Meet the Graduates
Dave Manning
MAOL Graduate - Regional Business Director in the U.S., Ortho Clinical Diagnostics
When Dave Manning approached his supervisor to discuss avenues for his professional development, he thought the process would amount to a talk and an eventual agreement to send Manning through one of the many MBA programs he’d already researched. However, in discussing Manning’s goals for his education and outlining specific learning he sought to master, his supervisor, MAOL graduate Tim Orr, suggested to Manning that what he’d derive from an MBA program would only fractionally contribute to Manning’s self-forged goals. When they began to discuss MAOL, Manning says, he realized that it was precisely the opportunity he sought—it allowed for both transformation at work and on a personal level.
“Through the MAOL I was able to see that my tendency had been to accept as opposed to disrupt. There’s a time for that—when you must get on board and get there quick, and if you’re the dissenter you’re going to get shot at,” Manning concedes. “I know how to probe into the questions now, and know when is the right time to upset the status quo. It changed the way I function in the organization, and the way I can counsel others to think about things.”
Manning’s discernment grew through applying MAOL methodologies, as did his confidence and clarity as a leader. Before long, he was extended an opportunity to assume greater responsibility within his organization, changing his MAOL initiative and organizational role halfway through his degree. Having worked in Johnson and Johnson’s Ortho Clinical Diagnostics for six years in various marketing and training roles, Manning saw a position being formed that would put him in charge of a team of people responsible for upper levels of health services in the US. The role would place him closer to the business and heighten his direct responsibility, which greatly appealed to him. Manning took the opportunity and, through it, was able to apply MAOL concepts in a completely different context.
As Ortho Clinical Diagnostics’ Regional Business Director in the U.S., Manning and his team provide solutions to large health systems, solutions that are costly and, most of all, represent huge changes. Much of what his team deals with, Manning explains, is change management, which demands sensitivity to how to approach people and usher them through an important shift.
“I’ve used what I learned in the MAOL to profile the thinking styles of the individuals with whom I work, and also extended the methodology to them. Now, we ask what the people we’re selling to would look like, how they would think, and how we approach them in a way they need to be approached,” says Manning. “I got to be more thoughtful and deliberate about the makeup of my team in a way that I would have been completely blind to without the awareness that MAOL has provided.”
Manning says that during his time in the MAOL he learned that formerly, he’d been far too likely to jump to action without fully exploring the possibilities behind opportunity, and that truly inspired thought and innovation comes out of informed trust in self as a leader.
“Informed trust allows for focused energy, which then invites creation,” explains Manning. “It can be individual creation, or group creation. Out of that is forged integrity, which moves you to commitment. When one is committed to intention, it allows for building of results, and out of those results comes leadership.”