Page 207 - Grow from Within Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation

192 grow from within

these people had broad-based, high-profile responsibilities at
their respective companies well before they were offered the
corporate entrepreneurship mandate.
Whoever takes on the role of corporate entrepreneurship
leader will encounter a different, though overlapping, set of
leadership requirements from those faced by senior leaders.
The activities that are relevant for the program leader include

Promote Advocate across the company and beyond
Navigate Become the consummate politician
Recruit Attract and retain the right mix of talent
Coach Motivate and enable your team
Focus Build and balance the project portfolio
Manage the process Oversee the portfolio and processes

Many of the corporate entrepreneurial team leaders whom we
interviewed over the years have related having a similar
epiphany during their first year on the job. Dr. Michael Clem,
formerly executive director of worldwide franchise develop-
ment for Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon Endo-Surgery, the com-
pany’s new business creation entity, explained, “When I started
my position leading new franchise development, I thought I’d
spend 75% of my time on exciting things like new business strat-
egy, cutting edge technologies and new business creation. . . .
Instead, I spend 75% of my time just communicating with peo-
ple outside Franchise Development . . . other executives in the
company, other people outside Ethicon Endo-Surgery.”
It surprises a lot of new corporate entrepreneurship program
leaders, but promoting the corporate entrepreneurship group
within the company is perhaps one of their two most important
roles, the other being ensuring that the group is pursuing proj-
ects that matter. Even if the team’s portfolio includes some game
changers that will allow the company to dominate its markets