Last week I had the opportunity of seeing the famous ex-CEO of General Electric, Jack Welsh, interviewed on CNN’s Piers Morgan show. There were several things that Jack said that were interesting, one of which is highlighted in this blog.
Jack made the point that good leaders are able to craft, communicate and sell their vision of the future. This is one of the reasons why Barrack Obama was able to defeat John McCain a few years ago to become President of the United States. A majority of Americans bought into his vision that he would be the change agent. He and his party would be best able to lead America out of its economic downturn and into a more financially successful future. Of course, President Obama’s charisma and his skills as an orator were very helpful in selling his message of hope to the American electorate.
The same skills are very helpful to army generals and business leaders. Military personnel and company employees want to know where their leaders are taking them, what is the roadmap for success and how they will each personally and/or professionally benefit from the successful execution of the leader’s vision?
As a Republican, Jack expressed the view that Tim Pawlenty, one of the candidates for the Republican Presidential nomination, has the most coherent and logical vision for the future of America. While he may not be charismatic, his vision makes the most sense of the various candidates in the running. Since President Obama has not been able to fully energize the American economy during his tenure to date, this may leave him vulnerable to Mr. Pawlenty’s vision for the future. Even if President Obama is able to craft a strong and revitalized vision statement, in his bid to gain re-election, this begs the question of whether or not he would be more successful if he is granted another four years in office?
Over the past few days, I read the article on the future of YRC National in the current issue of the Journal of Commerce. This brought back Jack’s comments about vision.
YRC had a vision. By buying Roadway and USF, it sought to position itself as the leading LTL player in North America. The vision has not become a reality. It was not executed successfully. The company’s revenues have shrunk by fifty percent since its peak and it has lost hundreds of millions of dollars.
YRC has gone though a number of financial gyrations to remain in business. It has enough cash to take it through some part of 2012. Certainly it cannot continue to lose $100 million a quarter. From published reports, it appears to be achieving lower yields on its freight than a number of its other publicly traded competitors. This appears to be a result of an overdependence on lower yielding national account freight and a tendency to acquire/attract lower margin freight.
This begs the question of what is YRC’s vision for the future. How is it going to differentiate itself from its competitors? What can it do to project a level of continuity and financial sustainability so that it will attract new shippers that will ultimately improve its freight mix and its prospects for survival? Since it appears that the current Chairman and CEO is about to leave, who will be the new leader, when will he come on the scene and can he quickly redirect the fortunes of this once great company? Most importantly, will the plan work? Since YRC’s margin of error is small, we should know sooner than later. For President Obama, for the individual who secures the Republican nomination for President and for the future leader of YRC, crafting, selling and executing their vision of the future will be a key element of their success.
