Tag Archives: leadership

Drive your career like a Ferrari CEO – with curiosity, passion and reading

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Marco Mattiacci was 29 and working for a consulting firm in London when a recruiter for Ferrari called, asking if he would join the storied automaker. For an Italian man, working at Ferrari represented one of two dream careers, he said. The other: the Italian national soccer team.

So he quickly accepted and was sent to South America for “an incredible opportunity” to bring the sexy two-seaters to Brazilians and Argentinians. “I had a decent knowledge of English and a decent knowledge of Spanish,” Mattiacci said. From that sales job, his career has raced forward. At 40, he has served as CEO of Ferrari North America for almost two years.  Recently, I was fortunate to interview him for a Fortune magazine piece on personal branding and careers; some outtakes and extras are offered here.

“There is definitely not a Coca-Cola formula to succeeding in life,” he told me. Still,  he has his own secret sauce: “I think curiosity is what makes the difference, and listening.”

His ideas for career success do not mandate driving a Ferrari, and as the father of three – a 2-year-old and newborn twins born Oct. 27 – he doesn’t tool around in one every day  either.  But Mattiacci does expect hard work and dedication. Here then are five approaches to make your career shine as brightly as a new red Ferrari, from Marco Mattiacci:

  1. Cultivate curiosity.   ” Your mind is always open. and your ears are open to listen,” he told me. Listen to a wide variety of people – including many  in fields very different from yours, such as the orchestra leaders and software industries. That creates cross fertilization. “The more you know, the more you understand: You don’t know that much,” he said. So read books and newspapers every day – including the New York Times and Foreign Affairs Review. ”I like to be challenged,” he said.
  2. Be open to opportunities.  “The best things in life arrive to you,” he said, comparing it to a surfer who watches and waits for just the right wave to ride. When it does, you must know you’re prepared and also prepare for a learning curve, Mattiacci said.

3. Grab international experience. It’s stimulating and helps you understand people unlike you. “We are an interconnected world. Have experience abroad,” he recommends.

4. Develop an entrepreneurial mindset.  “Be an entrepreneur in the way to manage your job,” he said. “Execution is fundamental” and so are the relationships with staff and customers.

5. Mix passion and humility.  Despite his success for Ferrari in China and Asian, he wakes up with the idea: “There is someone better than me that can aspire to take my job. ” He also sees the global market for cars and talent as “so competitive.” This forces him to work very hard, and to see ways to adapt and learn.  The passion piece is important because it creates momentum. “When you do things with passion, you do things 120 percent,” said Mattiacci.

Like Ferrari, he appreciates and embraces the idea that being highly selective, authentic and true to core values works for individual as well as automotive success

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Marco Mattiacci prefers books on business, history – especially ancient Rome and Greece – as well as biographies and personal improvement books. Here are a few he recommends:

·         The Rational Optimist By Matt Ridley

·         The Last Place on Earth  By Roland Huntford

·        Caesar’s Legion By Stephen Dando-Collins

·         The Ascent of Money By Niall Ferguson  (link goes to PBS two-hour program based on the book)

·         Memoiries D’Hadrien  By Marguerite Yourcenar (French tile of a book about a Roman emperor)

·         The Culture Code  By Clotaire Rapaille

 

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5 career and leadership lessons from Rise of Planet of the Apes

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Very few of us spend our days in a pharmaceutical research laboratory watching the reactions of chimps and apes for clues whether a wonder drug could cure Alzheimer’s. Fewer still end up taking home a super-intelligent young simian, as the scientist and co-star does in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Yes, this new movie by director Rupert Wyatt is science fiction and it’s far afield from our 9 to 5 experiences. Yet it contains lessons that may apply in most workplaces, and for anyone who’s eager to shine or move into a leadership role.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes offers some cautions on bending and breaking rules, both ethical and safety, and some insights on managing your ideas and team. Here’s five that I observed after seeing this film over the weekend:

