ABSTRACT
Some years ago, one of the authors was working with the CEO and his team in a well-known pharmaceutical company. The problem was Colin. The senior vice president of research and development, Colin had previously been a member of the management team of a small but successful pharma R&D start-up before it was bought by this global organization four years earlier. Although he was happy when the deal went through, Colin was now struggling in his role in the large global corporation. He had acquired a reputation in the short time after the acquisition as being unapproachable, which is clearly at loggerheads with one of the competencies the company defines for his role-an “open and collaborative attitude.”
