BY PIERRE GAGNON
Former CEO, Mitsubishi Motors
of North America
My years at Saturn and Mitsubishi taught me that inclusive leadership is one of the most powerful tools in business today. The command and control model of management is now obsolete. In today's complex business environment, there has never been a greater need for including others in critical decisions. Yet, I have found very few business leaders who are comfortable with the notion of deciding by consensus. They feel they are giving up power and prestige. Having used the consensus approach for more than a decade, I strongly believe that consensus decision making yields higher-quality and higher-commitment decisions. It is not, however, a process that is easily implemented. To make it work, a leader must have a deep-rooted, fundamental belief that broader participation in decision making yields much higher-quality decisions and incredibly faster execution. I was fortunate to learn the process at Saturn, but truly experienced the unbelievable power of consensus at Mitsubishi.
When I arrived at Mitsubishi in April 1997, I found a fragmented company with an unclear brand identity, disappointing product quality, and an adversarial relationship with dealers. It's no wonder the company had lost money for ten consecutive years in North America. I was informed a month after joining the company that the Japanese parent company was seriously considering pulling out of America. Needless to say, I felt an enormous sense of urgency to change the business fundamentals of the U.S.-based company. We immediately formed twelve change teams to tackle the critical areas of the business, from product quality to brand development. I urgently needed to fully leverage the talents of the best and brightest in the organization. I needed to make them part of the solution, not part of the problem. I needed their buy-in in order to execute faster. We were running out of time. That's when I was introduced to Larry Dressler. The author was tireless and relentless in helping us implement a consensus decision-making process.
Our first session with the Regional Marketing Council took 36 hours to reach consensus on a dramatically new direction. Larry was masterful in facilitating the entire session. Somehow he was able to extract the best ideas and inspire everyone to seek the best possible outcome for the company. He uncovered hidden agendas, crafted proposals, and led us to consensus. A high level of commitment ensued, and the rest is history. Looking back, it was our toughest session in the entire change process.
Larry subsequently implemented the consensus decision model in all twelve change teams and the newly formed National Dealer Advisory Board. It was amazing to see the process work. By putting the right people in the room to have the right conversations and to go beyond agreeing-to actually commit together-we experienced the power of consensus building. Mitsubishi Motors' North American operations subsequently flourished with five consecutive record years of profits, increasing revenue by 94 percent and establishing all-time sales and market share records. We went from making decisions in a vacuum and operating in silos to a company that was unified, aligned, effective, and profitable.
Consensus Through Conversation: How to Achieve High-Commitment Decisions was written by an author who has real-life experience in planning and implementing a consensus decision-making process at a major automotive company and in many other diverse settings. Not only does Larry Dressler fully understand the concept, he knows what it takes to implement the process in a real-world situation. The author offers a comprehensive, step-by-step process to effectively implement consensus decision making in your organization.
If you're looking for higher-quality decisions, increased trust, faster execution, and higher commitment, then this process is for you. It's my hope that in reading this book, you go beyond creating more effective meetings and better deliberation through more meaningful conversation. I hope you use the principles and practices described in this book to fundamentally change the culture in your organization or community. It will set you apart from the pack.
