In a conference to “rising stars of the automotive industry”, Didier Leroy, CEO of Toyota Europe, gave the young audience advice on how to be successful managers.

A true leader, he said, should not worry about making his boss happy but do what he believes is right for the company.

He outlined his management philosophy in a number of strong points, including:

• Be a positive example for your team by having high expectations of yourself and taking quick action whenever needed;

• Be accessible to the people who work for you because if you are available to them they will have increased respect for you;

• Think and act like an entrepreneur, which means don’t just do things that you believe will be beneficial to your unit or division, do things that are right for the entire global company; and

• Be passionate and, most important of all, create and inspire passion within your team.

Leroy started as a worker on the shop floor at a Renault factory in France and has 32 years of experience in the industry.

He is known as a hard worker who made it to the top.

He worked alongside renowned leaders such as Carlos Ghosn CEO of Renault-Nissan and Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota.

He has been president of Toyota Europe since 2012.

Leroy’s advice is good for management in any field.

A successful manager looks at the bigger picture, work closely with his team and inspire passion in those who work with him.

In practical terms, Leroy managed to turn Toyota’s losses in Europe into profits more than a year before his own predicted targets.

He is not stuck on market ranking and watches the bottom line.

The company is in line to achieve record profits in Europe this year.

Last year it sold in Europe 847,540 cars adding nearly 10,000 cars to total sales.

In the car industry focus on serving customers is the key to success.

This philosophy has been voiced by many regional managers interviewed by Arab News over the past six months.

Most of those regional managers have achieved remarkable growth over and above what their companies managed to achieve on a macro level worldwide during the same period.

There is a distinct impression that most of the regional car industry is in good and capable hands.

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Adel Murad is a senior motoring and business journalist, based in London.

Email: [email protected]