The second type of manager is keen to learn from market leaders. Astute observers, they have a penchant for analysis and methodology. You can visualize them taking copious notes, jotting down ideas, making checklists, and trying to decipher winning formulas. These managers reside equally among market-leading companies and their lagging competitors. Both design insightful strategies and plans for action. Yet the laggards have more trouble getting others within their organizations to adopt their plans. That even seasoned managers aren’t immune to this problem is evidenced in the number of well-considered plans and sound proposals that die prematurely because they are stonewalled by other departments, ignored by coworkers, or overshadowed by more prosaic routines. This situation is all too familiar to consultants whose well-crafted recommendations end up collecting dust because their clients were not adequately prepared for the changes the new plans entailed. Additionally, rookie MBAs face a rude awakening the first time their knowledge and bright ideas are not instantly acclaimed.
Whereas earlier the manager’s trouble was mobilizing employees, in this instance the obstacle is her or his inability to rally colleagues and bosses around the proposed solutions. If and when they overcome their resistance, excessive amounts of precious energy and time will have been lost. That they may shine methodically is irrelevant in this context because their direction and priorities aren’t aligned with those of the other people who have a stake in the outcome. Market leadership doesn’t bypass these managers because their plans lack specificity or rigor, but rather because they are not sharing the perspective held by the rest of the organization regarding exactly what needs to be done to win in the marketplace.
The third and largest contingent of managers that I encounter perform strongly and aggressively. Still, when we look very closely we see that most of its members are yoked to the status quo. Of course, they would love to be number one, if only it didn’t require so much effort and sacrifice. Though these managers feel a momentary thrill when they observe leaders in action, they can’t seem to break away from their habitual routines. They react poorly when the success of a rival, even an indirect one, is discussed. Suddenly, that market leader is viewed with suspicion, disdain, and as a villain. These managers demean the leader’s practices, attribute its success to luck, claim that its blemishes were overlooked or its edge built on quicksand.
Trivializing and disparaging another’s accomplishments are not hard to do, and these managers show a special knack for it. When they come face-to-face with their own deficiencies, they cope by deflecting responsibility from themselves, hence projecting it onto the winners.
Still, for the most part, the managers‘ hostility or suspiciousness (which others would name envy) does not hinder their relish, albeit temporary, in a good market-leadership story. Such anecdotes elicit the same pleasure that sports fans experience when they watch the Wimbledon finals or the Ryder Cup; that is, they feel heightened resolve to improve their own games, to try harder, maybe even take a lesson or two. But just as New Year’s resolutions trigger an initial stampede to health clubs that tends to subside by February, former business habits are usually back in place by about the same time. It takes more than a vicarious experience—however potent—to motivate a potential winner for the long term. As we’ve seen in other groups (though I think it is most pronounced in this one), missing are determination, stamina, and a systematic approach to sustain improvement.
All of these examples clarify that motivation and method are powerful and decisive factors in the battle for customers. The question that remains is how to best cultivate these traits. Another way of asking the same question is, how do we translate these factors into a successful strategy? To everyone’s chagrin, there is no uniform answer, and a lot depends upon whom you ask. If you speak with market leaders, they will be happy to reveal the “secrets” of the Cisco way, the GE way, the Microsoft way, or
whatever signature approach they’ve cultivated, not just to secure the present but to prepare for what is to come.
Numerous articles and articles have been and continue to be written on their business practices, cultures, and management styles, and it adds to the panoply of insights. If you are hungry for more information, seek out management consultants and business school professors, who are usually eager to provide their perspectives. Some will advocate their most favored methodology, while others will help you select an approach most appropriate for your needs (not unlike consultants and professors in any field). Whatever you decide, one problem you will not face is a dearth of knowledge and directions.
In closing, let me sum up the most pertinent insights I gained from the market leaders. They should serve as constant reminders to the managers who keep asking, “What’s missing?”
* First, securing market leadership is not the result of a series of isolated or episodic efforts. Instead, it grows from a process of change that you can never relax. Although your choice of a specific process is important, it is less so than your commitment to practice it relentlessly. Ingraining your current performance is less important than persistently exploring better or new ways to improve it.
* Second, motivation and performance will peak only when channeled toward shared ambitions and clear goals. The battle for customers isn’t a solo event. It is a team effort that requires the cooperation and commitment of every participant. Open interaction and communication—both inside the company with colleagues and outside it with customers—foster this process.
* Third, you need to know where you stand. Salient metrics gauge your progress; feedback mechanisms keep you on track; and frank, honest discussions, which include confronting facts directly, even if they are upsetting, are the only reliable antidotes to delusion and complacency.
If you want to glean the final and, ultimately, most meaningful insight, look again at Yahoo!, EMC, Solectron, UPS, and the other new market leaders featured in this article. Then remember that these organizations surpass their peers by making absolutely certain that what they are not missing is their single most precious asset—customers, customers, and customers.
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