In an interesting interview in the Wall Street Journal with Joann S. Lublin, Ram Charan talked about his new book, co-authored with Bill Conaty, The Talent Masters: Why Smart Leaders Put People Before Numbers
Some key points:
- You will see defections in critical positions in leadership teams. If you are in consumer electronics, product development is critical. Professionals and leaders are going to go where they can exercise their potential.
- Among Fortune 500 CEOs, the intent to put people as a key item is high. But in actual practice, the percentage really doing a thorough job is less than 25%.
- The biggest risk is top management not knowing explicitly whom they depend on lower in the organization for success. CEOs like Apple's Steve Jobs have figured out how to have more people working together despite corporate "silos.'' That is central to winning in the marketplace.
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Do CEOs need to change their team? It depends. Look at Ford. The company was declining. They bring in Alan Mulally. He still has essentially the same management team, except for a marketing group vice president recruited from outside. He rotated some of the rest or redefined their jobs. He delivers results. He is going to leave superb strength behind him when he goes.
Read the full article here.
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