Health & Medical
Alex Lukianov
Chairman and CEO of NuVasive Inc.
By Mark Scott
Smart Business San Diego | February 2007
A high degree of desire and dedication to one’s personal interests can translate very well in the workplace, says Alex Lukianov,
chairman and CEO of NuVasive Inc. And that commitment is critical in the fast-paced world of developing and marketing products
for spinal surgeons. NuVasive’s ability to bring in employees who can move fast and get things done quickly was a key factor in
achieving $62 million in revenue for 2005 with about 400 employees. Smart Business spoke with Lukianov about the relationship
between speed and success.
Set a clear standard. A lot of people talk about culture, but I think it’s something we really try to deliver on here. That has to do with establishing an environment for ‘A’ players to succeed.
You have to have a very clearly understood message and a very clearly understood corporate mission of where the company is going.
You have to explain what the values are, and everybody has to be clear on what those look like.
What we are most clear about at our company has to do with absolute responsiveness at cheetah speed. Everybody in this company
is completely clear on what that means.
One of the most important values that we have as a company is serving our customers as quickly as we possibly can. We sell to hospitals, but we market to spine surgeons. Surgeons want things done very quickly. It’s immediate just because of the nature of their business.
We have a customized cheetah that we’ve put together with the NuVasive symbol on it. Everybody is very clear about what absolute
responsiveness means. We rally around that particular emblem and visual. There isn’t anybody who is not clear about that.
Clearly communicate the company’s vision. Focus the team on execution and on not getting pulled off the ball. I think that’s the biggest challenge for any CEO, to make sure the team is always spending most of their time on the key objectives.
You do it by having frequent meetings with the team. Reinforce that and make people very aware of where they are and where the
company is at. You do that through dashboard mechanisms to provide people with feedback, as well as having more casual conversation about it in group settings.
Burn speed into the culture. Everybody in the company has individual performance measurements that tie in to a balanced scorecard that
we use. ... What are the company’s goals, what are the key measurements of those goals, and how do they individually contribute and
how will they be measured by those goals?
The underlying theme is speed. Everything is speed. How fast can you get it done, how fast can you get a new product to the market,
and how quickly can you get back to the customer?
The whole culture and company is geared for that. But it’s not enough to just have symbols. It has to be substantive. What makes it
substantive are the very real measures that are implemented by everyone.
Be selective in who you hire. I don’t think that this is a place that works well for a lot of people unless they have the exact same ideas about
performance. If they don’t have the same standards, they are not going to do well here, and they are not going to enjoy it.
What I’ve seen is we have a low turnover rate. We try to hire like-minded people that are really into having an environment that allows
them to flourish and to achieve to maximum results.
You’ve got people that naturally, not only professionally but personally, stretch themselves. We’ve got people here that do triathlons
and people that do marathons. These people are used to stretching themselves in everything that they do.
Those are the kind of people I want to see at the company. I don’t want to see people that don’t fit that mold of top performance. That’s
what it will take for us long-term to continue to deliver on the top line and the bottom line.
Make work fun and rewarding. We certainly work hard, but we also take time to celebrate. At the end of the day, people want an environment that is very rich when it comes to their abilities to grow... That’s what nourishes people.
Everybody needs to understand and be a part of the vision and the purpose of the company. If they understand that and if they buy in,
they are going to perform.
If they don’t understand those things, or they don’t buy in, it’s not going to make sense. You can implement any management program
you want.
You can jump up and down all you want. But if, at the end of the day, people don’t understand the mission and where you’re going and
why you are doing those things, it doesn’t come together.
Keep your ear to the ground. If need be, we can turn on a dime. Concurrently, we have a lot of experience in this marketplace, so we have
a lot of ears to the ground. We’ve also attracted other executives and other managers to the company that also have experience in the
spine arena.
We have about 500 surgeons a year coming to San Diego for training in our operating rooms. Apart from training the surgeons on our
very unique techniques, it gives us an opportunity to speak with customers on an ongoing basis and have our finger on the pulse. It comes
down to sound strategy and execution, and if you have to make an adjustment, you do.
Watch for changes. The key to recognizing changes is that you are constantly looking for them. You have to have a very active process of
business development and looking at deals. I have our chief operating officer and our VP of research and development constantly looking at deals, constantly looking at companies and trying to understand potential trends and new opportunities.
HOW TO REACH: NuVasive Inc, (800) 455-1476 or www.nuvasive.com
