By many standards, he didnt look like a great leader. Early pictures of Konosuke Matsushita show an unsmiling young man whose ears stick out like airplane wings. He never grew taller than five feet five inches nor weighed more than 135 pounds. Unlike his rival Akio Morita at Sony, he was neither charismatically handsome nor internationally recognized. Unlike most well-known Western politicians, he didnt excel at public speaking, and in his later years his voice grew increasingly frail. He rarely displayed speed-of-light intellectual skills or warmed an audience with hilarious anecdotes. Nevertheless, he did what all great leaders do -- motivate large groups of individuals to improve the human condition. When he died in the spring of 1989, his funeral services were swamped with a crowd of over twenty thousand. In a telegram of condolences to the family, the president of the United States called him an inspiration to people around the world. His legacy is daunting. After World War II, Matsushita was one of the central figures who helped lead the Japanese economic miracle. Through Panasonic and other brands, the firm he founded supplied billions of people with household appliances and consumer electronics. By the time of his death, few organizations on earth had more customers. Revenues hit a phenomenal $42 billion that year, more than the combined sales of Bethlehem Steel, Colgate-Palmolive, Gillette, Goodrich, Kellogg, Olivetti, Scott Paper, and Whirlpool. On some dimensions, his economic achievements exceed those of much more famous entrepreneurs -- including Henry Ford, J. C. Penney, and Ray Kroc . Yet because his name is not on the products, like Honda or Ford, because he was not an American in the American century, and because he never aggressively sought media attention outside of Japan, he is still largely unknown beyond his native land. His incredible successes generated billions of dollars in wealth which were used not for villas in France but for the creation of a Nobel Prize-like organization, the founding of a school of government to reform Japans political system, and a number of other civic projects. During his later years, he wrote dozens of books, studied human nature with a small group of research associates, and prodded his government to do more for the citizenry. There are those who accumulated larger personal fortunes. There could be others who built even bigger enterprises or who made equally large contributions to their countries. But overall, it is difficult to find 20th-century entrepreneurs or executives with a longer list of accomplishments. And as an inspirational role model, he is without peer. The small actions so defied stereotypes of rich and powerful industrialists that they became the subject of folklore. A typical story: in 1975, Morimasa Ogawa and five other division general managers were invited to have lunch with their firms founder. At this point in Matsushitas life, he had already been on the cover of Time magazine and was regularly being reported to pay more income taxes than anyone else in Japan. Because Ogawa had little contact with The Great One, he looked forward to the luncheon with both excitement and some trepidation. The setting was a restaurant in Osaka. The six men met shortly past noon. After greetings and small talk, everyone ordered steak. Matsushita had two glasses of beer while telling stories about the business and the history of the company. When all six finished the main course, Matsushita leaned over to Ogawa and asked him to find the chef who cooked his steak. He was very clear on this point: Not the manager, the chef. Ogawa then noticed that Matsushita had only eaten hall of his entree. Preparing himself for what could be an extremely awkward scene, Ogawa found the chef and brought him to the table. The cook arrived looking distressed, for he knew that the customer who had summoned him was an exceptionally important person. Is there anything wrong? asks a nervous chef. Youve gone to all the trouble of broiling the steak, says Matsushita, but I could eat only hall of it. Its not because its not good. Its quite delicious. But, you see, Im eighty years old and my appetite isnt what it once was. The chef and five other diners exchange confused expressions. It takes everyone a few seconds to realize what is happening. I asked to talk to you, Matsushita continues, because I was afraid you might feel bad if you saw the half-eaten steak back in the kitchen. Even the most rapacious businessmen occasionally show a kind side, usually as a manipulation. What is remarkable about Matsushita is the sheer volume of theses acts which, in combination with his many accomplishments, the public loved. Surveys showed that he was more admired than movie stars and professional athletes. In an age when successful business executives throughout the world are sometimes looked upon with suspicion or even contempt, he died a national hero in Japan - .
Posted on: Sat, 05 Apr 2014 00:46:16 +0000
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