GM's top management team

Guest Blog:

Guest post today is by Michael A. Roberto, Trustee Professor in the Department of Management, School of Business, Bryant University.  Michael hosts a blog of his own [Professor Michael Roberto's Blog, Musings about Leadership, Decision Making, and Competitive Strategy] and it is well-worth checking out and following.  He and I share slightly different perspectives on the GM debacle...he from the perspective of a management strategy expert, I from the POV of a marketing guy.  I'm very pleased to share his blog today with you!  

Fortune's current issue has a great series of articles about GM's turnaround attempt. The article has an interesting chart about the management team assembled by CEO Fritz Henderson. An amazing stat that I calculated from the chart: the average tenure of a senior team member is 28 years! The shortest tenure is 8 years, but three members have been at the firm for at least 40 years!!! Aren't these the same folks responsible for getting GM to this point? It's hard to believe GM can chart a new course with a team that lacks fresh blood. These may all be good people but shouldn't a leader bring in some people with new and divergent perspectives in this circumstance? A leader always benefits from having some advisers who think differently and who look at things from a different vantage point.