Back to Management blogThe scene is Detroit, a training room at the headquarters of one of the three great US car companies. A group of corporate vice-presidents is attending a course being given by a distinguished management thinker.
“What you are telling us is great,” the VPs say, “but you are talking to the wrong level. You should be speaking to the next tier up.” The next week, working with more senior managers, he hears the same thing. “This is great, but you are talking to the wrong level. You should be speaking with the chief executive.”
The week after that, our thinker finally gets in to see the boss. “This is great,” the CEO says, “but you should be speaking with my subordinates – I’d need their support in order to do it.”
The remainder of this article can be read here. Please post comments below.
Ravi Mattu is the editor of 
Stefan Stern writes a weekly column on 
Lucy Kellaway writes a weekly column on 
Luke Johnson writes an FT column on 
