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A Road Map for Successful Strategy Execution: Strategic Leadership

Article · March 2018

DOI: 10.15581/002.ART-3127

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 EXPERT
insight
This document is an authorized copy for personal use of Mr. Maoret, 22/03/2018

Illustration by iSTOCK/AKINDO
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP

A Road Map for Successful

Strategy Execution
By FABRIZIO FERRARO, JOSÉ MIGUEL ARGÜELLES and MASSIMO MAORET

A
s General Manager (GM), your role
is a constant challenge. Your com-
pany may be performing below
expectations; an external threat to
your business model may be looming on the ho-
rizon; or maybe you spot a market opportunity
and are wondering whether you should jump
on it. Your excitement may be tinged with pan-
ic, because the complexity of your work – and
the potential consequences of your decisions
– will impact thousands of lives. Your compa-
ny may need some change, but where should
you start? With your strategy? But having the
best strategy is of little use if it can’t be imple-
mented. Should you start by tackling internal
resistance? Or reviewing the composition of
your team? Should you convene a board meet-
ing to clarify your goals or ratify them later on?
Meanwhile, your inner voice is asking: do I have
what it takes to succeed?

44 FIRST QUARTER 2018 ISSUE 36 https://dx.doi.org/10.15581/002.ART-3127

 EXPERT insight A ROAD MAP FOR SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY EXECUTION

These questions highlight why strategy
execution is an increasingly sought-after skill
in management. For instance, a 2017 Henley
Business School survey of 446 managers and
directors from 51 countries revealed that strat-
egy execution was the second most important
development priority for executives and senior
managers, moving up a place from 2016.
What makes the GM job so tough is there’s
no all-purpose manual to study, apply and fol-
low. The technical knowledge that served you
well as a functional manager is of little or no use
in resolving the trade-offs involved with mak-
This document is an authorized copy for personal use of Mr. Maoret, 22/03/2018
Throughout the article, Minoli interjects doses
of wisdom and realism: “You have to have a di-
rection,” he says, and that’s what we endeavor
to give you. “Then you can enjoy the journey,
wherever it takes you.”
Strategic Leaders:
More Than Just Managers
Through our research, we discovered that suc-
cessful GMs don’t see themselves simply as
managers, but rather as strategic leaders, which
we define as a leadership style not limited to
making rational economic decisions (valid as

ing and acting upon the corporate-level deci-
sions that GMs have to face. Your abilities, and
the challenges you have to deal with, are part of
a personal journey that will be different from the
journeys of other GMs, because it is an expres-
sion of who you are and the situations you have
to face.
Federico Minoli, a globally renowned turn-
around manager (see bio below), puts it bluntly:
“Strategy execution is quite chaotic. Success
will come from getting your hands dirty, talking
to people on the shop floor, and being humble
enough to admit what you don’t know. All your
beautiful plans and spreadsheets will fail if they
are not attached to reality.”
Overwhelmed? Don’t worry, we’re here to
help. Together with our colleagues in the Stra-
tegic Management Department at IESE, we’ve
developed a road map for successful strategy
execution. Use it to guide you through your
next challenge, but treat it like a doctor’s pro-
tocol – a structured reference that still requires
critical judgments and on-the-spot adaptations
to be made in light of on-the-ground realities.
they are) but one that reconciles the hard and
the soft aspects of strategy execution in a single,
holistic process.
All too often, GMs behave purely as hard
strategists, analyzing the competitive land-
scape and sending out orders, like generals to
their troops. The problem with single-minded
rational management is that it can lead to busi-
ness strategies that aren’t actionable, because
they fail to account for human, organizational
and political dynamics. At the other end of the
spectrum lie those GMs who just focus on inter-
personal relations. These touchy-feely manag-
ers risk losing sight of the bottom line, leaving
the firm vulnerable to competitive threats or
the next economic or technological shock. We
contend that you need to be a fusion of both, if
you want to be able to execute strategy and be a
successful GM.
Exhibit 1 presents our road map to help GMs
think and act as strategic leaders. It depicts suc-
cessful strategy execution as a constant unfold-
ing of four processes – diagnosis, direction,
action and personal development – each with

