Here's an interesting read....
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Jerry Chenkin is president and CEO of Honda Canada Inc.
(Deborah Baic/The Globe and Mail) |
by Jerry Chenkin of Honda Canada Inc.
Good companies share some common practices. They focus on
strengthening leadership, they develop plans for what to do when things
go wrong and they prepare as much as they possibly can.
But what
about when everything goes wrong all at once? When your entire business,
from top to bottom, is thrown into chaos in a matter of hours because
of circumstances that you could not possibly have ever imaged?
On March 11, 2011, I was getting on a plane with a group of Canadian
Acura dealers to attend a meeting in Thailand. As we sat in the airport
lounge, news broke of an earthquake in Japan. Of course we and our
dealers were very worried about the impact of the earthquake would have
on the people of Japan, and naturally the conversation turned to the
possible impact on our business.
Since more than 90 per cent of
the Honda and Acura vehicles we sell in Canada are manufactured in North
America, I told them that while we could certainly feel some impact, it
should not be too severe.
Shortly after we landed in Hong Kong,
the first stop on our journey, I heard about the devastating tsunami
that had followed the earthquake.
Then, over the next few days I came to realize the severity of the disaster on our business.
We
all know now how devastating the earthquake and ensuing tsunami were.
Four damaged nuclear reactors, 500 square kilometers submerged, more
than 13,000 dead and hundreds of billions of dollars of damage only
begins to describe the massive impact of this natural disaster. Many of
the Japanese auto manufacturers were affected, but none as severely as
Honda.
In the hours and days that followed, we realized that the
effect on our Canadian business would be prolonged and, most frustrating
to us as business leaders, totally beyond our control. What we came to
understand during these early days was that while “just-in-time,
single-source supplier” supply chains offer huge advantages when things
go smoothly, there are huge risks when unexpected disasters happen.
What does it take to shut down a business?
In
reality, not much. Imagine this: A sub-contractor of a sub-contractor
makes a part, that part is then sent to another sub-contractor, who then
combines multiple parts into an assembly destined for a Honda factory. The whole assembly eventually finds its way, just in time, to an
assembly line in North America where it becomes part of a Honda vehicle
moving down the line.
Well after March 12, that sub-contractor and
many others weren’t only unable to deliver parts, since they had been
washed from the face of the earth. The ultra-efficient, highly respected
manufacturing practices that we employed were just derailed.
I remember a number of things from that time. I remember feeling so upset for the people in Japan who were suffering so much.
And
the feeling of frustration that even with daily global video
conferences at crazy times of the night, we simply didn’t have
up-to-date information for our dealers and our customers.
Since
there was no playbook or plan to follow, all we could do was gather a
team of our best people and figure out how to get through this
unbelievably tough situation. Here are some of the lessons I learned:
1. Show your face.
It
can be difficult to stand in front of employees and customers when you
don’t have answers and can’t offer much in the way of reassurance. But
leaders must do it anyway. Make yourself available, as soon as possible.
Just being there can be reassuring. In times of crisis it is important
to realize that everything you do sends a message. This extends right
down to things like your body language and tone of voice.
2. Over communicate.
In
the normal course of business, we often worry about information
overload and inundating our customers and stakeholders with information
and turning them off. Even saying you don’t have answers is better than
saying nothing at all. Also, realize that repetition is your friend.
Information rarely reaches everyone you intend in one telling. So say it
again, and again.
3. Trust your team.
When
you’re in uncharted waters, where there is no playbook on how to
respond, don’t retrench. Instead, open things up and trust your team.
They are as invested in your business as you are and getting through the
crisis will require the total commitment of everyone at every level. It
can be hard to let go when everything already seems out of control, but
pulling back won’t help.
Beyond all of these strategies, perhaps
the most important lesson I learned is to never lose sight of what’s
most important. I lost a lot of sleep in the aftermath of the earthquake
and tsunami. So did our associates and our dealers. And we all sweated
the massive impact to our business.
But none of that matters much
when compared to the devastation to the lives, environment and economy
of Japan. Too often when things go wrong, we immediately focus on what
it means for
me. I think we all do that. I’m probably guilty of
it too. But three years later our Canadian business has responded very
well, but much devastation remains in Japan and will for decades. I’ll
never lose sight of that.
Jerry Chenkin is president and CEO of Honda Canada Inc. (@HondaCanada).
Source;
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/leadership-lab/honda-canada-ceo-how-to-lead-when-absolutely-everything-goes-wrong/article20618136/
