Sally Susman Lecture Hosted by the Eisenhower Institute
By Ella Prieto, Assistant News Editor
On Thursday, the Eisenhower Institute (EI) at Gettysburg College hosted Pfizer Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Sally Susman for the Annual Henry M. Scharf Lecture. Susman is also the vice chair of the Pfizer Foundation and co-chair of Pfizer’s Political Action Committee. She gave a lecture titled “Making Meaningful Connections post-COVID.”
Executive Director of EI Tracie Potts introduced Susman to the audience and described her various roles and accomplishments. Susman then thanked EI, Potts and Board of Trustees member Bill Heyman ’74, who connected Susman and Potts to each other for the event to occur.
Throughout the lecture, Susman drew on lessons for her new book “Breaking Through: Communicating to Open Minds, Move Hearts and Change the World.”
Tracie Potts and Sally Susman at the lecture (Photo Ella Prieto/The Gettysburgian)
Lecture
Susman focused on three of the ten principles listed in her book, which was written during the Covid-19 pandemic while her company, Pfizer, worked to create the vaccine.
The first principle Susman focused on was intentionality in communication. Susman described her career experience as having clear intentions and thus, elevating her success.
“I decided that during the pandemic, in my work rolling out the vaccine, I also needed to set an intention,” said Susman. “So my intention was that while the company was going through a scientific transformation, I was going to try and take us through a trust and reputation transformation at the same time.”
Susman believes that by setting this intention and having a clear, established goal, she was able to succeed.
“And now Pfizer is a top four global brand around the world according to Fortune Magazine, so we no longer have that low reputation; we have a high reputation,” said Susman.
The next principle was having the courage to be candor. Susman shared her story of coming out to her parents in the early 1980s. Susman described how telling her parents was very painful, and they reacted with anger and sadness over her sexuality. However, Susman grew from this experience.
“I believe so powerfully in candor, and that you may suffer a short-term loss or pain, or even a mid-term loss or pain, but you will have a long-term gain in pride and peace and truly authentic relationships,” argued Susman.
The final principle was the importance of seeking harmony, which Susman believes is greatly important as she finds America to be so polarized. To explain this, she shared a quote by Organizational Psychologist Adam Grant.
“‘Harmony is the pleasing arrangement of different tones, voices, or instruments. Not a combination of identical sounds,’” stated Susman. “And I really latched onto that because the truth is we’re not going to all agree, we’re going to have different opinions. And that’s okay.”
She further commented that Americans need to find a way to “live together civilly and disagree agreeably,” and thus operate in harmony.
Conversation
The next part of the event was a conversation between Susman and Potts. It began with a question from Potts about the similarities and differences Susman saw in her various areas of work.
Susman answered that all of her work ties into her childhood dream and ultimate goal of wanting to do good in the world. While Susman enjoyed working in the government and accomplishing that goal, she found that businesses can achieve good the same as, or sometimes even better then, the government can.
“There are some great jobs and companies that are doing a lot of meaningful work, and I’ve really enjoyed being in business,” said Susman.
Potts then asked about a point in Susman’s book that communication should no longer be considered a soft skill.
“So you’ve gone right to the core of my argument in the book, which is that you’re making a foolish mistake if you write off communications as a soft skill,” said Susman.
Susman told stories of how she developed her communication skills. Her parents would have Susman and her brother explain a news piece at the dinner table every night.
“My brother and I thought this was cruel and unusual punishment… but I’m actually really grateful for that habit,” she explained.
Potts then followed with a question about dynamic pausing in communication and why that is important.
Susman answered that she learned the value of pausing by making mistakes when she did not pause and instead rushed. She told a story of one such mistake she made “because [she] just didn’t take the time to reflect.”
Building on that story, Potts asked how she is able to bounce back from mistakes.
“I think if you can process your mistakes openly and share them, they become less shameful, less painful, and even an opportunity to just be better,” answered Susman.
Potts’ final question for Susman was about another principle of her book: humility. Potts asked why humility is so important and how people can best exercise it.
For this, Susman shared a story where a man from another company took credit for an idea she had created. At first, Susman was angry at him and wanted to attack him for it. Upon pausing and reflecting, however, she realized it was not worth the argument.
“And I just had this ‘Aha!’ that it was actually okay for him to believe that he did it, for me not to have credit for it,” said Susman. “And that we could have a better long-term outcome if I could let that pass. And I did let that pass, and he and I do have a good relationship.”
Audience Questions
The final part of the lecture was a chance for audience members and Potts to ask Susman questions.
Potts asked Susman about the relationship between communication and trust and how those two things work together. Susman answered that many people think trust builds communication, but communication also builds trust. She believes this was especially seen during the pandemic.
“I thought the way to get people to take the vaccine would be to build trust through data and experts….but [that] wasn’t what made the difference,” she noted. “What made the difference was… old-fashioned storytelling.”
Potts then asked if there was ever a professional situation that Susman jumped into where she was very scared. Susman said leaving the company Estée Lauder for Pfizer scared her most.
Susman said, “…the first few years were really traumatic for me. I didn’t think I would survive or make it… and yet I’m so grateful that I did [stay].”
Someone then asked why Susman decided to take on the challenge of restoring trust in Pfizer during the pandemic. Susman explained the importance of transparency during the vaccine-making process. She decided to provide that transparency, knowing that if they succeeded with the vaccine, the company would profit.
Potts commented that this reminded her of President Eisenhower’s plan with D-Day, where he was unsure of his plan but took ownership of it. For both Susman and Eisenhower, their plans ended in success.
Another student asked where Susman got her confidence to make daring business calls and where she believes leaders get their confidence from.
“[Leaders] all draw their confidence from different places,” answered Susman. Personally, she felt that her confidence was drawn from the confidence of her CEO Albert Bourla.
Potts questioned Susman on whether she believes some of her confidence came from her coming out to her parents during a time when it was taboo to be gay.
“Yeah, you just might be right about that,” said Susman. “When you’re willing to sort of put it all on the line and you survive it, you can thrive.”
It was then asked what leadership styles Susman frequently sees in management positions. Susman said she has seen all variations, yet at Pfizer, Bourla has an authoritarian style. While this style can be harsh, Susman felt it was necessary for the work they were doing at the time, and Bourla was “tough but caring.”
The final question was why Susman viewed humor as an important skill in communication. Susman answered that there is great value in humor because it creates a lightness in conversations, which can enhance relationships and help make people comfortable.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article misspelled Susman’s name in the headline (- K. Oglesby).
