Welcome to the Transformational Leadership Podcast, where senior leaders share real-world experiences building high-performance organizations in complex, high-pressure environments.
In this episode, host Jeff Harnois is joined by Richard Finger, Vice President of Human Resources at Broadmead Inc. Richard brings deep experience from leading large-scale HR transformations, including his work at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he played a critical role during the years leading up to the loss of patent protection for Plavix — the company’s flagship pharmaceutical product at the time.
The conversation explores how organizations prepare for major inflection points, including large-scale restructuring, business spin-offs, and reinvention at global scale. Richard shares lessons from leading workforce transformation across tens of thousands of employees, navigating uncertainty, and aligning people strategy with long-term business outcomes.
This episode offers a candid look at leadership during disruption, the role of HR in enterprise transformation, and what it takes to guide organizations through change while maintaining performance, culture, and trust.
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 – Welcome to the Transformational Leadership Podcast
00:27 – Podcast mission and focus on real leadership stories
00:42 – Introduction of host Jeff Harnois
01:15 – Introducing Richard Finger and his leadership background
01:53 – Setting the context: Bristol-Myers Squibb and Plavix
02:34 – The market impact of patent expiration
03:15 – Scale and complexity of a global organization
04:12 – Preparing for transformation years in advance
06:08 – Workforce implications of large-scale change
09:42 – Leading HR transformation in complex environments
13:55 – Spin-offs, restructuring, and organizational redesign
18:30 – Leadership lessons from enterprise transformation
23:44 – Balancing execution, culture, and performance
28:16 – The evolving role of HR as a strategic function
33:05 – Applying transformation lessons across industries
38:12 – Final reflections on leadership and change
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