HBR IdeaCast

Suddenly powerless in Tokyo prison after his arrest, Carlos Ghosn plans an audacious escape and flees Japan while out on bail. Out of reach of Japanese authorities, the once celebrated CEO of Nissan and Renault defends his legacy as he faces new investigations by French and other authorities.

In the final episode of a special, four-part series, host Curt Nickisch hears Carlos Ghosn’s side of the story and examines whether system failures contributed to his downfall. Who gave him this extraordinary power to run two global companies on different continents? What role did the corporate governance systems at Nissan and Renault play? What can we learn from his story?

NOTE: If you haven’t listened to the first, second, or third episodes yet, we recommend you start there. The series begins with episode 800 of the HBR IdeaCast podcast.

These episodes ask how Carlos Ghosn went from being one of the world’s most admired CEOs to a fugitive from criminal charges in Japan. What went right — and wrong — during his time leading Nissan and Renault? And what can we learn from it?

This special series is inspired and informed by the new book Collision Course: Carlos Ghosn and the Culture Wars that Upended an Auto Empire.

This episode was produced by Anne Saini. Contributing reporting from Tokyo by Collision Course coauthors Hans Greimel and William Sposato.

Editing by Scott Berinato, Maureen Hoch, and Adi Ignatius. Sound engineering by Tim Skoog. The team includes Sally Ashworth, Adam Buchholz, Rob Eckhardt, Ramsey Khabbaz, Scott LaPierre, Christine Liu, Melinda Merino, and Karen Player.

A decade into Ghosn’s tenure, Nissan starts missing his goals for growth, profits, and electric vehicle sales. Then a devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan and a self-made crisis at Renault in France test his leadership. Who is holding Ghosn accountable?

In part three of a special, four-part series, host Curt Nickisch explores the cracks that appear in Ghosn’s track record. Did his aggressive performance targets harm Nissan in the long run? Was Ghosn stretched too thin, running two global companies eight time zones apart? Was anyone pushing back on his decisions? And after two decades leading the Japanese and French automakers, what was Ghosn’s succession plan?

NOTE: If you haven’t listened to the first or second episodes yet, we recommend you start there. The series begins with episode 800 of the HBR IdeaCast podcast.

These episodes ask how Carlos Ghosn went from being one of the world’s most admired CEOs to a fugitive from justice. What went right — and wrong — during Ghosn’s time leading Nissan and Renault? And what can we learn from it?

This special series is inspired and informed by the new book Collision Course: Carlos Ghosn and the Culture Wars that Upended an Auto Empire.

This episode was produced by Anne Saini. Contributing reporting from Tokyo by Collision Course coauthors Hans Greimel and William Sposato.

Editing by Scott Berinato, Maureen Hoch, and Adi Ignatius. Sound engineering by Tim Skoog. The team includes Sally Ashworth, Adam Buchholz, Rob Eckhardt, Ramsey Khabbaz, Scott LaPierre, Christine Liu, Melinda Merino, and Karen Player.

When Japan’s most famous CEO is suddenly arrested, conflicts are revealed in the Renault-Nissan Alliance, the French and Japanese auto companies that he led for two decades. Then Carlos Ghosn jumps bail by stowing away in a private jet to Lebanon. His daring escape raises new questions about his alleged financial misconduct and the corporate system that kept him in power. What went right — and wrong — at Nissan? How did Carlos Ghosn go from being one of the world’s most admired CEOs to a fugitive from justice?

This first episode of a four-part special series tells the story of his dramatic turnarounds at Renault and Nissan. Host Curt Nickisch explores Ghosn’s successes, discovering insights on working across cultural divides, winning buy-in on painful changes, and using outsider status to your advantage.

This special series is inspired and informed by the new book Collision Course: Carlos Ghosn and the Culture Wars That Upended an Auto Empire.

This episode was produced by Anne Saini. Contributing reporting from Tokyo by Collision Course coauthors Hans Greimel and William Sposato.

Editing by Scott Berinato, Maureen Hoch, and Adi Ignatius. Sound engineering by Tim Skoog. The team includes Sally Ashworth, Adam Buchholz, Rob Eckhardt, Ramsey Khabbaz, Scott LaPierre, Christine Liu, Melinda Merino, and Karen Player.

Leslie John, associate professor at Harvard Business School, has done some deep research into the ways that people self-promote in their professional lives and identified what works and what doesn’t. She says it is possible tout your own accomplishments without annoying your colleagues, if you do it at the right time or enlist others to boast on your behalf. She notes that many common workarounds — such as humblebragging — are highly ineffective and advises people to not only look for more natural opportunities to self-promote but also try to present balanced views of themselves. She’s full of tips you can put to work, even in virtual settings. John is the author of the HBR article “Savvy Self-Promotion.”

Gorick Ng, career advisor at Harvard, tried to learn about the world of work at an early age, helping his mother search job listings and send out resumes. To launch his own career, he studied hard in school, secured an Ivy League education, and landed a plum job. But he still found himself struggling – as many first-generation college graduates do – because he didn’t understand workplace norms in the way that his (mostly white, middle- to upper-class) peers did.  While they’d been taught how to network, angle for promotions, and “speak the language,” he was left to figure it out on his own. Now, Ng counsels young people on how to avoid those mistakes and take on their first job in a way that puts them on the fast-track to success. He’s the author of the book The Unspoken Rules: Secrets to Starting Your Career Off Right.

Jennifer Aaker, a Stanford professor, and Naomi Bagdonas, an executive coach, say that, even in times of stress and crisis, leaders should use and encourage good humor and levity at work as a way of building employee morale and engagement. That doesn’t mean you have to tell jokes all the time. Instead, figure out what kind of humor works best for you and learn to pinpoint the opportunities for using it to best effect. They explain what makes things funny (hint: surprise) and the pitfalls managers should avoid. Aaker and Bagdonas are the authors of the book Humor, Seriously: Why Humor is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life.