  1. Sell your ideas with confidence. Scientist Will Rodman makes bold assertions to investors about his first big drug, called AOZ-112. He gives them an enthusiastic endorsement of its potential – though it had barely been tested. He also masterfully convinced his success-driven CEO to test a second compound later in the film. Perhaps to sway him more effectively, Rodman, played by James Franco, delays sharing a crucial detail – the drug may make you smarter and more capable, not just reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s. It’s not clear how much time he spent practicing before the investor meeting, but I’m betting he received some coaching. The lesson: Prepare to pitch your ideas, and hone your sales skills.
  2. Prepare for surprises. While you may never experience an angry ape breaking into your business presentation, you could suffer through many lesser disruptions and interruptions. Your laptop may freeze up; your assistant could be ill; a key decision-maker may run late or may be full of surprisingly tough questions. Anticipate what you’ll do in a variety of “surprise scenarios” and you’ll come off as polished and prepared, for almost anything. You may even want to develop an alternate script in case there’s a major problem or glitch.
  3. Know your moment to lead. Caesar, the super-smart ape, mostly seems content to live with Rodman, though he clearly grows more restless and eager to understand the world as he grows up. Once he is imprisoned for attacking a difficult neighbor, he unleashes his leadership abilities. He wants to escape – and bring along the other primates who are badly treated and bored. He enlists the biggest gorilla there and gradually develops a plan and a following. You may never lead such a dramatic escape but you can show leadership in tough times or when others waver. And you can seize on opportunities to take charge and offer valuable direction. To do this well, though, you must win the confidence of your peers beforehand.
  4. Move toward clear goals. Rodman wanted to develop a cure for Alzheimer’s, or a drug that would counteract its effects. Caesar wanted to create a home for himself and the other apes amid the redwoods where they could be free. They started with on a clear end in mind and stayed true to the goal – even when the scientist’s lab was disbanded and his project labeled a failure and even when Caesar was offered the chance to return to his human home. That make it or else mindset can prove powerful in achieving career successes – especially if you gain your boss’ backing on your goals.
  5. Beware of blurred boundaries. When the lines between work and family and your life become too blurred you may never find a peaceful moment. Or you could lose your objectivity or your ability to draw distinctions between personal and professional pursuits, as the scientist seemed to. This can lead to problems including ethical lapses and lost credibility. In the movie, Rodman ended up helping himself to the experimental drug because he believed it could help his father. He kept conducting research from home without approval of his bosses – and that could have cost him his job and his credentials. In today’s complex, overlapping world, it’s important to have clear ethical standards – and a personal rules that give you space for a personal life unfettered by work or career. Even if you integrate work and life seamlessly, sometimes you need boundaries and limits on each.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes captured my attention for its mix of humanity and technology, surprise, planning, action – and workplace dilemma and lessons.  What lessons did you pick up from it? What did you think of it?

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What do you mean by this? Why is this here? Questions rise up, clarify

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Question authority. Question your coworkers too.  Ask questions to achieve clarity and goals and solutions. Ask questions even if you’re the big boss – and especially if you’re a leader managing a team of exceptional specialists.

That’s the theme from my first story for Fortune.com , which is online this week. (I’ve written for Fortune magazine for almost a year – my latest piece on invisible promotions was out in early February.)

The story was prompted partly by a handful of business books that encourage more active questioning to achieve better ideas. Among them Brainsteering by  Kevin P. And Shawn T. Coyne; The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande and especially Seven Strategy Questions by Robert Simons, which inspired my Fortune.com story.

His questions are really intended for the brass at companies with hundreds of employees – not freelance writers who run a small seasonal ice cart to give teens jobs. But I still like two of them in particular: “How committed are your employees to helping each other? ” and “What critical performance variables are you tracking?” Simons, a professor at Harvard Business School, said the questions can lead to making great choices and a clearer shared vision and strategy for success.

