单骑救主：企业白衣骑士必备素质
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很多公司在面临重大调整时，都希望能从名牌企业挖到新的首席执行官。此人临危受命，不仅要担当起领导的职责，还要具备从天而降，扭转乾坤的能力。 六月上旬，零售商JCPenney宣布自11月1日起，在苹果公司(Apple)表现优异的高管罗恩•约翰逊将成为公司新的掌门人。约翰逊的高调加盟希望能让这家零售商摆脱平庸的形象。约翰逊此举是高级经理人染上“白衣骑士综合症”的又例证——成功的经理人总是觉得自己能在一个完全不同的公司(有时甚至是在一个完全不同的行业)复制以往的成功，拯救一家公司。 这种情形必然伴随着压力和高期待值，但同时也能带来成功。但宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院（the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania）的管理学教授迈克尔•乌西姆表示，“尽管有很多成功的先例，但也不乏失败的例子。” 那么，什么样的经理人才是理想的白衣骑士呢？亟待拯救的公司应该锁定以下特质，以免错雇那些身着闪闪铠甲却不中用的经理人。 跨行业的万事通 乌西姆表示，经理人的资历固然很重要，但仅在某一个行业内的一次成功可能还不够。他认为，在多个行业内都有稳定的表现是白衣骑士的一个重要特征，这意味着此人具有普遍的领导力，而不只是长于应对某一特定行业的挑战。 劳伦斯•戈尔本就是一个例子，这位智利矿业部长今年早些时候推动了33被困矿工的救援行动。乌西姆称，戈尔本具有零售业从业背景，但在此次救援行动前只是一位相对不知名的官员。“关键在于他勘查了现场，确定了解决问题的基本方法，并运用了自己的管理技巧。” 当然，大多数首席执行官不一定需要协调矿山救援行动，但很多人都必须要将公司拉出财务亏空的黑洞。事实上，美国企业界在这方面早已有了身着闪闪铠甲的白衣骑士典范——前德尔福(Delphi)首席执行官史蒂夫•米勒，他在职业生涯中曾多次在最后时刻成功拯救陷于绝境的企业。 2005年，米勒带领汽车零部件供应商德尔福顺利度过了破产保护期。在此之前，他曾服务于钢铁、建筑、废弃物管理和汽车行业。米勒受雇于这些行业公司，任务都是实现企业扭亏为盈。 同样，将公司拉出险境是一回事，但要在不停下脚步的前提下解决问题则是另一回事。 “如果东西已经坏了，必须深入内部，把它彻底撕开，”领导力咨询公司Heidrick & Struggles的副董事长杰夫•桑德斯说，“但如果东西还没有坏，把它撕开的话，它很可能就此瓦解。” 企业文化适应力 救世主当然也可能失败。乌西姆指出，美国在线(AOL)首席执行官蒂姆•阿姆斯特朗自两年前离开谷歌(Google)美国广告销售主管一职后，一直在为改变美国在线的现状苦苦挣扎。摩托罗拉（Motorola）曾寄望于IT公司Sun Microsystems的明星经理人埃德•詹德的加盟能让公司重新焕发活力，但他直到2008年离职都未有建树，。 “很多时候，问题在于企业文化，”桑德斯表示。然而，新任首席执行官在深入企业前很难诊断这些问题。 热门经理人往往会掉入白衣骑士陷阱。乌西姆指出，通用电气(GE)经理人一直有这样的问题，他们中很多人辞去原有工作，接受其他公司的新职务。“外部公司总是认为通用电气的经理人应该都不错”。尽管这些人在通用表现出色，但是一旦离开了通用独特的环境，他们便黯然失色。 苹果公司给予离任的经理人以摇滚歌星般的地位，如罗恩•约翰逊。毫无疑问，约翰逊在苹果公司积累了宝贵的经验。但要在JCPenney提出新点子需要全然不同的方式。乌西姆表示，“如果以为能像在苹果一样经营JCPenney，可能会酿成彻头彻尾、无法挽回的灾难。” 敏锐的观察力 “我们都热衷于歌颂重塑自我的壮举，但是伙计，人类要做到这一点很困难。而这正是JCPenney决定追求的目标，”乌西姆表示。 为了避免将拯救工作搞砸，新任首席执行官们必须带领企业开启新的航程，同时避免自我膨胀。乌西姆表示，职位变动引发的媒体热议可能使得这一点变得尤其困难。“履任后的光环可能持续12个小时，”但之后的要务就是努力工作，干出成绩。 乌西姆表示，融入企业的一个关键途径是在上任初期多从内部观察公司。以约翰逊为例，他说，“可能头50天约翰逊需要花一些时间真正熟悉公司的内在价值驱动力。哪些是他希望保留的？哪些需要抛弃？” 约翰逊胜算如何？ 那么，约翰逊在JCPenney有多少胜算？乌西姆和桑德斯都表示，他的胜算较大。“约翰逊此前在零售企业Target的经验值得关注，”乌西姆称，“这说明他在Target以及完全迥异于Target的公司都能有良好的表现——这家伙早已证明自己能成功跨越行业的鸿沟。” 约翰逊在Target时曾推出过一个项目，将设计师和低成本产品联系起来，推动了销售。而在苹果，这家科技公司备受赞誉的零售网络也要归功于他的洞察力。他的资历似乎正符合JCPenney的需要：“他们真正想要的是有人能帮他们对苹果零售商店的做法进行全面的梳理，”桑德斯称，比如启动创新的零售方法。 无论领导一场企业救赎战，还是让企业更上一层楼，都是令人望而生畏的任务。如果约翰逊成功了，也许我们将来在购买平价卡其裤时也会像购买iPad一样兴奋不已。 |
When it's time for a major change, many companies seek salvation in a new CEO from a headline-heavy company: someone who is not just a leader, but a star that can swoop in and save the day. Last week, JCPenney (JCP) announced that Ron Johnson will take the helm at the retailer on November 1, after making his mark as an executive at Apple (AAPL). Johnson is a high-profile hire, brought on to snatch the retailer from the jaws of mediocrity. His move is yet another example of an executive who has come down with a case of "white knight syndrome," a scenario in which a successful executive feels that he or she can translate their previous victories at an entirely different company (and sometimes in an entirely different industry) to rescue another company. While this kind of scenario certainly comes with its fair share of pressure and expectations, it can yield success. "But for every example of it working, there's one that fails," says Michael Useem, a professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. So what kind of an executive makes for an ideal white knight? Companies in need of a corporate rescue should look for a couple of traits to avoid hiring a leader that trips over all that shining armor. Jack-of-all-trades Clearly, a new hire's track record is important, Useem says, but a singular success within one industry might not be good enough. Consistent performance across industries is a good marker for a white knight, he adds, because it means that an individual is capable of leading in general, not just managing specific industry challenges. Take Laurence Golborne, Chile's minister of mining who facilitated the rescue of 33 trapped Chilean miners earlier this year. He had a retail background and was a relatively unknown politician until the rescue, Useem says. "The main point is, he took a look, decided on the