August Narmont

[Anonymous]

Where did August Narmont go? He had to be about the best manager that ever existed at Searle. Is he available? Anyone know??

[Anonymous]

I've been in this lousy busines over 20 years now, and August was the BEST manager I ever had! Last I heard, they promoted him to some position in Columbus, Ohio. But that was years and years ago.

[Anonymous]

august narmont was a victim of the Peter Principle.....he was promoted to Regional Sales Manager in Columbus, OH and subsequently assisted in the downfall of Searle, having been a lackluster regional director. He was a sycophant, an ass-kisser, and a petty tyrant.

[Anonymous]

"sycophant, an ass-kisser, and a petty tyrant"
Now that is pretty funny.

If I remember the situation I think because August wasn't any of the above is why the almighty Al made a point to collapse regions and reassign someone that should have been the head of sales. It was also big Al veiwpoint that we had to sign up Pfizer as our copromo partner because he didn't think we could do it on our own. It was also the big man's view that Arthrotec was going to be a dog product and pushed to delay its launch by 3 years. If launch in the US when it could have been it would have more than paid for the build of our own sales team to launch Celebrex.

All of which is what caused Searle to crumble.
Oh yeah, and people like you.

[Anonymous]

Knew him very well. Amen to the comment. Had some of the worst DSMs in the company under him. I was immune from the politics, too productive. He always smiled, but you had to watch your back.

[ QUOTE ]
august narmont was a victim of the Peter Principle.....he was promoted to Regional Sales Manager in Columbus, OH and subsequently assisted in the downfall of Searle, having been a lackluster regional director. He was a sycophant, an ass-kisser, and a petty tyrant.

[/ QUOTE ]

[Anonymous]

[ QUOTE ]
"sycophant, an ass-kisser, and a petty tyrant"
Now that is pretty funny.

If I remember the situation I think because August wasn't any of the above is why the almighty Al made a point to collapse regions and reassign someone that should have been the head of sales. It was also big Al veiwpoint that we had to sign up Pfizer as our copromo partner because he didn't think we could do it on our own. It was also the big man's view that Arthrotec was going to be a dog product and pushed to delay its launch by 3 years. If launch in the US when it could have been it would have more than paid for the build of our own sales team to launch Celebrex.

All of which is what caused Searle to crumble.
Oh yeah, and people like you.

[/ QUOTE ]


Thanks for chiming in, August....

[Anonymous]

one's opinion of a manager depends upon the perspective. Subordinates tend to rate a manager on the basis of how he was treated. Those ho supervised or served alongside mediocre managers often have a different perspective. In any event, under Al Heller,and the Late Unlamented Andy Anderson, managers were selected on the basis of their ability to tell Al and Andy what they wanted to hear.....How many of you knew, for example, that Al Heller was an accountant and never sold a pill in his life? Andy Anderson never managed a District. The most senior people in Seale predicted the demise of the company as soon as Bethune and Anderson came aboard. They were hired for only one reason. Their charismatic personalities, and their ability to fire people without generating lawsuits. Those of us who were on the inside of Searle have a different perspective. Searle crumbled from above, primarily from a long history of inept management decisions...decisions made upon the advice of those who had no qualifications to be advisors...such as August Narmont.

[Anonymous]

You're incorrect about Andy Anderson, I liked him, and he respected me for one reason, I told it as it was, and he trusted my opinions. I could have had any job in the company, but I never used my trust relationship with Andy. I knew Al, and August and all the other top "players". Yes there were problems, but Andy Anderson was a True salesmans best friend, and you didn't have to kiss ass, unless you were incompetent to begin with. Andy was also loyal to people he liked, which is probably why August was kept around so long.

[ QUOTE ]
one's opinion of a manager depends upon the perspective. Subordinates tend to rate a manager on the basis of how he was treated. Those ho supervised or served alongside mediocre managers often have a different perspective. In any event, under Al Heller,and the Late Unlamented Andy Anderson, managers were selected on the basis of their ability to tell Al and Andy what they wanted to hear.....How many of you knew, for example, that Al Heller was an accountant and never sold a pill in his life? Andy Anderson never managed a District. The most senior people in Seale predicted the demise of the company as soon as Bethune and Anderson came aboard. They were hired for only one reason. Their charismatic personalities, and their ability to fire people without generating lawsuits. Those of us who were on the inside of Searle have a different perspective. Searle crumbled from above, primarily from a long history of inept management decisions...decisions made upon the advice of those who had no qualifications to be advisors...such as August Narmont.

