Visionary or Executor? Procter & Gamble’s Gamble
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Proctor & Gamble has enjoyed the leadership of a noteworthy visionary, A. G. Lafley. Lafley will soon be replaced by COO Robert McDonald, known more as an executor or implementer than a visionary. Lafley will remain as Chairman. The fact that Lafley will remain as Chairman may make the transition less of an issue in that what is expected of McDonald may only change incrementally from his former role as COO. In fact, as is true with many COO-CEO relationships, this change may free McDonald to be an even stronger executor, unfettered by being closely second-guessed by the CEO. Being a strong executor is not so bad, since a vision without execution is fantasy and P&G will need to deliver more than ever. On the other hand, becoming CEO changes people. There is nothing like looking above you and seeing only space to spread your wings, or looking around and feeling a higher sense of accountability and authority. How the role transforms McDonald remains to be seen. At the same time, the transition may free Lafley from the encumbrance of the day-to-day so that he can fully concentrate on the future. This is also important to P&G right now, as long as Lafley truly lets go of the CEO reins. As many former CEOs have told me, letting go of that top leadership role is typically pretty hard. Kudos to Lafley if he can resist the temptation to hang on to CEO functions.
What Fritz Needs to Do to Save GM
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Business Week reports that Frederick A. “Fritz” Henderson will have to “take a wrecking ball to the automaker’s rigid culture or he could be history.” The article says that this involves delegation — creating a less risk-averse culture where people are willing to challenge the status quo and mavericks, and new ideas are encouraged. This is a good start in changing a culture. Clearly there has been a problem of intransigence within GM, and the culture is a prime culprit. I particularly applaud Fritz’s desire for a culture where people are not afraid to tell the truth. (See the Winter 2004 WBW & Associates, LLC Newsletter, A Culture That Encourages the Disclosure of “Bad News”.) What else will Fritz need to do? After giving people every opportunity to change, he will need to weed out those employees who remain recalcitrant. When done well and for good reason, this will send a message that he is serious about change. This would also be welcomed by the overwhelming majority of employees who want to get on board with new ways of thinking and who want their co-workers to join them. The auto industry has not found it easy to take this kind of action in the past. Employees know that GM not only has a burning platform but that it is being consumed by fire. This action needs to be preceded by clarifying exactly what the desired new behaviors look like and how they apply to different jobs. The new behaviors and performance expectations need to be clearly communicated. What else must Fritz do? Among other things, he must remember that it is not just people who create a culture, but also the systems and processes that influence behavior. Mapping out these processes and systems—and viewing them like General Patton reviewed war plans—is a necessity. Fritz must also personally demonstrate his own willingness to be challenged. In fact, when he himself takes a risk and screws up, this actually gives him an opportunity to acknowledge it to employees and then to indicate what he has learned from the mistake. When a good effort by an employee fails, the criterion for determining whether the employee is a good performer is not so much the mistake, but the employee being able to demonstrate what he or she has learned from the mistake. Actions like these will reinforce that GM is serious about the new culture they are trying to create. Failure will occur. It may be a new car design with no takers or some other real doozey of a misstep. How GM handles these inevitable bumps in the road will send a message regarding the culture they are creating far more than mere words about it. So far, Fritz seems to be asking the right questions and he sounds like the right person for the role. This is an uphill battle for GM, but not an impossible one to win. | 