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In the Driving Seat by Brand Pretorius
THE subtitle of this valuable book is “Lessons in Leadership”.
Scour the numerous autobiographies of prominent leaders and one theme dominates: How elegantly and smoothly they achieve their extraordinary success. From my exposure to business and business leaders, I know this to be a fabrication.
Success is never elegant, and it is never smooth. Professor and author Jeffrey Pfeffer suggests that this genre of business book is so misleading it should come with a warning: Reading this book can be hazardous to your career.
This book is the polar opposite and there are compelling reasons for reading it.
The first third of the book is the chronicle of the life, up to retirement of a visionary business leader. It covers Pretorius’ upbringing and early career. It covers his career in Toyota South Africa and his career at the helm of the McCarthy Motor Holdings, one of the top motor retailers in the world.
The account is complete with gruelling challenges. Some Pretorius overcame successfully, others not.
Eighteen months after leaving Toyota for McCarthy, the group chairperson, Brian McCarthy suggested that Pretorius “vacate his position” in the Motor group and move to a sister company within the group.
There, he would head up its in-house advertising agency; a significant and humiliating step down.This was a consequence of his disappointing financial results as well as the lack of team spirit at the executive level.
Pretorius requested the opportunity to prove his competence and McCarthy gave him six months to do so. Through introspection, he identified a set of shortcomings that were alienating him from his team. “I needed to change, and quickly too.”
Through this process, which must have been as challenging as it was humbling, he was able to self-correct and add real value to the company.
Later in his career at McCarthy, a vastly more challenging problem presented itself. Through no direct fault of the Motor division of the McCarthy Retail, the division was technically insolvent. It took two years of relentless difficulties before the company was recapitalised, and was given a second chance to rebuild itself.
The saga included a stint in court under harsh interrogation, promises of financial help that were withdrawn, and the responsibility of keeping the company going and staff morale high.
“Adversity not only reveals character, it also builds it…. It was a journey of self-discovery – in tough times we discover who we really are,” he concludes.
Under Pretorius’ stewardship, McCarthy grew superbly and was eventually acquired by Bidvest Group Limited for just under a billion rand. The Equity Research Department of Merrill Lynch described McCarthy as the best run dealer group in South Africa. Just three years previously, the company was fighting for survival.
The first third of the book is a credible account of a superb corporate manager. It is also a succinct, first-hand account of a slice of business life in South Africa.
In 1992, Toyota workers went on strike demanding what was clearly an unaffordable wage increase. The strike went on for 49 working days, one of South Africa’s longest strikes. In the same year, Pretorius was one of the businessmen who met with the ANC, discretely, to discuss business in the post-Apartheid era.
The second part of the book, the remaining two thirds, relates to the subtitle: Lessons in leadership.
Brand Pretorius is widely acknowledged by all who have had dealings with him as a remarkable leader and an outstanding person. Given that, what is so refreshing is that the “lessons in business” avoids the convention of teaching leadership by telling the reader to “watch me carefully and learn”.
Rather, it is a compendium of thoughtful insights on what should be done, with the occasional comment that he fell short on this issue.
The chapter that stood out for me has the title “The Experience: Business Lessons I Learnt.” It comprises 13 lessons Pretorius extracted from his business experiences, some learnt in the dead of the night while reviewing errors of judgement.
The first lesson is “the business world is tough. Don’t expect any favours, just get on with it.” Just how tough this can be is evident from the first part of the book, despite the fact that it is a chronicle of the business life of a widely acknowledged and successful business leader.
This thought alone should give comfort to the many business people. They could think they are the only ones who experience business as punishingly hard. Around the braai, it always sounds as if the others are “having it easy”.
The learning from this insight, Pretorius writes, is firstly not to “waste time feeling sorry for myself, and to accept that life is not always fair”. Most importantly, “the best way to overcome adversity is to invest one’s energy in corrective action”. He quotes the saying: “It is not about waiting for the storm to pass – it is about learning to dance in the rain.”
Lesson 7 is “Talented, knowledgeable and committed people make all the difference”. Pretorius admits that he did not always succeed at this and that in “some cases I was too patient, lenient, and forgiving”. I am sure that resonates with many in business.
To this he adds, “Even non-performers should be treated with respect and empathy,” the tone of fundamental decency that runs through all the lessons in the book.
While facilitating a strategy workshop this week, I had occasion to suggest to the executive group that they should find one book and work through it thoroughly and thoughtfully. I can think of no better book than this one for that purpose.