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FEDERICO MINOLI has

How do you successfully
execute strategy? It’s not
just about making rational
economic decisions.
Effective strategy execution
demands something more,
as the authors find from their
analysis of academic literature,
hundreds of business cases
and their interactions with
top executives. This article
defines their concept of
strategic leadership, as
developed by professors of
the Strategic Management
Department at IESE, and lays
out a road map for successful
strategy execution, grouped
according to four crucial
processes: diagnosis, setting
direction, action and personal
development. The authors
explain each process in turn,
illustrated with the wisdom
and experience of Federico
Minoli, the globally renowned
“turnaround artist.” It’s time
to set the bar for leadership
higher, they argue. This article
points the way.
30 years’ experience as a
turnaround manager on
behalf of TPG, Deutsche
Morgan Grenfell, Bain Capital,
Investcorp and Emerisque.
He is globally renowned for
turning around Ducati Motor
Holding, where he was CEO and Chairman
between 1996 and 2007. He is currently
Chairman of Dainese and POC Sweden. He has
been Chairman of StarEmilia, Unopiù, OMP, ISB
and UnoAErre, and was CEO of BolognaFiere
and Bally. He regularly lectures at IESE on
strategy formulation and execution, and is
featured in the IESE case study, “Ducati: In
Pursuit of Magic,” by Prof. Bruno Cassiman.

ISSUE 36 FIRST QUARTER 2018 45

 EXPERT insight A ROAD MAP FOR SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY EXECUTION

EXHIBIT 1
Strategic PROC
Leadership ESS
1: D
in Motion IA
THESE FOUR PROCESSES GN
Governance O
DRIVE SUCCESSFUL
Consider S
STRATEGY EXECUTION.
the strategic, Strategy

IS
What skills do
operational I need? Do I have
& political the time and What is my
implications of: will to develop responsibility
them? to others?
sta enga
Organization
P
keh gin
old g RO (People, Culture,
ers Structures,
E SS C
This document is an authorized copy for personal use of Mr. Maoret, 22/03/2018

commu
PROCESS 3: ACT

nicatin Systems)
g
4: PERSONA

CURRENT MOVING
SITUATION networking TOWARD THE
OF YOUR FUTURE
Reach a Shared
FIRM ing &
recruit ffing Understanding
sta
of the Situation
LD

g. V
or s EL
E

ON
in g re OP
ng uctu ems
IO

a
MEN
r
ch st yst T Set

TI
N

s Strategic
ou ing

&

EC
s

Goals
res locat
rce

Develop

IR
al

Monitor a Change

D
Strategy 2
:
the Journey S
ES
C
O
PR

associated activities. Usually, these processes
unfold sequentially, i.e., diagnosis before action.
Yet they can also be intertwined and recursive,
i.e., given the high levels of uncertainty that
GMs face, you sometimes only arrive at a correct
diagnosis after taking some action. Thought and
action cannot be compartmentalized, so as you
follow this road map, bear in mind how each ele-
ment is intertwined through continuous learn-
ing and feedback loops.
Process 1: Diagnosis
The first process – diagnosis – focuses on mak-
ing sense of the situation your company is in. Of
course, this is not something you do just once
in a while. The following activities, in three core
areas, must be priorities that you repeatedly di-
agnose as situations evolve.
GOVERNANCE. Diagnosis starts by understand-
ing the institutional configuration in which
your company operates. By governance, we do
not refer solely to ownership structures and
boards, but to the broader configuration of
stakeholders that have to be managed inside and
outside the firm. Success is measured not just
in terms of maximizing returns for sharehold-
ers but by your ability to balance diverse stake-
holder interests and perspectives, and translate
them into governance body activities. You need
to nurture relationships with your board of di-
rectors and the key stakeholders represented
there, such as shareholders, unions and employ-
ees, as well as with external groups such as your
customers, governments and NGOs.
STRATEGY. Next, you need to check the strate-
gic health of your firm to see whether it is able
to generate competitive advantage, defined
as creating customer value above and beyond
competitors. Here is where the traditional
tools of industry analysis, value creation
frameworks and business models come into
play. You should be able to answer these inter-
related questions:
What should my strategic position be, in
terms of geographic, customer and product
scope? Where should we not be?

