Said to Goethe that the only man who does not make mistakes is one who never does anything. And it is a maxim that can be applied to all, including the heads of the companies. Even though the ego prevents them from often admit their failures. Among other things because, as he says with some derision Pedro Mateache, president of the consulting firm AT Kearney Iberia, “the executives make mistakes, but we have a tremendous skill for that don’t look like it”. Well, after the surprise we gave the president of Mercadona, Juan Roig, admitting to his failures as a manager, including their distrust in online sales; we take advantage of the V Congress of the Association for Progress in management (APD) to some high-ranking officials of the large companies present in Barcelona to recognize the setbacks that have been suffered in their careers.
But let’s start at the beginning. What is it that you think the managers that defines a good manager? For José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, president of Bankia, “a good manager is someone who knows how to listen and has a great intellectual humility. And, of course, well known to the trade and this is how the co-workers respect him”. “Listen more than talk”, supports Fernando Vives, his counterpart in Garrigues. And Francisco Román, president of Vodafone, believes that the fundamental role of the leader is to believe in the team, align around a goal and infuse it with courage; “to the time that you have embridar your ego and not out for a walk”.
Almost all the leaders consulted put the key in the management of success in extracting the best out of his collaborators. Lead by influence called Laura González Molero, minister of Bankia and Viscofan. Although there are more: “you have to understand the scenario in the future, to have a code of values very clear, and, above all, to be able to execute what you propose,” says Juan María Nin, vice-president of La Caixa and current director of Société Générale. Because, as pointed out by the president of Adecco, Enrique Sanchez, also you need to be very focused on the results.
Precisely Sanchez does not hurt garments to acknowledge their errors, “I have committed so many. At the beginning of my career I found it hard to admit to them because it was not a great listener”. Among them have been overrated to some people that appointed him; “when the role of the management is to match”. Also, years ago, pressed for results, he has opted to integrate a Human Group, Adecco, and “I lost almost everything good that it had its High brand Management. I have sacrificed. Today would have remained independent though regardless of means more money,” he argues.
Bad decisions
Román match “I have made mistakes with people, by waiting too long to change it, redirect it, or something more drastic. And that delay has been very negative.” The president of Vodafone believes that another of its faults is not to have been sufficiently vigorous during the boom period to induce changes in the organization which are then more expensive, as to invest in systems.
Also the chairman of Garrigues think that you may not have begun before with the internationalization of your firm has had Bets10 consequences. “This delay has required greater effort to catch up and recover lost time”.
“The mistakes that most make the managers come out of your comfort zone. Knowing your environment, you think that you have mastered everything and that inbreeding makes us commit major faults. When salts of Spain that complacency disappears and you have to reposicionarte, realize that your ideas are not absolute truths, and be more humble.” She blamed its partners in Brazil the lack of agility in the logistics, when it was something typical of the country. “Menosprecié the idiosyncrasies of Brazil, coming from a market with universal health care and that led me to rethink the strategy,” he admits.
Goirigolzarri refers also to the complacency. “Understand all too well the competitive conditions is autojustificarse, be complacent with the strategic actions and that is a mistake.” But for the chairman of Bankia, the biggest mistake is not to have appreciated sufficiently the importance of the image and reputation of the industry. “Still one of the biggest challenges of the banking and we have to do pedagogy, to explain that we are useful for society, because an industry is only sustainable if the society wants to exist”, he says.
To Mark a Fifth, former vice president, world of Coca-Cola, it does not cost you list some of your setbacks in the brand. The first thing that comes to mind has to do with the Movement, Coca-Cola, “which was the first social network in the year 2000, before Facebook, and reached a million followers in Spain. It is a failure not to have convinced the company to continue with the project and invest in it,” he says. It also refers to the launch of a cola, Aquarius V3, which was the first without the bubbles, “but that we withdrew from the market because we do not communicate well this innovation.” The same thing happened when marketed the tea VT, which had antioxidants, “and that what we sold saying that it was as a cosmetic and not worked”. Fifth also believed that it was a huge mistake to stay silent when there were dismissals in the Coca-Cola bottling European Partners. “Seen with perspective, we had to have acted, but we are guided by the bottler, that he did not want interviniésemos” and this led to a boycott of the brand. “Be led by what the customer wants”—supports Mateache— “instead of by the you need, it is a common error that we commit in consulting”.
Pedro Fontana, president of Areas, recognizes having been wrong by “locking me in Barcelona. Has been a ceiling for my career. I prepared to be a manager international and not what I have been up to now, the 66-year-old, at the end of my career”. It also speaks in personal terms Rosa Garcia, until December president of Siemens Gamesa: “I Tend to run at a speed impossible and then I need stops to pull myself together. The most difficult thing for a manager is to be handled himself.”