Making Business Personal: Q&A with Cristal Downing, Merck

Cristal Downing
Executive vice president
Chief communications and
public affairs officer
Merck

It’s not uncommon to find out that people working in the pharma industry got into the business after dealing with a family tragedy due to illness. Cristal Downing, chief communications and public affairs officer and executive vice president at Merck, spoke with Pharmaceutical Executive about how her sister’s diagnosis, battle, and then death from colorectal cancer inspires her to work harder and how she approaches her role as a leader in the industry.

Pharmaceutical Executive: How did your sister’s tragic passing influence your goals to improve health equity and the rest of your career?
Cristal Downing: Having worked in health care for over a decade, I know that I am fortunate to be part of an industry and a company that is dedicated to advancing health. I truly believe this kind of work is not only a worthy and noble endeavor, but it’s also a calling. I am inspired and energized to get up every morning and work alongside my amazing Merck colleagues in pursuit of our shared passion for saving and improving lives, not only in this country but all around the globe.

For me, the health care industry has always been special and personal, even before my sister’s cancer diagnosis and defeat. And I don’t think my experience is unique. As human beings, we have a natural desire to preserve and improve our own health and the health of our loved ones—family members, friends, colleagues and neighbors. In this same spirit, I’m constantly encouraging friends and loved ones to be active—not passive—in preventive health maintenance. This means getting regular checkups, being screened for early detection, and listening to our bodies and what they are signaling to us.

My sister April passed away in August 2016 after a valiant, four-year fight against colorectal cancer, and I will forever miss her each and every day. We were as close as sisters and best friends can be, and I was honored and heartbroken to walk with my sister through ALL of the ups and downs of her cancer fight journey. Having her back, leading from the front, and being at her side was so critical to her and profound for me. This connection gave me an intense and lasting appreciation for some of the fundamentals of health care communications.

For example, I gained a greater awareness of the importance of clear and accurate information and knowing what to do with it as patients and family members strive to navigate the health system and access the best care possible. Empathy is also foundational in health care, as we communicate with people experiencing potentially life-changing and life-threatening conditions. We also can and must embrace perseverance and an ongoing commitment to find new treatments and cures. Patients—both current and future—are counting on us, and, with new discoveries, we can make a difference for them and their families and communities.

These elements continue to be key motivators as I chart the course of my career path. I am an advocate of health equity and health access for everyone, regardless of your race, religion, region or any other diversity dimension. Protecting our heads (mental), hearts (emotional) and health (physical) with the promise of quality and accessible health care is my wish, want and goal for everyone.

PE: How important is it to be a role model in a leadership position?
Downing: I believe a lot of leaders underestimate the power we have to impact others—for better or worse—through the examples we set in what we say and do. Without question, people are watching. Your team. Your colleagues. Your partners. Your management. And we all tend to take cues from influential leaders.

Most of us, if we’ve been around the corporate block long enough, have worked in or experienced a variety of organizations. We know what a healthy culture looks and feels like—and what a dysfunctional culture looks and feels like. The difference is night and day. And, very often, we can easily connect the state of the organization to the examples set by one or more of its leaders. Positive leaders tend to shape positive organizations. Toxic leaders almost always build toxic organizations.

Over the course of my interesting, exciting and rewarding career, it’s easy to say that I haven’t been surrounded by many professionals who look like me. And even today, I recognize that I’m one of very few black women serving as chief communications and public affairs officer for a large global company such as Merck. But, even with this recognition, I spend little-to-no time focusing on being “one of the only” and most of my time on leading, engaging, communicating and performing with excellence. Because I wholeheartedly believe and know that excellence transcends any negativity, doubt or criticism that might be fueled by a lack of appreciation for diversity, equity and inclusion.

