Gillette former chairman James: to be a real-combat leader

It's hard to be a doer, especially at the top of a business, he needs dedication and perseverance. In the business world, products can be ruined, factories may be closed, and employees may disappoint you, which is part of the business sector.　　Whatever is in front of you, you must find a way out, come up with a solution, and take action. I'm telling you a story about Perot, the director of General Motors. In Perot's view, the endless, round-going discussion, lack of action, was a feature of General Motors, which made him deeply disappointed. Perot told GM's board, "in my hometown, if you see a snake, you will kill it immediately." And here, you will appoint a committee to discuss how to deal with snakes, and even ask for a consultant.　　"My attitude is the same as Perot, I like the snake Killer!" The most important thing in my career, the main motivation for career and success has always been to "get things done." Although I am convinced of the importance of planning and research, and I am passionate about it, the most irritating thing is the misuse of planning and research.　　It is most painful to see precious time, resources and energy wasted in an effort that should not have started or should have been terminated at all. When I try to explore some of the root causes of Gillette's cost inflation, one obvious problem is the proliferation of products or inventories. Gillette has only 5 core global businesses-Gillette blades and Razors, oral B (oral-b) toothbrushes, Golden Overlord batteries, Bleum shavers and Gillette shaving gear. Moreover, these businesses have their own global brands, accounting for the same total sales of more than 80%.　　This global unity and presence should have tremendous power in every way--whether in the manufacturing and operations sectors, or in other parts of the value chain, such as procurement, marketing, and sales. However, some key metrics give the opposite result. In terms of compressed inventory, Gillette is not the best in the industry.　　In accordance with the requirements of customers fast and accurate delivery, our performance is not the most outstanding. When it comes to stocks, things are bad. Gillette has more than 20,000 inventories and is growing every year. Unfortunately, the problems associated with the actual amount of inventory increase even faster.　　And, as inventories become more and more, concerns about problems tend to become scarce. When I asked executives at a meeting about inventory, their response was to be silent for a long time. Everyone you look at me, I look at you, seems to be saying: "I do not want to talk about this disgusting swamp."　　"In the end, Maik Kauchig, the global distributor responsible for more than 20 years in Gillette, spoke. Mike explained that the former CEO asked a management team to study the inventory problem that they had been doing for the last 18 months. Mike said he led the inventory Unit Reduction Committee, with more than 10 top managers. They held numerous meetings to discuss the criteria for reducing inventory units, as well as plans of action to implement the cuts. But, whenever they were about to take action, there was always someone out against it. After listening to Mike's detailed account, I asked him how much inventory they had eliminated in the 18 months. I know that number must be low, but I never thought it would be 0. I rarely lose my cool, but that time I got angry. I told them: "The Inventory Reduction Committee has two paths: either you find a way to implement the 50% reduction in inventory over the next 3 months, and make sure this weekend, or I'll do it for you." "Eventually, the Committee completed its task, and it was exceeded." In 9 months, Gillette's inventory dropped from 20,000 to 7,000, reducing by 2/3. I should also point out that, in the next 5 years, Maik Kauchig was promoted several times and eventually promoted to Gillette, the global technology and manufacturing president.　　[Page] action is the most important thing that does not take action, and is one of the biggest problems in any organization. In the food field, Nabisco's sales and distribution systems were the envy of their peers.　　Unlike Kraft and most other food manufacturers, Nabisco uses a direct-store distribution system.　　There are many benefits to the distribution of direct outlets, but the cost of the system is high: it costs a lot of money to deliver the fleet, manage and maintain it, and it takes a lot of time to put the product on the shelves; as the core of the system, the salary of the old salesman is very high. Therefore, Nabisco recourse to experienced advisers. The person with the stopwatch followed the sales rep, recording their chat with the store manager, putting the product on the shelves, and setting up the product display time.　　After coming back, these people made suggestions. Because of the high cost of the fleet, the number of trucks has been cut; because of the high cost of petrol and maintenance, the number of deliveries has been cut; because of the high salary of the long-term salesman, they were dismissed. Instead, they were a group of novices-just graduated students.　　Their starting salary is so low that the turnover rate of the sales department has reached the level of the snack bar. New salespeople without knowledge and experience came and went like Merry-go, and customers complained. Their long-term partners were Nabisco fired, the store backlog a large number of consumers do not like to buy products, and the sale of good products are often broken goods. As mentioned earlier, when I came to Nabisco, the restructured sales force had been working for about two years. During that time, sales were stagnant and market share was in full decline. Clients are becoming more and more angry.　　Many of the Laid-off salespeople went to their competitors, and they are further eroding our business. To make things worse, Nabisco's management was convinced that the situation would improve with minor repairs. In fact, the position and attitude of management is tantamount to omission.　　They rely too much on reorganization and thrift. I don't have the illusion that the original management must leave. We have formed a new team, which is the responsibility of Rick Lennie. Rick and I worked together in Kraft for years, and he's a good company now.Chief。　　Rick has a wealth of sales and integrated management experience that suits the position and challenges, and he immediately begins to embark on major changes to the sales department. Our new plan requires a system that restores the most valuable parts of the old system and combines some of the streamlining measures of the reorganization system.　　Above all, it can recreate the morale of the old sales team. However, the cost of action is by no means the simplest thing to say. I have to go to Nabisco's board and say that the previous reorganization must be scrapped, and that a new sales department would cost more than $100 million.　　Although I was an untested new chief executive, the board reluctantly approved the new plan. Rick Lennie quickly tackled the problem, carrying out a large-scale reorganization and resuming a one-to-one link between the sales rep and the store. Despite a year-long change that has Nabisco 70% of salespeople in new positions, and 5000 people's sales force to absorb more than 2000 new recruits, but the effect is immediate. Sales, which have been slipping, have started to grow. Within a year, the Nabisco sales force regained its former glory and became one of the most powerful sales teams in the food industry. I like the people who can deliver the results, they can keep their promises.