C-Suite Moms: Medtronic’s Linnea Burman On How To Successfully Juggle Motherhood and Work

As a part of our interview series called “Women Of The C-Suite”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Linnea Burman.

Linnea Burman is SVP and President of the Neurovascular Operating Unit at Medtronic. Burman joined Medtronic in 2000 and previously served as VP and General Manager of Enabling Technologies within the Cranial and Spinal Technologies (CST) business, where she drove commercial growth strategies, innovative solutions, and a culture of collaboration. Burman is responsible for portfolio strategy, product development, commercial execution, and overall financial performance of the global business.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I’ve always loved writing. That passion led me to a communications program at Virginia Tech where I focused on public relations. It was a tough job market following my graduation, but I was determined to find a role in my chosen field, so I pulled out a Women in Communications membership book and started cold calling, starting at the letter “A.” It paid off!

I landed an introductory role at Marriott International on their global communications team for their hotel brands. I loved the company, but a short time later, I met my husband, Mark, who was working for Medtronic at the time in Minnesota. I decided to relocate to Minnesota and found a similar role at Carlson Companies and later worked for a public relations firm for a few years.

I joined Medtronic in 2000, starting in marketing communications and progressing through a series of marketing roles. My first leadership position was Global Marketing Director for our Targeted Drug Delivery business. I also served as General Manager for the Pelvic Health business for five years. I took on a commercial leadership role leading Canada and Latin America for Neurosciences. I led our Enabling Technologies business within Cranial and Spinal Technologies. Just a year ago I became President of our Neurovascular business.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Two people quickly come to mind who have been instrumental in my life and career.

Early on, my husband decided that he would always support me in my career aspirations and opportunities, no matter the time and travel they demanded. He’s stuck to that and continues to be the first person to say “yes” when I have an opportunity to pursue new challenges. I can’t thank him enough for the unwavering support he’s shown me and our family.

In addition, one of the business leaders at Medtronic showed a lot of confidence in my abilities early in my career (way more than I had in myself at that time) and promoted me to my first leadership role. The trust-based relationship we had allowed me to speak freely about my apprehension for taking on this new position. That leader helped build the confidence I needed to succeed in the role and those that followed.

That experience has obviously stuck with me and helped me see how important it is to empower talented team members. To this day, I try and encourage team members to challenge themselves to take on new responsibilities. I also work to create an environment that allows people to feel safe sharing their challenges.

Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader?

A specific example comes to mind. A few years ago, we were faced with an opportunity to pursue a highly disruptive product that would advance the capabilities of a certain category, or a more iterative product that would accelerate adoption of the category. Normally, I am a person who embraces risk and leans towards disruption, but in this case, the second choice allowed us to develop the market and gave us a unique competitive advantage.

What’s interesting about making decisions in a large, highly matrixed organization such as Medtronic is that a leader has to be confident in reaching a conclusion based on the inputs from many different stakeholders. Then, the task is to persuade these stakeholders (who include the leaders above me!) that it is a good decision, even though they may have different opinions from me.

Looking back, I learned that it is a mark of a leader to assess the risks, present a well-thought-out case, and be confident in going forward with what you deem right for the business.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive? Can you explain what you mean?

I’d like to dispel the idea that it’s impossible to be present in your family’s lives and have a career.

At one point in my career, I turned down an opportunity because I wanted to make sure I was able to take care of my dad who had Alzheimer’s disease. Some people considered that a mistake. I was convinced — and still am — that it was the right thing to do, and I would have regretted not being there for him.

When my children were little, I knew exactly which events I had to be present for; I did not have to be there for every event, but some were non-negotiable. I was clear about my priorities and values and made choices that aligned with them.

Understanding what the most important things are in my life and advocating for myself is what helped me make the right decisions in difficult situations. Medtronic has been very supportive both when my kids were young and when I was caring for my father.

I don’t think you need to say “yes” to every opportunity in every season of your life. There can be seasons of “yes” and they need to align with your priorities.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

These challenges vary based on the context and situation but there are two I’d like to mention:

Being unheard: You may not always feel listened to. There may be times when you introduce an idea and someone else gets credit or when you make a comment that is overlooked until someone else says it. Don’t get discouraged. Take note, continue to work on impactful communications, use humor and stand up for yourself. Most importantly, be an ally for others around the table.

Lack of confidence: A lot of women struggle with confidence. Remember that confidence is a muscle and you have to exercise it in order to develop it. It may seem daunting, but we need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Whether it’s public speaking, stretching into a new role, or making a difficult decision, there are many times when things can scare you, and you need to work through that fear. I’m committed to helping other women to develop their confidence, and being a part of the Medtronic Women’s Network has allowed me an opportunity to do so.

What are your “5 Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior Executive” and why?

1 . A supportive partner: My husband has been my rock. Having someone as supportive as him has allowed me to grow both personally and professionally.

2 . A hobby outside of work: You need something outside of your career that you do for yourself. The hobby shouldn’t be tied to your role as a caregiver or your service of anybody else. When I was given this advice, I was a mom of very young kids, and I realized I had not done anything for myself — it was just that phase of life. As my kids got a bit older, having a hobby has given me a lot of personal satisfaction.

3 . Knowing your strengths: You don’t always have to know where you are going but you should know what gives you satisfaction in your role. I’ve had a couple of roles where I did not realize my full potential and understanding that helped me figure out what I did enjoy and seek roles that leveraged my full strengths.

4 . Truly caring for people: To be a good leader you have to care about people. Then, when you have to make tough decisions, you can do it with compassion and support for the individual and the organization.

5 . Strong communication skills: As a leader, you need to be able to articulate why you are going in a certain direction. A good exercise for practicing this skill is to write out a strategic plan. Doing so forces the clarity of thought and strengthens the skill to communicate that thought to others.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

In this moment in time, there is a rising tenor in the world that is giving people permission to cast hate and marginalize certain populations. We have come too far to repeat the sins of the past. Live and Let Live would be my movement.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them

Kevin O’Connell, head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. I love the way KOC connects with his players, reinforces the positives and keeps the team growing and improving each day and week. I would bring my husband, who has been waiting a long time for the Vikes to make it back to a Super Bowl!

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.