Dear All!

Audacious and boundless. Much of what you will read is what seems to be abuse. We are not here to judge but rather to learn. Abuse of individual and of institutions. There is much to learn from successful people — of what and how to do and what and how not to do. This is one of those examples.

CG always had a very competent numbers man at his side. He understood clearly that without numerical monitoring he could not achieve his ambitious goals.

CG was sure of himself and what he could do. He set out three goals at Nissan. To slash costs by 20% to start and all in a year. If not achieved, he would resign.

His family history drove his values. His father was a smuggler and a counterfeiter.

He cleansed the balance sheet of stupidity even if it was against Japanese ways. He did not let that common excuse of this is the way things are in his culture get in the way of change, improvement, and success.

The lines of what was good for Nissan and what was good for him seems to have been blurred. The lack of clarity may have led to what can be seen as his abuse. The system tempted him so it has responsibility. That does not justify his actions but it does teach us that a lack of oversight encourages abuse; better said it reminds us because we already know it. No one knew what he was paid.

Why was he so valuable? He was very good at firing people, fairly. In our ROP environment, almost every company has more people than it needs.

He was a no-nonsense, get-it-done individual who pressed for results and would not put up with excuses. Each culture has a different gravity of excuses and accountability. Our culture at ROP has a tendency to be long on excuses and short of get-it-done. It must be the weather!

He loves the celebrity reputation he had with parties in Versailles, movie stars, heads of state, et al. all to feed his ego. No one stopped him — the value of oversight!!! For some reason, too many successful CEOs fall for own beatification, if allowed. Hubris eventually sets in to install a check-and-balance, if the board does not.

He insisted on be respectful but straight talk…lack of clarity comes at a very high cost.

He quoted a definition of humility that I found interesting. Humility is not thinking less of yourself but rather taking of yourself less. It is definitely not meekness.

CG would not waste his time on small talk.

He wanted to remove working executives from the board as they loathed to criticize themselves.

His escape. Extraordinary…

You can listen to this book at higher speeds.

It is simple, entertains, and it teaches.

All the Best!

Endika