During a talk to students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business earlier this year, Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn shared some secrets of his success – offering key insights into his brand of leadership, as well as rich advice for the future generation.
The talk focused on Ghosn’s success in fuelling Nissan’s growth, as he took the Japanese company from 2.6 million car sales in 1999 to 5.1 million in 2013.
Ghosn said that leaders need to be bold and ready to break with traditions. This philosophy may go against theoretical lessons learned in the classroom, but sometimes extreme situations call for extreme solutions. When he arrived at Nissan, he took the courageous decision to shut down several plants – even though this was contrary to Japanese culture.
Using internal resources is also extremely important. According to Ghosn, the best way to find solutions is to interview the people responsible for key processes. It’s more effective to use their knowledge and get employees onboard than take on external consultants.
Finally, Ghosn cited the Renault-Nissan Alliance as an example of how partnerships can be more powerful than mergers. By maintaining the individual and cultural identity of each partner, the Alliance benefits from their combined strengths and diversity.
Read more about Ghosn’s talk here.
