myself, I might pull someone aside privately and continue the conversation.

But at the end of the day, working in a company or a government office or a political campaign or a foundation is a team sport and we can’t derail that with our personal agendas all the time. So, it’s an important discussion to have, Rachel, and one that is important to be right for the culture that you work in.

Some cultures are more forthcoming: I was in a small office yesterday with ten people who work in one room so they know quite a bit about each other. Some big companies are more formal. So it’s important to calibrate your candor level to what’s the expected and appropriate culture of your environment.

You’re listening to Expert Interview from Mind Tools.

Rachel Salaman: There are lots of great anecdotes from your own life in your book and I particularly like the one about Paul Critchlow, the former head of communications at Merrill Lynch, who came out of retirement to work for you as a summer intern. Could you tell us about how that came about and the impact it had on him, on you and your team?

Sally Susman: Absolutely, and this is an idea I borrowed from the movie “The Intern,” and if your listeners are not familiar with the premise or haven’t seen the movie, an elderly gentleman who has recently retired is bored with his retirement and feeling somewhat on the margins, so he signs up to be an intern at a small company run by the actress Anne Hathaway – she plays the role of the boss.

And I watched this movie while flying back to New York on a business trip, and halfway through the movie tears were rolling down my face because who wouldn’t love to have this kind of a person in the office? So, my flight landed. The next day I walked into the Head of HR for Pfizer and I said I’d like to have a senior intern this summer and he gave me the green light.

I then knew Paul Critchlow from his work at Merrill Lynch. I also knew he was retired and not enjoying it as much as he thought he might, so I invited him to lunch and asked him if he would consider being my summer intern.

He asked me if he could take the evening to think about it and he came back the next day and said, yes, he would. I said “Terrific, may I offer you a retainer?” Because he is such senior person and he said, “Well, what do the other interns make?” I said, “$18.25 an hour.” He said, “I’ll take it.”

And then I said “Okay, but please let me give you an office.” He asked, “Where do the other interns sit?” I said “In this bullpen here on this open floor.” He said, “I’ll sit with them.” And he came in. His ego was in check. He didn’t come in like a big success that he was but just another intern, and he became great friends with the other interns.

He started then giving lunch and learn sessions about things from his own very interesting life; he had been in the Vietnam War, a journalist, worked for a governor, led a big division in a company, and he also touched very much the other staff members and he was a great sounding board for me through the course of that summer.

To my amazement this became a viral thing and we were on the cover of Fast Company magazine, we were invited to speak at the South by Southwest conference, and it was a wonderful example of letting your creativity and your curiosity about things lead you and led to great outcomes for Paul, for me, for Pfizer.

Rachel Salaman: It's such a great idea. I hope that other people try it because it sounds like, like you say, it was win-win-win for everybody involved. You include a chapter on the importance of kindness and manners which starts with a vivid story from your own childhood about writing thank you letters. As far as you can tell, how have good manners helped your career progress?

Sally Susman: Yes, my mom was a stickler for these thank you notes and there was no way around it in our home, and there were times I found it a bit of drudgery but I have come to really embrace it. And a lot of that is thanks to Leonard Lauder who is the Chairman of the Estée Lauder Companies and was my boss when I worked in the company for eight years.

When I first started working in the company, I was new to the beauty industry and had no contacts in the media there and Leonard, a very senior icon of the industry, was kind enough to take me to meet all the very senior beauty and fashion editors at the big publishing houses here in New York and they were all, most of them, very, very lovely but one was rude and she kept him waiting.

She had us standing in front of her desk while she was seated. She barely made eye contact. She was gruff, very impolite, gave us short shrift and sent us on our way. As Leonard and I were walking out of the building, he turned to me and said, “Now, don’t forget to send her a thank you note.” I said, “What?” He said, “That’s how we roll.”

And I learned from him that he used thank you notes very strategically and thoughtfully and carefully. Before his company could afford advertising, they used thank you notes to engage with the leading department stores, the buyers in those department stores, the editorial community, and he was really, really obsessive about these thank you notes, and it went so far sometimes that he’d write a thank you note for your thank you note!

He speaks at length in the book about how he sees it as a management tool, a way for people to feel seen and recognized, for them to know very specifically what you did for them and how it changed you and it really draws a connection – especially these days, Rachel, where everything is a quick text and you’re done.

Taking the time to sit down – I sit down every morning and I look at the calendar from the day before and I ask myself, “Who deserves a thank you from me?” And usually I will write two or three. It’s not a lot, it doesn’t take me more than 15 minutes, but I believe that it deepens my connection with people, allows me to be reflective, and is very important to success in any field, including business.

Rachel Salaman: And I’m sure people would want to know, do you think it matters if it’s handwritten on a card or if it’s an email or even a text?

Sally Susman: You know, I’m going to lean hard here into the importance of actually writing it on a card, putting it in the post, letting someone hold it in their hand. I keep a box by my desk of fun cards, cheerful messages that are on them and I think in our world where technology is just coming at us and we’re getting messages from every corner, that a handwritten note put through the letterbox is very special.

Rachel Salaman: Now, any corporate communications professionals listening will be interested to hear your advice on crisis management. What are some questions that might help people respond well in a crisis?

Sally Susman: Thank you for the opportunity to answer this and for putting the words questions and crisis in the same sentence. When I first started my career in corporate communications, I was at American Express Company and when we had our first crisis, it was very low level. We had a fear that we might have suffered a data breach. It wasn’t a big thing but we didn’t know that at the time.

