The Smith Brother : A Low-Key Approach to Gaining - and Keeping - Organizational Power

The smith Brother : A low-key approach to gaining--- and keeping--- organizational power

Two brothers who have both been CEOs of major companies? That certainly a rarity in the modern world of business. But it is exactly the situation for the smith brother. John f , and Michael john was president and CEO of GM until 2000(today, he is group vice president of global Product Planning), while his brother mike was CEO of Hughes Electronics Corp , a leading telecommunication and satellite company that is owned by GM . So both have held powerful positions, indeed, But hoe, you may be wondering, did they both acquire so much power—and such high level of success? Was it because they lusted after power and focused their live in attaining it? People who know them well know disagree. they attribute the smiths’ rise to power more to their interest than to any powerful desire for power.

Long – time friends and acquaintances note that even as children, the smith brother showed tremendous interest in business. Sally Mahoney , who knew the smith brother and their parents, recall that as children, they loved to play board games, especially Monopoly, “ I can just remember them stacking up those hotels and houses. Money was always very interesting to them,” she notes. And the smiths themselves were aware of this interest from childhood on. “We like business. We grew up in a business-oriented family.” Michael Smith says.

Although they attended different schools, the smith brothers were both described by people who knew them as bright, hard-working, and unassuming. “Ego doesn’t show,” says M. Hogland a retired GM executive who worked with both brother. “They are great guys to work around and obscure, where the king would be looking around for recognition,” says David Cole, director of the University of Michigan’s Center for the Study of Automotive Transportation. So, it does not appear that the smiths gained their power through organizational politics.  Instead, they seemed to acquire it naturally because other people liked, trusted, and respected them