{"id":9053,"date":"2011-06-01T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-01T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2011\/06\/01\/transforming-troubled-brands-into-high-fliers\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T18:18:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T18:18:54","slug":"transforming-troubled-brands-into-high-fliers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/business.cornell.edu\/centers\/2011\/06\/01\/transforming-troubled-brands-into-high-fliers\/","title":{"rendered":"Transforming Troubled Brands into High Fliers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Naomi Kelman, MBA \u201983, head of the OTC division at Novartis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Naomi<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Naomi Kelman is sitting in the pilot\u2019s seat of her single-engine Beech Bonanza preparing to land. Visibility is close to zero, but she\u2019s unfazed. \u201cI\u2019m an instrument-rated pilot,\u201d says the new head of Novartis\u2019s over-the-counter healthcare products division. \u201cThat means I\u2019m qualified to fly in clouds. I don\u2019t have to be able to see visually to fly successfully.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Leaders need to create a path where one didn\u2019t exist \u2014 like walking on freshly fallen snow \u2014 and inspire people to want to be on it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cockpit and the board room<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kelman, who has flown planes for 20-plus years, points out parallels between her skills as a pilot and her success as a consumer products executive. \u201cWhen you fly on instruments you\u2019re staring at probably six gauges and 25 pieces of information,\u201d she explains. \u201cI\u2019ve become very good at cutting through high complexity to get to the couple of essential things you need to do to take off and land successfully. It\u2019s a defining aspect of who I\u2019ve become on the job, too, and has made me a better business person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another valuable tactic in piloting a plane and leading a business: \u201cI always have a plan B before I take off. If things don\u2019t go perfectly, I know how to assess the situation quickly and get myself out of trouble,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, unlike in piloting, Kelman never operates solo as a business leader. \u201cInvesting in people and their development can make an enormous difference in company performance,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changing the game<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kelman is a concentrated ball of energy who radiates enthusiasm as a team leader and always seems fully engaged in the conversation she\u2019s having and the person she\u2019s talking with. But don\u2019t let that distract you from noticing her business acumen, which can be stunning, admirers say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For proof, see Kelman\u2019s extraordinary track record at her previous employer, Johnson & Johnson. As president of its LifeScan\u2013North America division, maker of OneTouch, a product that helps diabetes patients accurately monitor their blood sugar levels, she managed to turn around a declining market leader and put it on a high-growth trajectory in less than a year. \u201cI persuaded people that we were on a journey of transformation,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before that, as leader of the firm\u2019s Vision Care\u2013Americas division, which makes Acuvue contact lenses, she took a number-one brand whose growth had stagnated and catapulted it into the double digits in less than five years by introducing a new business model and reenergizing the staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does it take to effect a turnaround? \u201cI\u2019ve found that when you get to be a number-one brand, you can get bogged down playing defense instead of offense,\u201d Kelman says. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to get knocked from the top spot, so you spend most of your time defending what you have instead of creating that new path to the future. You lose touch with the things that made you great \u2014 taking risks, having vision, delighting your consumer in a way that nobody had before. Leaders need to create a path where one didn\u2019t exist \u2014 like walking on freshly fallen snow \u2014 and inspire people to want to be on it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I met Naomi I was immediately impressed by her keen knowledge of the marketplace and what it takes to drive growth,\u201d says Don Casey, a former Johnson & Johnson executive who is both a mentor and a sponsor to Kelman. \u201cI could tell she was going to make whatever organization she managed successful, and invariably she did. She is a natural leader, with keen analytical skills, marketing acuity, and a good sense of how to inspire others,\u201d says Casey, who is now CEO of West Wireless Health Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat really stands out is Naomi\u2019s vision for changing the status quo,\u201d says Bill Ross, field sales director at LifeScan, who also worked with Kelman at Vision Care. \u201cShe pushes herself and her people to envision a better future and to think big about how to innovate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspiring greatness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kelman wins her teams over by persuading them they can do great things. \u201cDeveloping people is sometimes stretching them, really believing in them, even when they don\u2019t believe in themselves; empowering them but still being that coach,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNaomi is incredibly skillful at identifying talent and potential in others,\u201d says Ty Lee, vice president, global analytics and customer insights, Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Care. \u201cShe creates an inclusive environment where diverse styles, talents, and ideas are encouraged and embraced. And she is supportive of promoting people into bigger and better assignments, which leads to products that better meet customer needs and fuel business growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe is an amazing developer of people at all levels,\u201d adds Valerie Asbury, vice president of sales at LifeScan, who worked with Kelman there and at Vision Care. If you come in with an idea, she\u2019ll help you think it out and make it even bigger. She\u2019ll say: \u2018I need you to feel as confident about you as I feel about you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although she believes that there are as many ways to be a leader as there are good leaders, Kelman shared four essential strategies that have served her well when she visited Johnson in February. Get great people. Know your business. Do fewer things, but do them bigger and better. And her favorite: Challenge people to be innovative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCreating a safe environment for innovation is really what you need to do to get the greatness out of the people who work for you, which is ultimately what drives growth,\u201d she told her audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mentoring matters<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kelman grew up in a suburb of Washington, D.C., the oldest of four sisters. Encouraged to do whatever interested her by supportive parents, she took courses in a range of disciplines as a Cornell undergraduate, including astronomy with Carl Sagan, before enrolling in Johnson\u2019s MBA program in 1981. There, she discovered her love of marketing in classes with Professor Vithala Rao, and found the fun in competition playing for the Frozen Assets women\u2019s ice hockey team, which she co-founded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, after a brief stint in finance at American Express following graduation, she joined Bristol-Myers Squibb\u2019s Clairol division as an assistant brand manager in consumer marketing in New York City and met her calling. \u201cI liked seeing a product you worked on show up on the shelf at Walgreen\u2019s, and I liked the immediacy of the fast-paced consumer products environment,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLeaders need to create a path where one didn\u2019t exist \u2014 like walking on freshly fallen snow \u2014 and inspire people to want to be on it.\u201d Her leadership potential was spotted by Steve Sadove, then president of Clairol (he is now CEO of Saks and Co.), who boosted her confidence by talking candidly with her about the challenges of running the business and who encouraged her to seek positions of increasing responsibility. \u201cIt made such an impression on me that he would invest in me and share those ideas,\u201d says Kelman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encouraged by Sadove to transfer to the firm\u2019s London office, she went on to oversee the global expansion of some of the company\u2019s biggest consumer brands. Eventually, she rose to become vice president of marketing for Bristol-Myers Squibb\u2019s Matrix Essentials, an international hair-care products business now owned by L\u2019Or\u00c9al. The exposure was invaluable in terms of helping her view the world through a broader lens, which, in turn, opened doors for her at Johnson & Johnson and Novartis, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A passion for people<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Grateful for the confidence, advice and support of seasoned executives like Sadove and Casey, Kelman now \u201cpays it forward\u201d by making time to mentor and sponsor others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNaomi has a passion for her people,\u201d says Ross, whom Kelman sponsors. \u201cA few years ago, when my daughter Annie was two years old, she was diagnosed with a serious heart ailment and I was having difficulty focusing on work. Naomi not only helped connect us to medical experts but she also told me, \u2018You are valued, and we want you to take care of your family.\u2019 That one comment did so much to give me some real peace at a time when we were sick with worry about the future,\u201d says Ross, whose daughter is now fully recovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