[/ QUOTE ]

[Anonymous]

What is it with you people who are saying Searle "crumbled". Searle was an attractive acquisition candidate for exactly the opposite reason you dicks are pointing out. Daypro, you'll recall, was the only drug Wyeth would give up when we got it. We then turned it into a 500MM dollar drug. Ambien was an amazing success story. Did we give up on Maxaquiin too soon? Maybe. Sunburn. Big deal. Do you know how many millions of losers pay to bake themselves on tanning beds every winter? Hell, we could have sold that as a positive. Was Covera HS too late to come after Calan SR went generic. Absolutely. All companies make mistakes because all companies are run by human beings who also make mistakes. Eventually there will be one giant drug company because they'll all merge with one another. (I'm kidding but you get my drift.) Searle was just a nice candidate to be had because of Celebrex. Pfizer must have thought as much as well.

[Anonymous]

August is an excellent mentor, trainer and DM.
Not sure what you mean by ass kisser. He has done a lot for so many reps. and has the respect from many............

[Anonymous]

talk about ass kissers and an horrible manager steve shaprio was and is the worse

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your input, August.....

[Anonymous]

Is this a real name?

[Anonymous]

that must be from the "anonymous" inside person who just happened to discover Andy's body, (no mention of how or why she had a key to his place). It has been mentioned by others, and it is true, that Dave Bethune hired Anderson to get rid of those whom he pereceived as incompetent. If you worked inside, you were immune from this. Anderson ruined the lives of scores of good, productive, decent people whose only fault that they didn't present well at "District Reviews"

[Anonymous]

August is now a DM with Ventiv and one of the greatest managers of all time.

[Anonymous]

What city is he based in with Ventiv?

[Anonymous]

He sucks. Ventiv DM

[Anonymous]

that must be from the "anonymous" inside person who just happened to discover Andy's body, (no mention of how or why she had a key to his place). It has been mentioned by others, and it is true, that Dave Bethune hired Anderson to get rid of those whom he pereceived as incompetent. If you worked inside, you were immune from this. Anderson ruined the lives of scores of good, productive, decent people whose only fault that they didn't present well at "District Reviews"

1.Andy Anderson's body was discovered by his good friend and hunting partner Richard Syer not too long after Andy was told that Al Heller was going to be the new president, something Andy had wanted all his life.

2. If you did lousy at a district review, you did lousy for a long time and earned a farewell.

[Anonymous]

If you did lousy at a district review, you did lousy for a long time and earned a farewell.[/QUOTE]

Productive people made their forecasts. If you didn't for toooooooooo long, guess what.....you will be history.

The reviews were to make sure the RSD and DM weren't holding on to people who shouldn't be there for too long, which some RSDs and DSMs were guilty of.

[Anonymous]

productive people stayed in their jobs????

i knew several DM's who were demoted, including the top ranked DM in the company, simply because Andy didn't like them personally...in another case a woman was appointed to a DM position who had never sold a pill but who had been a good secretary to the CEO

[Anonymous]

The story about Andy's body being discovered by Richard Syer is the story released for public consumption....the body was actually discovered by Andy's secretary, but that fact was buried. (no pun intended). She discovered the body because she just happened to have a key to his condo. Wonder how that happened?

[Anonymous]

productive people stayed in their jobs????

i knew several DM's who were demoted, including the top ranked DM in the company, simply because Andy didn't like them personally...in another case a woman was appointed to a DM position who had never sold a pill but who had been a good secretary to the CEO

I knew almost all the DMs, who was the top DM that got demoted?

[Anonymous]

I'm curious too since I was the top DM for some time and was not demoted.

Andy Anderson was a wonderful person and a very intelligent man. It is a tragedy that he took his own life.

[Anonymous]

I'm curious too since I was the top DM for some time and was not demoted.

Andy Anderson was a wonderful person and a very intelligent man. It is a tragedy that he took his own life.

Who's this?

[Anonymous]

Al Heller.

[Anonymous]

I'm curious too since I was the top DM for some time and was not demoted.

Andy Anderson was a wonderful person and a very intelligent man. It is a tragedy that he took his own life.

Dan Rosenfeld, in LA

[Anonymous]

I'll never forget my first Manager's meeting with Andy Anderson, on the occcasion of the first District Reviews. He walked into the room, and without preamble, proceeded to spend the next hour lecturing us on his "five-letter" method for firing a rep without getting sued. He bragged about the fact that when he was an RSD with Squibb, he had fired 35 reps in one year without a single lawsuit. He then handed out copies of the five letters. The meeting was concluded.

Are there any further questions?

[Anonymous]

The story about Andy's body being discovered by Richard Syer is the story released for public consumption....the body was actually discovered by Andy's secretary, but that fact was buried. (no pun intended). She discovered the body because she just happened to have a key to his condo. Wonder how that happened?

Well, you got part of it right. When Andy could not be reached and didn't show up at the office Richard, Herb Heili and Andy's secretary all went to his condo where they found him dead from a shotgun wound to the head.

Andy suffered from depression, was involved in a contentious and costly divorce with his second wife Karen, had been taking pain killers for a bad leg and was drinking. He was not a guy who handled alcohol well, and had avoided it. He had been put in a Monsanto job that removed him from what he loved the most, the sales, marketing and training organizations.

