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Roberto Pini
Italy
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From Dictatorial to Inspirational Leadership
The day I traded my suit and tie for blue jeans and work gloves and showed up at work to help load company trucks, my employees thought I’d gone nuts.
I run a very typical, family-owned Italian business, owned by my family for generations. I’m the fourth generation to take the helm as CEO. Our company has always been successful, but especially since I took over some 20 years ago. I’ve been a very effective and efficient CEO – always pushing my workers, always pushing to expand the bottom line.
Although my company was enjoying tremendous success and expanding into new markets, when I participated in The Landmark Forum, I began to question my aloof and dictatorial management style. The truth was that I felt disconnected from the people who worked with me and for me. I was the one dictating the rules. I never really thought about what it was like for my employees and I began to see that our corporate culture was one where people were simply marking time, rather than being passionate about our goals.
I began to see the possibility of diving into my employees' world and looking at the business from their perspective. I began to see the employees as people with real concerns, real families. In The Landmark Forum, I saw the opportunity of real partnership and began to envision myself as a true leader, bringing people together as a unified force. I stopped distancing myself.
After The Landmark Forum, I began to ask myself questions: What was it like to work for me? What would motivate and inspire my employees? What would be helpful to them? Just by asking the questions, appropriate actions became apparent. It’s an on-going process, this question of how to create true partnership, how to be a good leader. It’s not finding the answers, but engaging in the questions that make it more interesting.
That’s why I cancelled all my appointments for an entire month, stashed my suit and tie, and worked side-by-side with my employees on the loading docks. Were they suspicious? Initially, yes. Gradually they really began to trust me and to see that my changes were authentic. Together, we have created a remarkable partnership. Now, instead of me just leading this company to greater profits, it's a team effort – a team in which everyone is important and everyone operates from a sense of ownership.
Roberto Pini is the CEO of Pini Fratelli Distributione, based in
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