underlying ways to solve a problem, and used his management skill set." To be sure, most CEOs will not have to coordinate a mine rescue, but many have to dig companies out of financial holes. In fact, corporate America has its own knight in shining armor in that category: former Delphi CEO Steve Miller, who's made a career out of last-minute rescues of ailing corporations. Miller guided auto parts supplier Delphi through bankruptcy in 2005. Before that, he had worked in the steel, construction, waste-management and auto industries. Miller was hired at companies in each of these industries to turn them around. Just the same, it's one thing to pull a company out of the ashes, and quite another to fix it mid-stride. "If something's broken, you have to go in and start ripping it apart," says Jeff Sanders, vice chairman of leadership advisory firm Heidrick & Struggles. "Whereas if it's not [broken], if you rip it up, it might fall apart." ” Cultural flexibility Hero hires can certainly fail. AOL (AOL) CEO Tim Armstrong has struggled to turn the company around after leaving his position as head of Google's (GOOG) U.S. ad sales two years ago, Useem says. Ed Zander, a star at Sun Microsystems, was brought in to revitalize Motorola (MSI) but floundered there before leaving in 2008. "Most often, the problem is a cultural one," Sanders says. But cultural problems can be difficult to diagnose until a new CEO is dropped into the company's pool. Hot new hires often fall into the white knight trap. This has been a problem for GE (GE) executives, Useem adds, many of whom have left their old jobs for new positions at other companies. "The outside companies know anybody from GE ought to be good," he says, and while they were good at GE, they didn't perform as well outside of GE's unique environment. Apple also gives departing executives rock-star status, a la Ron Johnson. No doubt, Johnson gained valuable experience at Apple. But delivering new ideas to JCPenney will require a very different approach. "If you think you're going to run JCPenney like you ran Apple, that's probably going to be a complete, unmitigated disaster," Useem says. Clear eyes "We're all given to the mantra we have to reinvent ourselves, but boy, it's incredibly hard for the human mind to do that. That's what JCPenney has decided to go for," Useem says. To avoid botching a rescue job, new CEOs need to introduce a fresh take on the company without attaching any turnaround to their egos. That can be especially difficult amid job changes that generate media buzz, Useem says. "Glamour lasts for maybe 12 hours once the person arrives at the new job," and then it's a matter of working hard and delivering results. One key way to stay grounded is to spend the first part of the job taking stock of the company from within, Useem says. In Johnson's case, he adds, "Probably the first 50 days, he'll need to spend some time really getting his hands on what the underlying value drivers are. What does he want to keep and what needs to be jettisoned?" Johnson's odds So what are Johnson's odds at JCPenney? He has a solid shot at success, Useem and Sanders say. "The fact that Johnson had been at Target before is really interesting," says Useem. "That says he could go from Target to a very non-Target-like company and do well -- this guy's already proven he can move across a pretty big divide successfully." At Target (TGT), Johnson introduced a program to incorporate designer, low-cost products, which boosted sales. At Apple, he is credited with the vision behind the tech company's widely-lauded retail stores. His track record seems to align with what JCPenney needs: "What they really wanted was somebody who could help them think through a lot of the things they were doing at Apple stores," Sanders says, like jump-starting an innovative approach to retail. It's a daunting task for any leader to spearhead corporate redemption, or even a well-managed uptick. But if Johnson succeeds, we just might feel as psyched about buying our next pair of affordable khakis as we do about springing for an iPad. |