46 FIRST QUARTER 2018 ISSUE 36

 EXPERT insight A ROAD MAP FOR SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY EXECUTION
Minoli on Diagnosis
T
here are two approaches to diagnosis:
one way is to see the company as a
spreadsheet, and the other is to dive
into the company by talking to its people.
The latter is what I do. Companies are not
spreadsheets: a company is made of the sounds and smells
of its people, each with their own issues and problems.
Don’t waste too much time optimizing your spreadsheet,
but rather dedicate yourself to the deep understanding of
what is the talent that every single employee can bring to
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the party. You’ll quickly understand if the job is right for the
talent that the person has.
At Ducati, I once realized that one of our employees was
bored and wanted out. His true passion was history, so I
made him the company historian. He single-handedly built
the Ducati Museum, which became a core component of our
marketing strategy. If you’re guided by this principle, you
can pretty much understand what’s needed.
Does my company create and capture value in
its current market position, i.e., do we have a
competitive advantage?
What are the critical activities, capabilities
and resources that generate and sustain our
competitive advantage?
If you cannot answer these questions in 40
words or less, it may be time to go back to the
drawing board. After all, if you can’t synthetize
your strategy in a short statement, how do you
expect thousands in your firm to grasp and
share your strategic vision?
ORGANIZATION. A third diagnosis relates to
the organizational components necessary to
achieve the strategic goals effectively and ef-
ficiently. This analysis should serve to high-
light changes that may need to be made to the
following:
People & Culture. Strategy execution de-
pends on how well the organization can
identify, recruit, retain and leverage hu-
man talent, and their fit with the corporate
values. Analyze the stock of knowledge and
skills in your workforce, not limiting your-
self to your top management team, but ex-
tend it to include the informal network of
relationships in the organization. Consider
how these relationships shape and sustain
the organizational culture, comprising the
values and norms that inform the behavior
of the organization’s members. Identify
informal organizational leaders who could
be champions – or potential resisters – of
change.
Structures & Systems. Not all organi-
zational structures are the result of con-
scious design decisions. Sometimes, they
are the result of “path dependence,” arising
from inertia. Before deciding if structural
changes are necessary, you need to spend
sufficient time understanding how your
structures function. Is it a matter of mak-
ing a few small changes to be more effective
and efficient? Or is a complete reorganiza-
tion called for? Don’t limit your analysis of
systems to the company chart but study: 1)
transversal corporate systems for strategic
planning, budgeting, reporting, innovation,
decision-making and control; 2) people sys-
tems for recruiting, promotion, training and
compensation; and 3) operational systems
for purchasing, planning, logistics and sales.
Beyond checking that these elements are con-
sistent with each other, you must ensure they
are aligned with your business strategy. For in-
stance, a functional structure will be ill-fated
for a customer-centric strategy, just as a well-
defined strategy filtered through misaligned
people, structures and systems will generate
higher costs, and economic and social value
will not be delivered in a sustainable way.
Process 2: Setting Direction
Once an overall diagnosis has been made, you
are now in a position to chart a future course
for the company. As with the diagnosis, set-
ting the direction is not a solitary endeavor
– or at least it shouldn’t be. Even though the
GM is ultimately responsible for the direction
the company takes, he or she should involve
people at all levels of the organization.
REACH A SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF THE
SITUATION. The earlier diagnoses should lead
you to define your business situation, by which
you articulate the core challenge your com-
pany is facing – whether startup, growth, re-
alignment or turnaround. Each situation will
have its own unique set of challenges that will
condition the strategic decisions you make.
The GM, together with the executive team,
must reach some consensus about what your
business situation is before deciding the best
way to address it. For instance, treating a re-
alignment as a turnaround would be akin to us-
ing antibiotics to treat flu – doing more harm
than good.
ISSUE 36 FIRST QUARTER 2018 47
 EXPERT insight A ROAD MAP FOR SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY EXECUTION

No matter what your corporate vision is, it should have

two traits: it must be very long term (a minimum of
10 years) and it must be aspirational, to motivate and
inspire all other employees.

SET STRATEGIC GOALS. With the challenge(s)

Minoli on Setting Direction framed, a strategy needs to be (re)defined to in-
dicate how the company will attain (or increase)

