Carlos Ghosn's Shift

I've been reading this book by Carlos Ghosn (rhymes with "phone") called Shift detailing his life and experience at Nissan Motors. From 1999 until the present he's been at the head of Nissan's return to competitiveness. Good book.

The most important factor to Ghosn's success was his willingness to listen to all the various stakeholders in the company. When Renault allied with Nissan six years ago, he brought a small team to Japan (only thirty people), and spent three months asking *everybody* what they thought was going right, what was going wrong, and what could be done.

At the end of it all, he summarized the core issues at a shareholder's meeting and announced the Nissan Revitalization Plan (NRP). He stated three simple, measurable goals and then promised he would either complete all three or resign, along with the entire executive committee.

He not only succeeded, but did so without destroying Nissan's spirit -- his approach was not to change Nissan, but to enable Nissan's people to solve the company's situation themselves. His book is an inspiring example of excellent management at work.