In this edition of the Managerial Excellence Masterclasses, we had the honor of welcoming Christophe Prévost, Commercial Director of Peugeot France. With him, we explored a hot topic: how to lead in the storm and how leadership must evolve in the face of crises. How do you lead your teams in an uncertain environment? Here are the key takeaways from this fascinating session:
Leading in Chaos: Accepting Uncertainty
Christophe Prévost began by sharing his experience in Spain at the start of the health crisis. Faced with a completely unpredictable environment, he set up a daily meeting with his team, without a fixed agenda, allowing everyone to express themselves freely. The presence of a doctor in the factory provided medical validation for the discussions and encouraged open communication in an anxiety-inducing climate.
For Christophe, the most important thing for a leader during a crisis is to accept that we are in a chaotic world. One must be clear-sighted: there is a way out of the crisis, but its timeline is unknown. This acceptance allows one to adopt a vigilant mindset and positive tension, ready to make decisions while knowing they will need to evolve according to circumstances.
Explaining the Stakes and Providing Perspective
Christophe emphasized three essential points for managing during a crisis. Firstly, accept chaos and don’t delude yourself. Secondly, explain the stakes: why certain decisions are made, what the implications are for the company and for the teams. This transparency helps to give meaning to sometimes difficult decisions.
Thirdly, provide perspective: in the automotive industry, products are impactful and exciting. Every opportunity to talk about new models and upcoming technologies allows for looking beyond the period of difficulties. This forward-looking approach is essential for maintaining team engagement.
The Japanese Experience: Respect Without Submission
Christophe shared his experience in Japan, where he successfully repositioned Peugeot as a French luxury brand. The key to this success? Highlighting the European experience to explain that while the brands may be small in Japan, they are major players recognized by millions of customers in Europe. He taught his teams to have confidence, to distinguish respect from submission.
This experience taught him that respect and trust are the foundations of an effective managerial relationship, even across different cultures. The parallels with crisis management are numerous: staying calm, remaining factual, working as a team, explaining the stakes, and providing perspective.
Motivating Sales Teams When Everything Collapses
A major challenge of the crisis was motivating sales teams as sales plummeted and variables collapsed. Christophe explained that it was necessary to change the paradigm: instead of focusing solely on deliveries (which were no longer under control), the emphasis was placed on generating orders for the future.
Network engagement methods were reoriented towards taking orders from end customers rather than focusing on delivery. Incentives were brought closer to the sales act itself, valuing business generation for the future, even if deliveries occurred later.
The Key Role of Middle Management
Middle management played an absolutely essential role during the crisis. Regional directors, being very close to the field, allowed for quickly identifying the levers to act upon rather than getting lost in secondary ones. Their expertise and proximity were crucial for making quick decisions, based on experience and intuition.
This period required many more sure bets: deciding to launch a commercial operation, implementing it, then quickly gathering information to know if we were on the right track. This agility allows for correcting course and accepting that sometimes mistakes were made, while keeping momentum.
Keeping Momentum: Maintaining Active Muscles
A key phrase from Christophe: “keep the momentum”. Even in the thickest fog, it’s essential to maintain momentum. He shared a mistake he made in Spain: removing the concept of objectives. However, staying connected to achieving objectives is essential, even if these objectives need to be adapted.
During lockdown, objectives were set for online orders and training with challenges, allowing everyone to remain in a state of positive stress. The analogy with sports is telling: like an athlete who continues to train even with an injury, it’s necessary to keep the muscles active. Some dealerships that completely closed had extreme difficulty getting back into rhythm upon reopening.
In a nutshell…
Here are the key takeaways from this Masterclass with Christophe Prévost:
Accept Chaos: be clear-sighted about uncertainty while maintaining a positive, vigilant mindset
Explain the Stakes: give meaning to decisions by explaining why they are made
Provide Perspective: project teams towards the future to maintain engagement
Keep Momentum: maintain momentum even in uncertainty, with adapted objectives
Value Middle Management: their expertise and proximity are essential during a crisis
As Winston Churchill, quoted by Christophe, said: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Don’t miss the next Masterclass!