Joining Dentsply Sirona nearly five months ago, Eric Bruno, Senior Vice President and Head of the North America Regional Commercial Organization, is a 25-year veteran of the medical device, pharmaceutical and consumer industries, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to his new post. We caught up with him at DS World in Las Vegas, to learn more about his experiences as well as his perspectives on leadership.

You recently shared a personal story about your mom. Could you explain to us what kind of values she passed on to you? 

My mom grew up on a farm, was ninth generation American, seventh-generation Army, and was very hardworking. She was direct and set high expectations. I’ve learned to appreciate that because, as long as you’re demanding potential from someone, you’re doing it for the right reason. But if your demands are egocentric and self-serving, it’s not coming from the heart.

Her principle in life was she wanted to make the next generation better. She promoted education, pushed for opportunities, and her dream was to pass on those values to me. It wasn’t opportunities in terms of material or monetary wealth, but the opportunity of having the freedom to do what you wanted to do.

That’s why I feel obligated to work as hard as she did. I still don’t think I’ve achieved it yet.

What have you learned from working outside the U.S.?

I’ve learned that, across the world, and across industries, it’s more the same than it is different. Business is about understanding and listening to customers, solving problems and providing better value to customers. In the end, you need to listen to customers, you need to develop solutions to meet those needs. And the only way that gets done is making sure that you have highly talented people that are clear on what they need to do, and that they can grow from those experiences.

How would you describe your leadership style?

Leadership is something I think a lot about, and I’m still growing. I’ve seen it time and again where some leaders achieve success using certain behaviors or functional leadership skills, but they don’t change and that’s dangerous because there’s always room for growth. Even if you want to stay in a particular role for an extended period of time, I think you still need to change and evolve your leadership skills. I’ve been fortunate to have been surrounded by great leaders. There are two ways that I make sure I’m evolving: one is self-reflection, where I look at my day and think about what went well, what didn’t go so well and how it made me stronger. The other is gratitude. At night, before I go to bed, I’m grateful for my accomplishments as well as my challenges, and look at them as a blessing.

As a leader it gets harder to receive honest feedback. How do you make sure you hear what you need?

I had a previous manager who said there are four ways to get feedback: manage up, manage across, and manage down and out. So, I always ask myself, am I spending enough time getting feedback in those different directions? I’m also a big believer in authenticity. Each individual is different and, to me, that’s the power of diversity and harnessing diversity of thought.

How do you develop people on your team?

Engagement in any successful company usually precedes growth and enduring success. We’ve got this philosophy on my team that we call the 3Cs which is: Clarity, am I clear on what I need to do? Credibility, do I have the resources and the training to do the task? And capability, how is this going to make me a better person; will it help with my development?

I think a leader is responsible for making sure their staff is advancing and developing.