View from the top<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kelman is excited her new position comes with a seat on Novartis\u2019s executive committee, which reports directly to the CEO in Basel, Switzerland. And she\u2019s thrilled by the sheer size of Novartis, a giant in the international healthcare-products field, which will likely grow even bigger via acquisitions such as the $12.9 billion purchase of Alcon, a vision-health products firm. She even welcomes working once again with over-the-counter products that require FDA approval, as she did at Johnson & Johnson. \u201cI\u2019m not easily intimidated by difficult things,\u201d she asserts. \u201cI love adventures and challenges, the harder the better. I embrace the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for a person who enjoys engaging people as much as Kelman does, being a leader can be lonely at times, she admits. \u201cWhen you\u2019re faced with tough choices, there aren\u2019t a lot of peers to have conversations with,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m aware I\u2019ve sometimes made decisions that not everybody agreed with, but I believed they were the right things to do to create a future for the company and its employees. As a leader you have to be willing to do that because people are counting on you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As her career continues to take her to new heights, she may also find the view from the top to be just as exhilarating as it was the first time she flew a plane. \u201cI remember taking off from Teterboro airport in New Jersey, flying down the Hudson River, around the Statue of Liberty and back,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI looked down and said, \u2018What a lovely view,\u2019 and that was it for me. I was hooked for life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Naomi Kelman\u2019s Lessons in Leadership<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

1. Get great people.\nThis doesn\u2019t mean people in the organization are lacking. Often there\u2019s really terrific talent already there, but the organization might need a couple of critical leaders, or new capabilities, or some training and development to win in today\u2019s marketplace. And just bringing in a couple of well-placed people can make all the difference in the world.\n

2. Know your business.\nTo continue to grow and advance, you must view your business through an honest lens. Sometimes that means acknowledging there are challenges and issues that need to be fixed. And sometimes that means noticing what\u2019s working and continuing to do those things really well.<\/p>\n

3. Do fewer things bigger.\nSometimes good ideas and initiatives can multiply like bunny rabbits. You can get better traction by focusing on a few ideas, and doing them bigger, than you can by trying to do too many things.<\/p>\n

4. Challenge people to be innovative.\nThis may sound like a contradiction to Lesson 3, but it doesn\u2019t have to be if you create an environment where it\u2019s safe for people to try things out in a test-and-learn situation, testing them before deciding to fully invest in them.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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