I was on Andy's staff at Bristol Myers dental division and worked for him directly and indirectly for some 8 years and then came to Searle several years after he had joined the company.

He wasn't perfect but my experience with him was that he was not afraid to make judgements about business or people and often was spot on. When he was on a dais he could give a great presentation and have people hanging on every word.

It was sad to see a talented executive and good person lose his way so completely.

[Anonymous]

I knew Andy. He was never BMS. He came fron Sqibb before BMS. I worked with August Narmont in the home office before Monsanto and before his first DM job. He was a great guy. We sometimes had to do as we were told.

One story after Andy Anderson came in - after the Monsanto Merger. Andy basically told the 6 RMs to replace a DM every quarter. If you did not make your goal you were gone. (The were set every quarter based on recent history. They doubled almost every quarter). Anyway it was left up to the RM to do this job on orders from Andy. Of course the RM did not want to replace those most loyal and most liked by the RM. So he trumps up anything to fire his least favorite who just happened to come in #1 that year for the region. Andy then fires the RM for making a bad decision on firing the #1 DM. Andy could get his way both ways whether deserved or not. There were many good DMs replaced to turn over the management team and break the RM loyal support from the old school Searle Hierarchy. It got to the point they no longer had to make up reasons to fire a DM. The DMs could see the handwriting on the wall and just volunterred to step down anytime a meeting was called. Very Ironic the replacement DMs faced the same thing for a few years there.

Do not try to find me, I am deep cover.

[Anonymous]

I knew Andy. He was never BMS. He came fron Sqibb before BMS. I worked with August Narmont in the home office before Monsanto and before his first DM job. He was a great guy. We sometimes had to do as we were told.

One story after Andy Anderson came in - after the Monsanto Merger. Andy basically told the 6 RMs to replace a DM every quarter. If you did not make your goal you were gone. (The were set every quarter based on recent history. They doubled almost every quarter). Anyway it was left up to the RM to do this job on orders from Andy. Of course the RM did not want to replace those most loyal and most liked by the RM. So he trumps up anything to fire his least favorite who just happened to come in #1 that year for the region. Andy then fires the RM for making a bad decision on firing the #1 DM. Andy could get his way both ways whether deserved or not. There were many good DMs replaced to turn over the management team and break the RM loyal support from the old school Searle Hierarchy. It got to the point they no longer had to make up reasons to fire a DM. The DMs could see the handwriting on the wall and just volunterred to step down anytime a meeting was called. Very Ironic the replacement DMs faced the same thing for a few years there.

Do not try to find me, I am deep cover.

Dear "Deep Cover".
I find it interesting that you referred to Searle's RSD's as RM's.....Makes me wonder if you ever really worked for Searle.

Bob Woodward

[Anonymous]

Al Heller.

Now here's a guy who got his position by playing basketball with Shelly and attending the same temple...

[Anonymous]

Well, you got part of it right. When Andy could not be reached and didn't show up at the office Richard, Herb Heili and Andy's secretary all went to his condo where they found him dead from a shotgun wound to the head.

Andy suffered from depression, was involved in a contentious and costly divorce with his second wife Karen, had been taking pain killers for a bad leg and was drinking. He was not a guy who handled alcohol well, and had avoided it. He had been put in a Monsanto job that removed him from what he loved the most, the sales, marketing and training organizations.

I was on Andy's staff at Bristol Myers dental division and worked for him directly and indirectly for some 8 years and then came to Searle several years after he had joined the company.

He wasn't perfect but my experience with him was that he was not afraid to make judgements about business or people and often was spot on. When he was on a dais he could give a great presentation and have people hanging on every word.

It was sad to see a talented executive and good person lose his way so completely.


Story details are not correct...Karen was the only one there...herb the moron was probably doing Susan Ryan back in teh office...

[Anonymous]

Deep Cover was there. I know DSM and RSD. After leaving Searle you convert back to DM and RM used at your new company. I knew all youse guys mentioned above, but I did not know Bob Woodward, name sounds familiar but not a major player in history of Searle (at least last 20 years of it.

[Anonymous]

Deep Cover was there. I know DSM and RSD. After leaving Searle you convert back to DM and RM used at your new company. I knew all youse guys mentioned above, but I did not know Bob Woodward, name sounds familiar but not a major player in history of Searle (at least last 20 years of it.

You convert back to whaaaat??. Bob Woodward was the guy who gave Deep Throat his code name. The intelligent ones here recognized it as a joke (albeit a feeble attempt). You sound like one of the Searle mediocracy, or perhaps you are just a total fake.

Carl Bernstein

[Anonymous]

OK, I get it. Bob Woodword with the Washington Post. I was only thinking of Searle so you got me on that one.