David Goldsmith - Leading the Charge: Paid to Think

What you should know about your Paid to THINK Single

Here are a couple of tips you should know now about the Paid to THINK Single. The Paid to THINK Single is being offered to decision makers as an educational tool, designed from a long history of people seeking to use portions of content in their quests to do their jobs better. Over the years, countless leaders have received and utilized single chapters from Paid to THINK effectively to solve certain challenges and create opportunities, and now they are available to you, too.

Although each Paid to THINK Single stands on its own as a proven educational resource, be aware that within the content of certain Paid to THINK Single books, you may come across references to other Paid to THINK Singles or to the full edition of Paid to THINK. In these instances, you may want a full edition of Paid to THINK on hand to clarify terminology and concepts not fully described in this particular Paid to THINK Single.

Regardless, leaders and managers have used Paid to THINK Singles as cost-effective means of sharing information with other leaders and/or stakeholders. For instance, if you want to get six managers and 34 group members up to speed on a particular topic rapidly, you dont have to purchase 40 copies of Paid to THINK and ask everyone to read only one chapter within the larger book. Instead, you can economically teach your people by simply securing six copies of Paid to THINK for your leadership team and 34 copies of a Paid to THINK Single and achieve the same outcome!

Paid to THINK Singles offer additional value to people working in NGOs (non-governmental organizations), NPOs (non-profit organizations), and in emerging markets where the need for leadership information is great but where budgets may not be ample enough to cover pricey educational tools and methods. Luckily, Paid to THINK Single gives more people the opportunity to learn and develop..

Paid to THINK Singles make great gifts, and theyre convenient for those who dont want a full book. Whatever your purpose in choosing a Paid to THINK Single, youll find it to be an economical and easy way to learn.

This book is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information about business and leadership. Neither the author nor the publisher is engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services, by publishing this book. If any such assistance is required, the services of a qualified financial professional should be sought. The author and publisher will not be responsible for any liability, loss, or risk incurred as a result of the use and application of any information contained in this book.

This book contained single-subject material from the book Paid to THINK. Content within this Paid to THINK Single, therefore, does not necessarily cover all the terminology or descriptive material referenced within that pertains to the comprehensive resource Paid to THINK.

Copyright 2012 by David Goldsmith

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

BenBella Books, Inc.

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Dallas, TX 75231

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Printed in the United States of America

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this title.

978-1-937856-52-6

Editing by Lorrie Goldsmith

Copyediting by Shannon Kelly

Proofreading by Cape Cod Compositors, Inc. and Rainbow Graphics

Indexing by Barbara Holloway, WordCo Indexing Services, Inc.

Cover design by Jelena Mirkovic

Text design and composition by Maria E. Mendez, Neuwirth & Associates, Inc.

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ON A SUMMER HOLIDAY DRIVE to Toronto, the city where he grew up, Sergio Marchionne scanned the highway looking at design features of other cars. The year was 2009, and only months earlier, the championed CEO credited with Fiats stunning turnaround had been appointed to do the same for one of Detroits Big Three automobile manufacturers, the financially distressed Chrysler. On this day, even though he wasnt in the office, Marchionnes thoughts turned to the daunting project before him: how to manage Fiats new joint venture alliance with Chrysler and pull the latterwhich had experienced a severe 25% sales drop in 2008out of its downward spiral. Pinpointing the winning design features of competitors vehicles and combining them with Fiats technologies for fuel-efficient engines would help his team of product-design engineers back at Chrysler. However, Marchionne also knew that any contribution he brought to new product development would be a mere fraction of what he needed to accomplish in order to turn Chrysler around.

When he had first taken his post as CEO, Marchionne found himself strategizing about his next best steps as the leader of Chrysler. A year before, external stakeholders like the U.S. government had been less than impressed with Chrysler and its CEO at the time. Now that Fiat had brought a 35% ownership and new leadership into the mix, Marchionne had the task of selling himself as a credible leader to Chryslers other two owners, the U.S. government and the United Auto Workers union (UAW). In addition, Chrysler now owed billions of dollars in loans to the U.S. and Canadian governments. Marchionne had to be the capable front man who would deliver on Chryslers impending successnot only to investors but also to the millions of potential consumers who were watching. Armed with his auto-industry Wildly Successful Project, or WSP (Fiats success), and a background in finance and law, Marchionne intelligently outlined his strategy and tactics, earning the trust and cooperation of the external stakeholders.

Internally, Marchionne had many challenges to address, perhaps none so pressing as updating Chryslers outmoded product line. His predecessor had left only four new vehicle design models in the pipeline for the next few years, not nearly enough for a major player to survive on in the auto industry. Immediately, Marchionne wanted everyone to know that Chrysler, under his watch, was going to nourish its product pipeline. To show how serious he was about this change, he made bold statements with his actions that were touted in media outlets around the world. Rather than move into the traditional executive suite on the fifteenth floor of Chryslers And after taking the aforementioned trip to Toronto, Marchionne took additional measures with his engineering and design staff to revamp the product line and make more fuel-efficient vehicles that were better aligned to increasing global fuel costs.

In addition to being personally available and involved, Marchionne wanted his team of people to have the tools, financing, and authority to do their jobs optimally. He empowered his CFO to approve operational funding requests under a million U.S. dollars, asking to be informed of requests exceeding that amount. He had capable people on staff, so as their leader, he only needed to ensure that he was building the systems and structures necessary to foster their success.