”It`s a jungle out there,” the familiar expression goes, and the only way to compete, particularly in the business world, is through jungle warfare. So says David J. Rogers, who in ”Waging Business Warfare” (Scribner`s)
advises business leaders to apply lessons learned on the battlefield to the corporate boardroom.
Q-You write that one of the basic principles of warfare is maintaining your objective. Why is that so important?
A-It`s what separates successful companies from those that are less successful. Successful companies have just one, two or, at most, three objectives that they`re trying to achieve. If you ask the chief executive officer of a successful company what that company is all about, he can sum it up for you in two sentences. If you ask his managers, they`ll give you the same two sentences. In contrast, in less successful companies, every person you ask will tell you something different.
Q-How important is good leadership?
A-It`s vital. The objective must be set, and then it`s gained through leadership. Often when we speak of corporations, we forget that we`re really talking about the executives who run the company and determine its strategy. A mediocre firm can become great, virtually overnight, because of a new CEO who has the right insights about the marketplace and knows how to compete and inspire people. An example is Victor Kiam of Remington. He bought a company that had lost $100 million in the previous three years and turned it into a dominant force in two years. It`s the same company, with the same personnel, selling the same electric shaving products. The only difference is Kiam himself and the leadership he has provided.
Q-What are the qualities of a good leader?
A-The first is the urgent need to compete, to take action. You can`t win without going on the offensive. Then you`ve got to be able to act even in
”the fog of war,” which is the condition in which all business people find themselves. They never have enough information, but business geniuses move forward anyway. They also have a decisive style of leadership; they make decisions and don`t deviate from them, but they can change in midstream if they have to. They`re extremely flexible.
Q-Can a company overplan?
A-It`s the sickness of American corporations. For years we`ve taught people to plan for any contingency. What happens is that they`re unable, as business leaders, to respond to conditions as they change in the marketplace. A competitive company has an objective and a basic idea of how to achieve it. Companies that overplan are losers. We have to train managers not to plan but how to see an opportunity and seize it.