I like that notion – for myself, my little company, Mity Nice and every leader. But I wrote the piece also as a visible reminder of the importance of curiosity for every career, from janitor to genius. After all, Albert Einstein said: “The important thing is not to stop questioning.  Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”

My curiosity almost never leaves me, and as a journalist it is an essential piece of whatever success I achieve. Here’s a small sampling of my favorite questions:

  • What are you the best at? Where can you really shine?
  • Why is that? Why is it important?
  • Please put that in context for me. What’s the trendline / back story?
  • Who else do I need to talk to to get the full story?
  • So what else do I need to know about this subject?

Of course, I love many of the questions posed by people inIn particular I listen to Nancy Hickey, chief administrative officer at Steelcase and her “If I had a magic wand to solve this problem, what would you like me to do with it?”

Maybe the magic wand is using great questions to delve deep into each other’s expertise and problem-solving abilities. How does that sound to you?

So what questions do you ask at work and at home that make you more effective or engaging? And how do you use questions as a worthwhile tool your job? What’s the one question you ask all the time?

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5 ways to keep your team engaged after their “invisible promotions”

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If you’re managing a team of people who have experienced invisible promotions, you need to be strategic in your leadership – and listen to Judy Gray.
Gray is president of the Florida Society of Association Executives and former chief of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce.  Her team has several people – including Gray herself – toiling with invisible promotions. She’s exhibit A in my new article in Fortune magazine on managing those heavy loads, but not all of her wisdom fit into that piece on ways workers can make the best of their expanded duties.

Gray had many things to say to managers, who must motivate and keep engaged those who are toiling with their job and another. Her advice works well in tight times but most of it will be just as rewarding even when you can resume the raises.

She believes courage and respect go a long way when all the promotions are invisible ones. “Crisis reveals character – yours and theirs,”  she said. So share the pains and burdens.

Here’s Gray’s five  other choice tips for managers:

  1. Be someone they respect. “Dig the well before you are thirsty. It’s easier to hear bad news if the person delivering it has been consistently fair to you over the years,” she said. “Exhibit managerial courage by doing what is right for the organization even when the repercussions can be crushing.” And join the budget diet along with your team.
  2. Open the books on your budget and finances. Let the team know your current and future financial prospects. Invite key staff to contribute to developing the budget so they see the challenges. Then give a review of income and expenses at least monthly.  If the numbers are very grim, expect staff departures – and seek to reassure the stars.
  3. Give them freedom, skip the micromanaging. If your team is tackling a ton of projects well, don’t watch the clock, don’t ask about three hour lunches that may include personal appointment and don’t nitpick or micromanage. Instead give them freedom to solve problems, set their own schedules and advance toward goals and success in ways that work for them — and you. Her crew has Fridays as work from home days.
  4. Appreciate and anticipate. Acknowledge that you are asking for a super-sized contribution. Then express your gratitude in big and small ways during the year – a handwritten thank you note, an afternoon off, being a raving fan with customers, officers, board members and their family members, or making a personal donation in their name to a charity of their choice.  Be supportive of their needs. Adjust deadlines if they need it. Ask often how you can help them.  And be clear that when good times come again, you will remember their sacrifice. It’s so important to communicate intent.  Let them know that when the money comes available, you will do what you can to make them whole.
  5. Expect some to leave. You value your team and give them as much as you can, yet some are destined for greater glory. So be prepared for some to depart now or eventually. When they do they may have gained enough experience to land a leadership job elsewhere – and be a valuable ally to you from their new gig.

The truth is no matter how hard you try, some staffers will grumble and groan and drag their feet when they are asked to take on more. Those are the ones who are unlikely to get a real promotion – and who may not even deserve to hold onto their job. .So use the tighter times  to rid your staff of the passively aggressive people and others who poison the culture, and come up with some creative ways to engage and reward those who are really promotion material.

To hear more from Judy, check out the Florida Society for Association Executives newsletter, which she now edits. Or follow the organization on Twitter .

My Fortune article on managing the invisible promotion is in the Feb. 7 issue, and just went online today. Let me know how you’re handling your invisible promotion and what tactics work for you.

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