Jose Ruiz

A few years ago I had a conversation about change with Mike Osterling. My lean manufacturing mentor and consultant. The topic revolved around change management and how it became easier as an organization embraced constant change as part of its culture. My theory was that at some point there would be no need for change management if change became part of the culture and the operating environment. Mike respectfully disagreed.

At that point our discussion was focused on organizations that struggled with change and struggled adapting to a changing environment. A place in time where leaders had to nudged the members of their organization to rethink the way things were being done. Leaders pushed to reinvent the business and innovate. This was the period in time that made reengineering popular. The challenge of leadership was to make sure the team kept up with a changing environment.

Times are changing. Leaders beware: your challenge when it comes to change management is about to shift.

The generation that entered the workforce with the mindset of building a life long career with a steady hand in a corporation is at retirement age. Leadership positions are now being filled by the generation that challenged the status quo. A generation of leaders that learned to manage change and developed executive skills to push the previous generation towards innovation is gradually facing the challenge of managing a generation that does not know status quo. The dream of a culture of change has been realized. These coming generations are built on a higher rate of change.

Consider that everything we do is based on intervals. Everything we do is a cycle. From communication to our strategic planning. Those intervals are getting shorter.  Our main form of communication has gone from letters to emails to txt msgs. Our planning horizons are shorter. We are iterating faster. We correct faster.  Which is good right?  The next generation of executives is built on speed, multitasking and bursts. A generation that feels a phone call is restrictive because you can only carry one conversation at a time.

We are at the inflection where the challenge of change managment is going to shift from helping teams transition to keeping teams focused and helping them stay on track.

Am I getting old?

About Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc.

 The world’s premier provider of senior-level executive search and leadership consulting services. The firm’s executive recruiters and leadership experts operate from principal business centers in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific. In Mexico, Heidrick & Struggles operates offices in Mexico City and Monterrey. For more information about Heidrick & Struggles please visit www.heidrick.com

Leadership Change, Jose Ruiz, Leadership, Manufacturing, Mexico Executive Search, Recruiter, Recruiters

The manufacturing sector in Mexico is slowly getting stronger. Industrial production increased by 1.6% in December for the first time since 2008 fueled in great part by an increase in demand led by the U.S. which accounts for approximately 80% of manufacturing exports.

It is no surprise that the increase coincides with an improvement in the automotive industry that accounts for approximately 21% of Mexico’s total exports. In an interview with Bloomberg Ana Ruth Solano, the Economy Ministry official who oversees the automotive industry is predicting a 20% rise this year as local and U.S. demand rebounds after the great recession.

A big part of that increase might be coming from small cars. There is an increased appetite for smaller cars in the U.S and many of the car manufacturers are banking on the segment to help them through the next few years.  Mexico has been strong in the segment for many years and is well positioned to bank on the trend.  A large part of existing capacity is already focused on small cars and auto companies such as Fiat continue to invest.  Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne recently announced a 550M investment to produce up to 130,000 Fiat 500’s a year out of the Chrysler’s Toluca plant.

Solano also mentioned that Nissan is planning an investment to produce small cars, and may choose Mexico, but no announcement on the location has been made.

About Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc.

The world’s premier provider of senior-level executive search and leadership consulting services. The firm’s executive recruiters and leadership experts operate from principal business centers in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific. In Mexico, Heidrick & Struggles operates offices in Mexico City and Monterrey. For more information about Heidrick & Struggles please visit www.heidrick.com

Economy Automotive, Manufacturing, Mexico, Mexico Executive Search, Recruiter, Recruiters

Executive recruiters can usher you into the corner office or leave you stranded after the fourth interview. Here’s what to expect.

by Joseph Daniel McCool

Executive recruiters—or headhunters as most businesspeople know them—are especially influential agents of executive mobility and management-career opportunity.

They are powerful ambassadors of hiring organizations’ brands and cultures, and their work lubricates the wheels of corporate growth, change management, and leadership like no other external business advisers. Their actions can shape corporate performance, because they hold the keys to most of the world’s highest-paying management jobs by virtue of controlling access to them.

Collectively, executive recruiters network their way to millions of experienced managers around the world each year to identify the most promising candidates. Their judgment determines who deserves to be introduced to client hiring organizations.

The truth is, whether you’re building a company or your own senior management career, you can’t get anywhere in business without the headhunters.

| Read full article at Businessweek.com

Jose Ruiz is Principal and Executive Search Consultant in Heidrick & Struggles. You can share your views of this article or aything related to the manufacturing, maquiladora operations or executive search at: jruiz@heidrick.com

About Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc.

The world’s premier provider of senior-level executive search and leadership consulting services. The firm’s executive recruiters and leadership experts operate from principal business centers in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific. In Mexico, Heidrick & Struggles operates offices in Mexico City and Monterrey. For more information about Heidrick & Struggles please visit www.heidrick.com

Career Development, Mexico Executive Search Executive Recruiter, Manufacturing, Mexico, Mexico Executive Search, Recruiter, Recruiters, Retained

“You now have to decide what ‘image’ you want for your brand. Image means personality. Products, like people, have personalities, and they can make or break them in the market place.” – David Ogilvy

A lot has been said in the past few years about personal branding. A term introduced in the early 80´s by Al Ries and Jack Trout in their book: “Positioning: The Battle for your Mind”. In chapter 23 Ries and Trout point that you can benefit by using positioning strategy to advance your own career.  Key principle: “Don’t try to do everything yourself. Find a horse to ride”. And so the personal branding band wagon began to roll.

It’s a great concept and it’s a very valid concept: Build your career with focus. Define yourself. But somewhere along the way, as the bandwagon kept rolling, personal branding began to be defined as personal marketing and brand identity.  Somewhere along the way the focus was taken off building a career with focus and put on self promotion.

A great tool if you’ve planned your career, or even if you have hit a few bumps along the road but understand how you want to position yourself.

A very bad idea if you have not done the homework to define your personal offering. Social media has made this a very dangerous proposition for those with a bad or undefined ‘product’ and just following the trend of self promotion on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN.

Some of the personal branding efforts I’ve seen remind me of not following one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten in my career.  It came on my first sales call shadowing my boss.  Before stepping into a meeting he leaned over and told me “Just remember: It’s better to stay quiet and let them think that you are clueless, than opening your mouth and confirming it”. Not that I’ve always followed it. But I’m sure you get the point.

Your brand identity is about what you want to communicate about yourself. It’s tricky because the bulk of it is not explicit.

Personal branding is about how everything you do: every job, every social and personal endeavor will define who you are and what you can offer in the next step of your career. You can’t go wrong if you focus on that.

Career Development, Economy, Job Market, Mexico Executive Search Executive Recruiter, Jose Ruiz, Mexico, Mexico Executive Search, United States, US