W
hen you get into a company, profitability in this situation. This exercise must
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you have 100 days where
everybody is expecting
something new from you. The defenses
are down, and maybe the company is in
financial difficulties. But if you spend your
first 100 days over-analyzing the current situation, you
may lose precious time.
I don’t recommend bringing in too many outside
consultants, unless it’s for a very limited period,
on a very limited issue. In my view, implementable
strategies come from within the company itself.
Your job is to act as an organizer of thought, to help
the company find the solution within themselves. So,
you need to come up with a vision up front about what
to do. My idea is to offer some broad, top-down, five-
year targets, with some generic strategies. Then, you
feed those to your people, asking them to match your
top-down strategies with their bottom-up initiatives,
which they can own and take responsibility for.
As you start reorganizing, you have to celebrate
early successes, to dramatize your points. The
celebration can occur for things that are real
achievements, things that are half achievements or
things that you think are achievements. The important
thing is that whenever someone achieves something,
you collectively celebrate for going in the right
direction.
take account of the previously identified con-
straints under which the firm currently oper-
ates, along with the resources the company has,
and then translate those into concrete policies,
resource commitments and actions at corpo-
rate, business unit and functional levels (e.g.,
marketing, operations, HR, finance), each of
which should be coherent and nested within
the other.
Strategizing starts with the definition of a
corporate vision – a vivid description of the com-
pany’s future state, which could be expressed as
a sales goal (Walmart in 1990: “Become a $125
billion company by the year 2000.”), a competi-
tive goal (Nike in the 1960s: “Crush Adidas.”) or
an imitational goal (Stanford University in the
1940s: “Become the Harvard of the West.”). No
matter what your corporate vision is, it should
have two traits: it must be very long term (a min-
imum of 10 years) and it must be aspirational, to
motivate and inspire all other employees.
Then, it is essential to define, usually with
the board of directors, the criteria that will be
used to evaluate the strategy. Example criteria
are: Does it fit with our mission? How much val-
ue will be created? Is it sustainable? How much
risk does it entail? Does it fit internally with our
organizational configuration?

DEVELOP A CHANGE STRATEGY. Opting for a re-

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Fabrizio Ferraro is a
professor of Strategic
Management at IESE
Business School.
José Miguel Argüelles is
a lecturer in the Strategic
Management Department
at IESE, with extensive
executive experience in top
management positions in
industry, service companies
and consulting firms.
Massimo Maoret is an
assistant professor in the
Strategic Management
Department at IESE and a
Marie Curie Fellow of the
European Commission.
orientation of strategy will usually require or-
ganizational changes. But be careful: a recent
McKinsey survey of 1,800 executives reported
that 8 out of 10 company reorganizations didn’t
deliver value as planned, while 10 percent dam-
aged the company.
For this reason, in any reorganization, you
must determine the degree of employee and
leadership involvement, and how the process
should unfold. At this stage, you need to grasp
several key elements of strategic change and the
various ways that the following dimensions can
be combined:

48 FIRST QUARTER 2018 ISSUE 36

 EXPERT insight A ROAD MAP FOR SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY EXECUTION

Minoli on Action

I
’m not a
huge fan of
structures.
I think they
burden people.
Something structural is, by
definition, not very flexible. But
the world and markets change
so quickly that you need to be
able to continuously morph into
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Resistance is a challenge
you’ll have to overcome, because
change doesn’t come naturally
to people. If your mission is to
change something, you have to
generate a certain level of chaos
at the beginning just to start
moving things around. That will
destabilize people who do not
want to change and at the same
great things together.”
Recruiting is one of the keys to
strategy execution. Personally, I
like to bring in young people – 10,
20 or 30 people, fresh off their
MBAs. The impact they have on
the company is usually amazing,
not because of their competence
but because of their energy, their
freshness, their desire to achieve,

something new. Meg Whitman
(former CEO of eBay and Hewlett
Packard) once told me, “I don’t
have time to create a structure
because by the time I have one,
things have changed and I need to
come up with another one, so why
bother? Instead, I rally people
around a mission.”
time excite people who do.
Remember: people change not
because you promise them more
money; they aren’t motivated to
“grow the business by 10 percent
next year,” particularly if they've
been in a slump for many years.
They're motivated by saying,
“We’re going to go and do these
which infects everybody around
them. They challenge our sacred
truths.
Don’t design KPIs around
wishful successes, but rather in-
centivize their initiative-taking. Of
course, with inexperience come
mistakes, so you will have to be
ready to mop up the spilled milk.