Readability Light -+--- Serious
Insights High +---- Low
Practical High -+--- Low
*Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy
THE subtitle of this valuable book is “Lessons in Leadership”.
Scour the numerous autobiographies of prominent leaders and one theme dominates: How elegantly and smoothly they achieve their extraordinary success. From my exposure to business and business leaders, I know this to be a fabrication.
Success is never elegant, and it is never smooth. Professor and author Jeffrey Pfeffer suggests that this genre of business book is so misleading it should come with a warning: Reading this book can be hazardous to your career.
This book is the polar opposite and there are compelling reasons for reading it.
The first third of the book is the chronicle of the life, up to retirement of a visionary business leader. It covers Pretorius’ upbringing and early career. It covers his career in Toyota South Africa and his career at the helm of the McCarthy Motor Holdings, one of the top motor retailers in the world.
The account is complete with gruelling challenges. Some Pretorius overcame successfully, others not.
Eighteen months after leaving Toyota for McCarthy, the group chairperson, Brian McCarthy suggested that Pretorius “vacate his position” in the Motor group and move to a sister company within the group.
There, he would head up its in-house advertising agency; a significant and humiliating step down.This was a consequence of his disappointing financial results as well as the lack of team spirit at the executive level.
Pretorius requested the opportunity to prove his competence and McCarthy gave him six months to do so. Through introspection, he identified a set of shortcomings that were alienating him from his team. “I needed to change, and quickly too.”
Through this process, which must have been as challenging as it was humbling, he was able to self-correct and add real value to the company.
Later in his career at McCarthy, a vastly more challenging problem presented itself. Through no direct fault of the Motor division of the McCarthy Retail, the division was technically insolvent. It took two years of relentless difficulties before the company was recapitalised, and was given a second chance to rebuild itself.
The saga included a stint in court under harsh interrogation, promises of financial help that were withdrawn, and the responsibility of keeping the company going and staff morale high.
“Adversity not only reveals character, it also builds it…. It was a journey of self-discovery – in tough times we discover who we really are,” he concludes.
Under Pretorius’ stewardship, McCarthy grew superbly and was eventually acquired by Bidvest Group Limited for just under a billion rand. The Equity Research Department of Merrill Lynch described McCarthy as the best run dealer group in South Africa. Just three years previously, the company was fighting for survival.
The first third of the book is a credible account of a superb corporate manager. It is also a succinct, first-hand account of a slice of business life in South Africa.
In 1992, Toyota workers went on strike demanding what was clearly an unaffordable wage increase. The strike went on for 49 working days, one of South Africa’s longest strikes. In the same year, Pretorius was one of the businessmen who met with the ANC, discretely, to discuss business in the post-Apartheid era.
The second part of the book, the remaining two thirds, relates to the subtitle: Lessons in leadership.
Brand Pretorius is widely acknowledged by all who have had dealings with him as a remarkable leader and an outstanding person. Given that, what is so refreshing is that the “lessons in business” avoids the convention of teaching leadership by telling the reader to “watch me carefully and learn”.
Rather, it is a compendium of thoughtful insights on what should be done, with the occasional comment that he fell short on this issue.
The chapter that stood out for me has the title “The Experience: Business Lessons I Learnt.” It comprises 13 lessons Pretorius extracted from his business experiences, some learnt in the dead of the night while reviewing errors of judgement.
The first lesson is “the business world is tough. Don’t expect any favours, just get on with it.” Just how tough this can be is evident from the first part of the book, despite the fact that it is a chronicle of the business life of a widely acknowledged and successful business leader.
This thought alone should give comfort to the many business people. They could think they are the only ones who experience business as punishingly hard. Around the braai, it always sounds as if the others are “having it easy”.
The learning from this insight, Pretorius writes, is firstly not to “waste time feeling sorry for myself, and to accept that life is not always fair”. Most importantly, “the best way to overcome adversity is to invest one’s energy in corrective action”. He quotes the saying: “It is not about waiting for the storm to pass – it is about learning to dance in the rain.”
Lesson 7 is “Talented, knowledgeable and committed people make all the difference”. Pretorius admits that he did not always succeed at this and that in “some cases I was too patient, lenient, and forgiving”. I am sure that resonates with many in business.
To this he adds, “Even non-performers should be treated with respect and empathy,” the tone of fundamental decency that runs through all the lessons in the book.
While facilitating a strategy workshop this week, I had occasion to suggest to the executive group that they should find one book and work through it thoroughly and thoughtfully. I can think of no better book than this one for that purpose.
Readability Light -+--- Serious
Insights High +---- Low
Practical High -+--- Low
*Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy
