Page 5 - INSIDE ACCESS OCTOBER 4TH ED.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT Leadership and Business
Lessons from Top CEOs
Appealing to the Emotional Mind
CARLOS GHOSN — In the late 1990s, Renault purchased stakes in Nissan, Japan which was at the brink of bankruptcy. Renault's then CEO, Carlos Ghosn was given the task to turn around Nissan. Carlos travelled to Japan and took charge of the company. Most of the employees were sceptical of being under a foreign CEO, who had already earned a reputation of being called 'Cost Cutter'. On his arrival, Carlos announced his intention to Nissan's employees — “I am here for one reason: to fix the company. I came to Japan not for the sake of Renault, but for Nissan.” He received a warm applause. With this statement, Carlos was able to appeal to the emotional mind of employees and alleviate their fears.
As soon as Carlos Ghosn took charge of the company, he wanted to make certain changes that would deliver results. He had to shut down five of Nissan's loss-making factories. How did he manage? Carlos explained the reasons behind shutting down the units and told employees that those units were not helping Nissan's employees but helping competitor's interests. This explanation directly touched the emotional mind of employees.
Carlos saw that there was a lot of talented young guys inside the company that were denied opportunities in top job positions due to the culturally-ingrained seniority system in Japan. He turned around the problem and told the senior employees that he didn't want age
to be a discriminatory factor but to become a factor of respect for senior people. A factor of experience, but certainly not something that forbade great young potential to be promoted. Carlos explained the reasons every time and also spoke in terms of benefits to others.
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SAM WALTON — Sam Walton, Wal-Mart's founder always talked in terms of 'benefits' to his employees. If he wanted a person to work for Wal-Mart, he gave the individual the reasons and explained how it would transform the person's life. One day, he thought of implementing an idea in all the stores. He requested every employee should greet customers and ask if they could be of any help whenever the customer comes within a ten feet distance. He advised his employees to look in the eyes of the customer when speaking to them, to make a genuine emotional connection.
As usual, Sam explained the benefits of such an activity to his employees. He told them, “If you do this, your natural shyness will fly away. It will help your personality develop and help you in become a leader with the possibility of becoming the manager of this store.
Always, think and talk in terms of benefits to others.
Contributed by
Oye Jolaoso
PAGE 5 INSIDE ACCESS | OCTOBER 2020 4TH EDITION