Target. Which organizational components Process 3: Action

among culture, people, structure and sys-
tems require change, and where should I
begin?
Leadership. What style of leadership will I
adopt to manage the change process: strict
control from the top or encourage bottom-
up participation?
Process. To what extent will changes be
transmitted through formal programs
versus nurtured in an evolutionary way
through experiments?
Speed. How fast or slow should the process
unfold? Again, your prior definition of the
situation may well determine the pace of
change that needs to be set.
MONITOR THE JOURNEY. All too often, the new
strategic direction identified does not trans-
late into actionable initiatives and measur-
able key performance indicators, and lacks
a disciplined monitoring strategy. Conse-
quently, after an initial burst of energy and
enthusiasm, operational priorities take over,
and change fizzles out.
That’s why monitoring advancement of
the change plan is a paramount task for GMs.
Identifying in advance the key metrics to
monitor the progress of scheduled milestones
will force accountability in the organization,
first and foremost on you.
Strategy execution is ultimately about getting
things done, which is why the next set of GM
activities – translating all the strategic priori-
ties from the previous steps into action – is ar-
guably the most important. Effective strategic
leadership is demonstrated, not by having one
brilliant idea, but through numerous actions
taken on a daily basis.
ACTION LEVERS FOR EXECUTION. Here we list the
principal levers at your disposal to execute
strategy day to day.
Allocating resources: reallocating tangible
resources (such as budgets and work hours)
across different units or project teams,
to ensure that the critical tasks of the new
strategy aren’t deprived of vital resources.
Changing organizational structures and
systems: changing the organizational chart
to empower new units (for instance, cus-
tomer-centric strategies might require new
reporting lines based on major clients) or
changing accounting, reporting, IT, promo-
tion and compensation systems to reorient
the organization toward new strategic goals.
Recruiting & Staffing: finding the right tal-
ent and aligning it with the right formal and
informal organizational components, from
job design to culture, which is increasingly a
source of competitive advantage.

ISSUE 36 FIRST QUARTER 2018 49

 EXPERT insight A ROAD MAP FOR SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY EXECUTION

Networking: actively managing informal In combining different actions, be sure to con-

political dynamics, which are not just about
growing and maintaining personal networks,
but involve regularly analyzing the political
landscape inside and outside the company.
Communicating: deciding which meetings
require your presence, which can be held re-
motely and which you can delegate to your
team; also, how will you communicate: in
public or private? Individually, in a group or
to the whole organization? By email or video?
These questions matter, as people judge not
just the content of your message but how you
This document is an authorized copy for personal use of Mr. Maoret, 22/03/2018
sider their strategic, operational and political
implications. Exhibit 2 is designed to help you
do just that. A thorough reflection on the impli-
cations of your actions will often reveal unex-
pected consequences and trade-offs. Strategic
and operational ones are perhaps easier to an-
ticipate, but all actions will have a less obvious
political element insofar as they seek to alter
the organizational landscape, strengthening
some people’s power and/or exercising great-
er control over (or redistributing) resources.
Although it should never be your first order of

deliver it. concern, the political dimension must always be

Engaging stakeholders: involving the right
stakeholder in your decision process, e.g., in-
viting a key client to a company visit, reach-
ing out to government leaders, working with
unions on a common challenge, such as im-
proving the safety of your operations.
Executive Action:
EXHIBIT 2
weighed, as that very often ends up jeopardizing
execution.
Process 4: Personal Development
Finally, any process of strategic transforma-
tion implies that the GM will need to undergo
some personal transformation, too. Don’t make
the mistake of failing to consider how your per-
sonal and professional profile may help (or

hinder) company success. As you work through

Consider the Trade-offs
the previous steps, make note of any “personal
s
em

USE THIS CHART TO WEIGH THE STRATEGIC, OPERATIONAL

shortcomings” between the emerging needs you
st

& POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF YOUR ACTIONS.

sy
&
es

rs
ur

de
s

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ct
ce

ol
ru

affi
ur

eh
st

g
so

in
st

ak
g.
re

at
&
or

st
ng

ic
g

ng
ng

ki
tin

un
tin

ACTION
or

gi
gi

m
ca

ui

tw

ga
an

LEVERS
m
cr
lo

ne

en
ch

co
re
al

LAYERS OF
DOES THE ACTION I AM ABOUT TO TAKE...
CONSEQUENCES
... contribute to the long-term implementation
of the intended strategy?
... nurture core assets and capabilities?
... align with our vision and fall within our
business scope?
Strategic ... prepare our company for future competitive
Implications challenges?
... have an immediate, short-term impact
on the company’s economic position and
financial health?
... support operational priorities and address
operational demands?
Operational ... fix an urgent operational issue or neutralize
Implications an urgent threat?
... strengthen the position of the firm with its
stakeholders?
... consolidate the internal coalition guiding
the company?
... undermine the power position of a key
Political internal stakeholder?
Implications ... generate internal resistance or overcome it?

