In every organisation, business leadership writes its own story of success or failure. And there are few companies that can escape the latter.. Fortune500, world-renowned start-ups, CEOs whose names need no introduction are at the centre of some of the worst mistakes in the history of business..
Volkswagen, Apple, Netflix...? Yes, they also appear on this list of failures of business leadership that could have cost their businesses their future.
When business leadership is the problem
Lack of vision, overconfidence, haste, or ignorance are behind a few stories of failure where the main ingredient is a precarious business leadership. While it is true that many of the leaders listed below are most notable for the right decisions they made during their careers, it is also true that their mistakes made the news.
Take note of the failures of business leadership that should never be committed in your company:
- VolksWagen: Martin Winterkorn, the company's CEO, did not like to lose. A demanding boss who abhorred failure fostered a culture of fear. His style of business leadership authoritarianism fostered an unhealthy climate, fuelled by the setting of ambitious targets. Thus, when developing the diesel engine that became so famous during 2015, its technology failed to meet the required emissions standards, software was installed to pass the tests, covering up the problem rather than solving it. 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide quantify the magnitude of a mistake that could have been avoided.
- Microsoft: Bill Gates is a visionary and no one can doubt that. However, ignoring some business areas and its competition, weakened the effectiveness of its business leadership model, in the late 1990s. It was in that decade that Google replaced MSN Search as the first choice search engine for most internet users. Thus, Although Microsoft introduced Bing in 2009, it has never managed to catch up with what was once not even a competitor..
- Apple: haste is not a good counsellor and, when it comes to business leadership, caution is the best ally. Apple CEO Tim Cook made the mistake of launching Apple Maps in 2012 without making sure the product was finished. Accuracy issues, missing basic points of interest or image quality flaws are just some of the drawbacks that users encountered.. The launch of the application in that state caused confusion and anger among consumers, calling into question the professionalism of the brand. Although, in this case, loyal customers continued to trust Apple despite the mistake, it should be noted that, in the case of other businesses, the ending would not have been so happy.
- Netflix: business leadership has to be aware that the customer has been placed at the centre of the business.. This lesson was learned by Reed Hastings when, in 2011, he made a failed attempt to separate the DVD section of the company's streaming service, creating a separate site that he named Qwikster. Just one month was enough to notify 800,000 unsubscribers who felt that the new policy took away flexibility and increased the complexity of Netflix's proposition. This confirmed to them that, although the new website was launched as a way to make it more convenient for users to access DVDs, in making this decision they had forgotten to consult the customer.
Surely mistakes like these have no place in your business leadership style if you learn from them without going through the experience these CEOs went through first-hand.
