All of this from only one man, Dennis DesRosiers. During one of my late night channel hopping excursions, my attention was immediately caught by the words of Mr. DesRosier during a Focus Ontario interview. He was matter-of-fact, to the point, provided information with facts and statistics and was easily recognized as someone who is not easily intimidated. His expertise in the auto industry is indisputable and he voices his concerns openly, including his opinion that the auto unions have been asleep for the past 20 years! In 1985 he founded DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc., the only consulting and market research company in Canada that specializes in the automotive sector. www.desrosiers.ca
Dennis DesRosiers is also recognized for supporting his home town of Windsor, Ontario and presented a speech, that Chris Schnurr posts on his blog in it’s entirety, http://chrisschnurr.wordpress.com. Chris Vander Doeler also writes about it in the Windsor Star along with numerous other articles if you search for Dennis DesRosiers, http://tinyurl.com/55vswa. During his Windsor speech, Mr. DesRosiers commented on leadership, acknowledging Lee Iacocca’s book, Where Have All the Leaders Gone?, which states that the principal role of leadership is to confront, understand and explain reality head on, to develop realistic and achievable strategies and solutions and to marshal the necessary resources for successful outcomes. The following are a few more of his comments and inspiring words:
“Confronting reality requires honesty and putting oneself at risk. That…my friends…is leadership – putting ourselves at risk.”
“It’s somewhat ironic that leaders who employ the strategy of not confronting reality to avoid failing, are in reality making failure more likely. When the ostrich sticks its head in the sand, which end is up? With one’s head in the sand how can other opinions and perhaps the best opinions be heard?”
“My Dad told me only one thing when I started my own company, he said, “Dennis, always hire people smarter than you.”
Further to his comments on leadership, Mr. DesRosiers introduces another issue, which is rarely addressed, one attributable to the lack of success that he refers to as an, “entitlement” culture. He said, “After many decades of strong employment and wages it is not surprising that an “entitlement” culture evolved. But an entitlement culture is troubling in a competitive global marketplace. Global players work for their market share; they are not entitled to anything. And acting like a ‘victim’ when you don’t get what you are ‘entitled’ to makes matters worse. …”Perpetual entitlement/victim-hood stifles the need for change… on the corporate side of the equation a belief that it is “just a matter of time” before what is rightfully yours will come back prevents companies from innovating with new processes and aggressively introducing and experimenting with new technology…On the political front…victim-hood is blaming your troubles on every other level of Government except your own…after all, ‘if only those Feds or those at Queen’s Park would help us everything would be all right’…!”
In my opinion Dennis DesRosier’s expertise goes far beyond the automotive industry!
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