50 FIRST QUARTER 2018 ISSUE 36

 EXPERT insight A ROAD MAP FOR SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY EXECUTION
Minoli on Personal Development
E
ducation-wise, I’m a generalist. I don’t
know much vertically, but I do know
people. Of course, an industry cannot
do without vertical experience because,
at the end of the day, if you have to design
an engine, you need to know how to design an engine. But
there are plenty of people with that vertical knowledge.
And if I need technical expertise, I can go out and employ
that – or buy it in. What we lack are people with horizontal
competencies – people who think in broader terms, and who
This document is an authorized copy for personal use of Mr. Maoret, 22/03/2018
know what makes people tick.
I think that’s what defines a good CEO: to have the con-
viction that everybody has a talent and your role is to make
the most of those talents, for their sake, for the company,
for society at large and for yourself – because if you capture
a talent and help someone else grow, you grow yourself.
You grow by spending the first hour of every morning going
down to the plant and talking to your people: you always get
something back.
In this sense, I like to recall the wisdom of Mr. Dainese,
who, at a certain point in his life, stated that he did not want
to become a caricature of himself, so he decided to leave.
That’s the most difficult decision a CEO has to make: you
have to nurture somebody else who will be able – and will-
ing – to stab you in the back. Otherwise, nobody ever leaves
a position of power. Strong leaders know when it’s time to
move on. It’s a tough reflection, but you have to make it –
not only for the sake of the company, but also for your own.
detect and the personal qualities you have – or
will have to develop – to tackle those needs.
This self-analysis is perhaps the most diffi-
cult, because it necessitates an honest, objec-
tive self-assessment. It means accepting you
might not have all the skills and competencies
required to get the job done. And it often implies
a radical change in your behavior.
On the plus side, this process helps clarify
which roles you may need to delegate to others
on your executive team and which professional
adjustments you may need to make to align your
profile with the tasks and behaviors this new
phase calls for.
However, some activities and areas simply
cannot be delegated, so you will have to ask
yourself how willing you are to acquire the req-
uisite skills and whether you can do it. Here, one
factor makes the difference: your degree of free-
dom. How much time do you have to dedicate
to these activities? How much decision-making
autonomy and ability to influence do you have?
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THE RESPONSIBILITY OF STRATEGIC LEADERS. The
personal transformation that each GM goes
through will look very different, but one thing
that holds common across all situations is that
the job requires:
a high level of responsibility, as decisions
are taken in a context of uncertainty and im-
ply risk-taking, with impacts felt both inside
and outside the firm.
shaping people’s lives, as decisions ulti-
mately have an impact on people, either di-
rectly or indirectly, and people are ultimately
responsible for the actions of their firms.
taking actions conscious of the lasting im-
pressions (or “footprints,” in the words of
IESE’s Rafael Andreu) that these actions will
leave on people, organizations and society,
which will define your personal reputation
and legacy.
continuous learning that draws on past ex-
periences to rise to future challenges.
The organizational and technological com-
plexity of global corporations today makes it
easy to miss the causal link between corporate
decisions and their consequences. Yet make no
mistake: your actions do have consequences on
real human beings, which is why we believe that
strategic leaders need to be ever mindful of it.
Demanding that GMs weigh the conse-
quences of their decisions on all the people
affected by their actions might seem too high
a standard for strategic leadership. However,
we would contend that, for too long, the bar
has been set too low, contributing to less sus-
tainable corporations and societies, which has
given rise to many of the social, economic and
political ills that we are witnessing around the
world today. Celebrating corporate leaders only
for their financial results, without scrutinizing
how their companies treat workers, customers
and the natural environment and how they in-
teract with governments, not only perpetuates
this sorry state of affairs but ultimately reduces
the long-term viability of corporations.
Your challenges as a GM are exciting, com-
plex and imply a high level of responsibility
toward others. “Encourage people to dare,”
insists Minoli. “The respect and openness that
you instill between people are what will help
you survive.”
TO KNOW MORE
n Ferraro, F. and J.M. Argüelles. “Strategic
Leadership: A Road Map for the General
Manager’s Journey.” IESE Technical Note, 2017.
ISSUE 36 FIRST QUARTER 2018 51