There's a major shift underway. Some organizations see it; others don't have a clue. It's a movement away from the conventional wisdom that built the successful dealerships of yesterday. It's a movement that minimizes the importance of "great managers" and recognizes that the key to sustaining success in a faster-than-ever industry is the ability to attract, develop and retain great leaders. In today's "turn-on-a-dime" marketplace, companies that are overmanaged and underled will die. The merciful news is that it won't be a slow, tortuous death: it'll happen so fast they won't know what hit them.
Change isn't new to our industry and leadership has always been important, so why such a change in focus from management to leadership? While both are important, leadership skills have become more valuable than ever because leaders thrive when circumstances demand rapid change, quick, hard decisions and bold action. And in case you've been preoccupied for the past couple of years, things in the car business are changing unlike any time in history: Consolidators: They're getting bigger and smarter. They are capable car people with proven track records. They're here to stay and will gain momentum as competitive forces in the marketplaces. Manufacturers: with "partners" like these, who needs enemies? A manufacturer is as qualified to run a retail operation as Orson Wells is to run Jenny Craig. But as long as they persist in their stupidity, undaunted by national humiliation, gaping losses and betrayal of their dealers, they'll continue to be disruptive and dangerous. And don't forget the Generation "X"ers and "Y"ers. Not only will we have to figure out how to sell to them, we'll have to learn to work with them as well. Even figuring out who your competition is or might be is a crapshoot. There are ambushes waiting around every corner. Your biggest competitor may not even be in business today, and next year they could be eating your lunch. Your most significant threat to survival might be Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Wal-Mart or some sophomore at Stanford Business School with a bright idea and a business plan, not the dealer down the street.
"Old World" management skills can't keep pace. Managers excel at efficiency, organizing, staffing, controlling and budgeting. They're adept at keeping things humming along. In fact, businesses would spin out of control without management. But managers resist change. They're slow to act, lack vision and are ineffective communicators and team builders. They excel at maintaining, not growth. They're equipped to keep a steady course, not to change it at a moment's notice. And that's why in today's e-market economy, "Old World" management must be subordinated to "New World" leadership.
"Old World" management practices are a mismatch for competing in the millennium. It's like racing a firefly against the space shuttle. Here are three steps you can take to replace "Old World" management with "New World" leadership in your organization:
Get The Right People In Place-Now! People are not the key to success in changing times. The right people are the key to success. "New World" leaders make fast, tough people decisions. They get people better or get better people. "Old World" managers tend to accept mediocre performances as long as the boat doesn't get rocked. "New World" leaders are always improving their roster. And there has never been a more important time to act quickly concerning hiring right people and getting rid of wrong ones.
Flatten Out And Speed Up! Flatten your structure. Toss your organizational chart and level your hierarchy. "New World" leaders are lateral leaders. They're nimble. They empower people to take action. They're quick to seize opportunities, implement change and make fast, hard decisions because they have fewer layers of bureaucracy to contend with. "Old World" managers are enmeshed in hierarchy. Hierarchy reinforces the status quo. It stifles initiative. It makes change tougher to implement. "New World" leaders move faster than managers because they're not adverse to risk. Risk violates a manager's comfort zone. "New World" leaders develop leaders at all levels to share the load. Developing leaders threatens "Old World" manager's authority and control. It's safer for them to have followers than leaders. Because leaders move and communicate quickly, they create a sense of urgency. Managers have been trained to avoid urgency, not create it. Yet without a sense of urgency, change initiatives fail and people take lethal mental naps, paralyzing their company. "New World" leaders are fast. Speed is a non-negotiable trait in the millennium. In fact, the success of organizations today won't be a matter of the big eating the small, but the swift eating the slow.
Set Higher Standards! Raise the bar high and often. Quit borrowing credibility from the past. Being "#1" has never meant less. In the ".com culture" has-beens are birthed overnight. Remember the dinosaurs. Just because they towered above their surroundings and ruled the world didn't mean they were equipped for survival. Setting higher standards creates urgency and momentum. Higher standards stretch your people. They keep things from getting too cozy. They limit the "happy hot-tub talk" about how sales are up 10% over last year-as people conveniently forget that "last year" was crummy. New World leaders spend their time charting the futures course. "Old World" managers spend their time charting past results. "New World" leaders run a meritocracy where everyone has to prove himself daily. "New World" leaders weed out entitlement takers and hire opportunity makers. They terminate people who think that tenure and credentials substitute for results. They raise the bar so high that they force change, bringing out the drive in winners and weeding out losers.
Your number one competitive advantage in the millennium will be highly developed leaders. Organizations that trivialize the importance of "New World" leadership and cling to "Old World" management will be smacked into oblivion. "Business as usual" is a death sentence. Evaluate your leaders. Can they: cast vision, build teams, communicate, remain flexible without losing focus, initiate change, take risks, empower, develop leaders at all levels, make tough, fast decisions, and attack the status quo? Do they have the guts to hire people
better than they are, ditch non-performers-regardless of who they are, and constructively destruct and reinvent every aspect of your dealership? If not, all isn't lost. Leadership is developed, not discovered. It can be learned. As a leader, it's up to you to make sure your team has the players and skills to win. If you're not willing to pay that price, instead, betting things work out because they "always have in the past," you're infected with "Old World" management disease and should quarantine yourself in your country club or be sent to the nearest golf course in exile so your organization has a fighting chance and doesn't end up in a bone pile with the rest of the dinosaurs.