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What takes priority in the business world when you're leader of the gang - so to speak? Is it dealing with the nitty-gritty before attacking the bigger picture or is it the other way around... letting the little things look after themselves while addressing the wider issues? These are the kind of decisions which face captains of industry day in, day out. In many ways, prioritising - working out what is the most necessary thing to tackle first and aligning each following task in order of importance - defines our very existence. Believe me, as a journalist and in my many years of reporting on the motorsports industry, I have had to prioritise hundreds of times. Sometimes it's because I have had to wire a story to a daily newspaper but at the same time have heard I can conduct a rare interview with a racing driver I've been trying to tie down for ages. What takes priority? It's the interview first because, as a freelancer, this could lead to future commissions and then it's forget grabbing a bite to eat even though the old stomach's grumbling and tackle the story for wiring. In my world it's a no-brainer but in the wider, corporate environment that many people walk in - an environment where it's not easy to see the wood for the trees - how does a CEO prioritise? I've asked a few important people this question, including Dany Bahar, who, as you know, is CEO of Group Lotus. At the moment, Dany's whole life is juggling priorities. He's thinking on his feet as he moves from one meeting to another, his eye on his watch the other on the balance sheets or the notes for the next meeting. It's no secret that he's in the midst of an upside down world where the sale of the iconic car company is still uncertain. No one's actually spilling the beans just yet: executives from both Group Lotus and the Malaysian parent company Proton continue to deny that the company is about to be sold. Genii Capital meanwhile, the Luxembourg based investment management and financial advisory company, is said to be completing a due diligence of Group Lotus by late March. A due diligence normally precedes a possible purchase and a Genii acquisition would complement its other investment interests in the world of F1. While the waiting drags on for Dany, he has to prioritise greatly. He has to continue working the five year plan which was set down for him when he joined Group Lotus as head some three years ago. His brief was to turn around the loss-making sports car maker and engineering company and was tasked with producing five new Lotus models in as many years. He was well on his way until rumours started leaking out that Lotus could be up for sale following the purchase of Proton Holdings by the Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom. Proton, if you recall, bought Lotus some 13 years ago. Where does Dany turn? His five year plan is running to schedule and budget with healthy advance sales for the new Exige and the new Evora GTE and, in addition, Lotus is about to start testing the prototypes of the new Esprit supercar. The guy's got a headache. Oh, and add to all this the fact that the 2012 F1 season kicks off in Australia on March 18 and the Lotus-Renault tie-up is making a strong thrust on the track this season... The mind boggles at just how Dany can handle all the balls in the air at the same time and still emerge with his characteristic boyish grin. I asked him how he handled it all when I grabbed a coffee with him just a few days ago. "Ah, prioritisation is the word," he told me. "I think being able to prioritise effectively is the key for anyone in business and not only in the office - you need to prioritise work and home life too in order to get a sense of balance," he explained, adding: "That's the theory anyway, but in practice it's very often a different story. I don't know anyone in my position who complains about having too much time. There's never enough and I always feel I'm compromising to some degree." Knowing that Dany and his lovely wife Annett have three little boys, the youngest still a baby, then that compromising must be pretty monumental at the moment for him as he wades through his days at work and at home. "As an organisation, Lotus is going through such an intense period of change, each individual department is affected and each responsible director believes that it is his or her area which is the most important. They fight for their causes and, as the boss, I have to try and take a very pragmatic view and prioritise budget and time accordingly. This doesn't always go down well, but there's mutual respect and trust," he confided. Group Lotus has a workforce of around 2,000 which is recognised as amongst the finest in the car industry. Bahar is the motivator but readily admits he's not the only one who makes things happen. "I have a unique perspective being involved in so many things across the business but I'm not frightened to seek advice on prioritising. That's where the Lotus Advisory Council is crucial," Dany said. "These guys have so much experience between them and even they don't agree all the time but they do give me such insight," he added. Even I as an old motorsports 'hack' have to admit that the guys on the Lotus Advisory Council are indeed the crème de la crème of the automotive industry - guys I consider as icons. They are Bob Lutz, Tom Purves, Professor Dr Burkhard Göschel and Frank Tuch, who were joined just last August by race car design legend Gordon Murray. What a line-up of people to work with! But back to Bahar. He's a man who loves a challenge and who is not afraid to fight for what he thinks is right and fair and, while he and the world's motorsports' journalists await a decision on the next chapter in the story of Lotus, he'll continue to prioritise to keep his five year plan well on track.
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Dany Bahar, Lotus, Prioritisation, CEO, Business, Work,
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