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| Edited By: Rama Moondra |Source: DNA |Updated: Apr 24, 2018, 05:35 AM IST
Alfred P Sloan took over as president of General Motors (GM) in 1923. Ford was the dominating the sector with 60% share of the US car market against GM’s 20%. Sloan realised that GM needed a different price strategy as well as market penetration and created multiple brands of cars, each with its own identity targeted at different budgets of American customers. These included the still relevant iconic names such as Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac. Even within each brand, there were several models at different price points.
GM wanted its customers to upgrade to a better car over time. So, it continued obsoleting its own products yearly, rolling out new models every year.
Midst all this, it is worth noting that Sloan was not the founder of of the auto major. He joined the company when GM was already $700 million.
The biggest question now is: Who was GM’s founder, and why is the founder not known as much?
That is the difference between being visionary executor versus having great managerial skills.
The founder of GM was William Billy Durant. A visionary who knew in 1904 that automotive will forever change the way transport looks like today.
Back to our question again. Why do people not remember him? Because he failed good execution skills along with people management. Instead, was asked to leave from the very company he founded.
Fast forward to today from the 19th century now.
How do our usual corporate promotions happen? Most of the very performing employees are made aspirational by repetitively mentioning that they have great future, so should focus on delivering results.
In the appraisals, line managers give great ratings to these “should be” leaders. Soon, with a new designation, the brigade starts in the new position. And their old performance takes a nosedive. The “should be” soon converts into “could be” and resigns to “would have been.”
Zenger Folkman Data says that approximately 23% of the leaders in the top productivity performance are not high rankers in leadership-oriented skills. So, the odds are that one out of four times a person is promoted to a leadership position because of his/her outstanding productivity and will end up being a less effective leader than expected.
Here’s a quick look at three leadership qualities that goes way beyond technical expertise.
It’s been since decades that corporate and management gurus are struggling with this skill. Top brass is made of best communicators who know how to make people work for them. Organisations now focus on getting best savvy presenters as top leaders who rose from the ranks.
Crown does not sit on weakhearted heads. One may not get appreciated for good work but sure will be condemned for every step which may not look very people-friendly. If you are sensitive or, worse still, reactive to negative comments, it’s just a few steps before you get pulled into the sludge of demotivation.
“This is management’s order”. Best of seniors speak this to juniors to get them working. For them, you are the management. Responsibility is synonyms for accountability.
Start developing these skills today. Tomorrow it may be your chance to step up the ladder.
The writer is a strategic advisor and premium educator with Harvard business publishing