For years, I’ve followed a four-step formula for performance excellence: Conceive. Believe. Achieve. Receive. I’ve shared this approach with so many of the colleagues and interns that I’ve mentored, as well as with my daughter, Skylar – 20 years old, and my son, Hunter – 18 years old. To me, this formulaic process begins with imagining what could be. The next step is believing that what has been conceived is doable. Then the third step is executing and making it happen. And the fourth and final step is celebrating the accomplishment and reaping the benefits/rewards. This fourth step is extremely important, and I had to grow into embracing the “Receive” step. Like many, I am very focused, maniacally driven, hardworking and a bit of a “Type A” personality. So, I historically have concentrated on achieving the goal and/or driving the intended outcome, and then I would move on to the next opportunity or challenge. Through great coaching, experience and self-reflection, I’m proud to now spend just as much time on step four as I do on the three previous steps.

At the end of the day, however, there is no comprehensive playbook for professional success, no straightforward instruction manual for climbing the corporate ladder. Of course, we can learn from books and articles and podcasts. But the human connection is still so vital, so powerful and so indispensable. I continue to benefit from the wisdom and counsel of those who came before me, and I’m committed to helping the next generation of business and world leaders reach their full potential as an advocate, teacher, leader, mentor and friend.

PE: Can you describe your “no guessing” style of management?
Downing: While some aspects of business tend to be more cut and dry, based on numbers and hard facts, I believe communications and public affairs, when done right, involve a special blend of art and science, uniting creativity with statistics. Today’s business leaders have access to more data, information and insights than ever before. If we take the time, we can think through the strategic aspects of a particular challenge, considering what might be the most effective and creative approach.

In practice, “no guessing” means challenging myself and my team to eliminate as much uncertainty as possible on the way to a recommendation or solution. We do not and should not have to operate in the dark, “feeling” and “guessing” our way to the right solution. While it is typically not feasible to remove all risk, we push ourselves to exercise good judgment and do the very best that we can with the timeframe, information, expectations and other resources available. This requires planning, action, engagement and collaboration, along with the boldness and understanding to ask the right questions of the right people.

At the same time, we must keep our fingers on the pulse of our business, the external landscape, and our stakeholders to keep pace with all that is happening. Again and again, this approach has proven tremendously valuable to our work and the value we deliver from a communications and public affairs perspective. Insights, information and inspiration, I would say are the pillars of my leadership style.

For me, at the end of the day, “doubt means don’t.” If we’ve done the work, put in the time and effort, and I’m still having doubts about the decision and direction, then we don’t move forward. It’s that simple. I’m also a big believer in preparing multiple game plans and picking the best option. You should also have an escape plan whenever and wherever possible—and not be afraid to use it, if necessary.

PE: How is your relationship with Merck’s CEO unique for your position?
Downing: As Merck’s chief communications and public affairs officer, I serve on the executive leadership team and report to our CEO, Rob Davis. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Why? Because I think it’s essential for business leaders in roles like mine to have a direct connection to the CEO, his or her executive team and the Board of Directors.

For roles and teams like my own, we need to be in the room, and we need to be at the table. When we are, we can show up, as both strategic business leaders and strategic communications and public affairs experts, with our own unique insights into creating stakeholder value, innovating for the future and enhancing our corporate reputation.

In the past, there was a widespread practice of keeping communications and public affairs heads at least one step removed from the executive leadership team. CEOs and their direct reports would make decisions without the counsel or collaborative input of a communications and public affairs expert, such as myself and so many others. As a result, there would often be reputation and credibility issues based on the leadership decisions made and actions taken, which chief communications and public affairs officers, along with their teams, would have to address internally and externally after the fact. This was never the best approach and relied on communications leaders to explain and discuss decisions they had no part in making.

Today, I am ecstatic that Merck and other companies are seeing communications and public affairs functions as the strategic, value-driving assets they are, worth involving in the process of making important decisions. Fortunately, more and more companies are moving in this direction. Those of us in these roles—and the people we are honored to lead—are moving from tactical scribes to transformational strategists.