I watched my boss sit at his desk and begin to ask a series of questions and, naïve and young to the field, I was like, “Why is he asking all these questions? We need to get going. We need to start doing things. When is he going to give us direction?” I have since learned through trial and error that the most important thing to do at the start of any crisis is to ask a series of very relevant questions.

I give a list in the book but some of the ones that are at the top of my mind is, first and foremost, was anyone hurt? And in many fields that’s a legitimate and important question, especially anybody working in the healthcare sector. Was anyone hurt? What do we know about the recovery? How will it happen? When will it happen? What can we tell the public about how frequently we will update them?

Because it’s a mistake to put the pressure on oneself to have all the answers on day one. Sometimes that’s just not possible, but what is important is to let people know that you will be updating them as you learn things so it is typical to say something like, “You can expect to hear from me every morning at nine a.m.,” or just something that gives confidence.

Another critical question is, is an apology appropriate? Because often it is. And sometimes corporations are reluctant to make an apology, but I think that’s a mistake. And I write a bit in the book about what makes for a good apology and not a pyrrhic one. So, starting with a list of questions is so important to dig in and make sure you understand and update the public as more information becomes available.

Rachel Salaman: Really useful advice, yes. You talk about pitch in the book as well, as one of your principles, perfect your pitch, and the importance of getting it right in all kinds of communications; what do you mean by pitch in this context?

Sally Susman: I often think when people see the word pitch in a book by someone who’s made their career largely in communications, they think I’m talking about the dreaded elevator pitch where you’re encouraged to try and tell your whole life story in the 30-second ride or pitching a journalist, a cold call or a telemarketer trying to pitch you something for sale.

I’m not talking about that at all. I’m talking about something far deeper and that has to do with the tone and the quality that we bring to our human interaction. Do you speak in a way that people can almost see or hear the smile in your voice? Do you take an optimistic tone?

Even if I’m invited to something that might be a difficult engagement, a senate hearing or an investigative board of some sort, I always start by thanking people for inviting me, and it’s disarming to people for them to know that you are going to take the high road. And I feel that attitude is so important in communications. I see it time and time again.

And the failure to have pitch can be devastating. You may have a brilliant argument, but if you are delivering it without enthusiasm and hope and optimism, it can fall flat, so pitch is something that is really an important and somewhat nuanced element.

Rachel Salaman: Yes, and you offer several tips for getting it right in your book. Which, in your view, are the most useful?

Sally Susman: I think the most important thing for achieving a good pitch is to put yourself in the recipient’s shoes. So if you’re delivering some difficult or uncomfortable information, remember that that lands hard for the other person.

It may be feedback, it might be a change in status, it might even be a breakup, but if you say it in a way where you’re really putting yourself on the receiving end and assuming a good intention in the other person, it helps a lot. I’ve seen the space between people narrow; the gap becomes less if you can really think not about yourself as the talker but about the other as the listener.

Rachel Salaman: You stress the importance of being humble and sharing the limelight in your book. Most of us can do that, if we remember to and we want to. But what should we do if the people we work with don’t behave with humility – like if they take credit for our work, for example? Has that ever happened to you?

Sally Susman: It has happened to me. What you ask about, Rachel, specifically is a very common problem people have within companies and corporations where they feel another person is taking credit for their work. And in those cases, it is important to make sure to circle back and talk to that person privately and be clear.

Use that intentionality exercise to say you want them to know that that’s not okay with you, that that can’t happen again, and if it persists, it’s not inappropriate to speak to someone in human resources or even to the supervisor. But I think the first step is a direct, intentional, clear, courageous, candid conversation with the individual. And in my experience, they don’t expect that and when you do it, it creates a really good outcome.

Rachel Salaman: In your chapter on the importance of reflecting on what’s come before, you talk about how you introduced reflection sessions with your team after the pandemic. How did that come about and what did people gain from it?

Sally Susman: Even during the rushed and hectic moments of working during the pandemic, I had a deep sense that we would need to reflect on this moment, it was history in the making, so I embedded a documentary film crew and two journalists from the Wall Street Journal into the company so we would have a record of what we had done.

Record keeping, marking the history, is really important and I’m so glad to this day that we have those tools so that we can always look back and have a good accounting of what we did. But I didn’t want to stop reflecting there, so I started arranging small group conversations, about six colleagues and me, they’re from around the world.

We call them breakthrough conversations because you know I’m obsessed with the idea of breakthroughs, and I asked people to share a breakthrough, to reflect with us on something that they’ve changed.

It can be a personal reflection; I’ve heard a lot of people who have learned to drive in their 40s or took up an instrument or began on a health journey. Or they can be professional reflections on things that they’ve done differently or ways in which they’ve changed their operating style. And by setting aside 45 minutes with five or six people to simply reflect.

You can ask people to sign up; I just rotate through the team and I mix people, people from different groups, different countries, different levels, so that we get a very original conversation going and the fact that the conversation, the reflection, is the outcome is what’s important.

There’s no other agenda, there’s no follow-ups, there’s no to-do list, it is just a conversation around change, how we’ve changed, and it is so much fun and it’s a great bonding experience with the team and I’ve learned about my colleagues in ways I never expected and it has helped us to be more high performing and, of course, to have trust, which is so important.

So reflecting is something that we rarely do in society. We finish one thing and we race to the next thing. I think there’s a lot to learn about the future by looking in the rearview mirror and remembering what you learned, how you did it, why it mattered, and what it meant to you.

Rachel Salaman: Sally Susman, thanks very much for joining us today.

Sally Susman: Thank you.

Rachel Salaman: The name of Sally’s book again is “Breaking Through: Communicating to Open Minds, Move Hearts and Change the World.” I’ll be back in a few weeks with another Expert Interview. Until then, goodbye.