I have been keen to post on the life of Konosuke Matsushita ever since hearing Prof. John Kotter’s presentation on him at the Leaders in London conference. I purchased Kotter’s biography of Matsushita, ‘Matsushita Leadership’, back then, but only just this summer have gotten to reading it. As Kotter’s presentation, it is a truly delightful illustration of the rises and falls of an executive exemplifying both Leadership and Management excellence in equal, balanced, harmonious measures.
“Early success, instead of satisfying Matsushita and reducing his ambition, seems to have only increased his desires. The wins were viewed as evidence that he was on the right track. The losses were seen as inevitable burdens that one must suffer in life.”
Matsushita’s leadership of upside opportunity was one of the most ambitious of the twentieth century. He sought after not just building (and rebuilding…and rebuilding again) a giant of company, but also sought to change the world’s economic condition.
“As early as the mid 1930s, Matsushita saw that one of the greatest dangers for a successful enterprise was its own arrogance. More importantly, he found a possible solution to the problem – a very far reaching and humanitarian goal. When your mission is to alleviate poverty on earth, it is difficult to look at your actual achievements and become arrogant.”
Beyond his lofty ambitions, Matsushita remained a consummately grounded and humble manager who was able to steward one of the largest corporations of his time. He pioneered management innovations years before gurus like Chandler, Drucker and Bennis popularised them around the world.
“In some ways, all four men – Ibuka (Sony), Morita (Sony), Matsushita, Iue (MEI) – were alike. They were restless, ambitious, and much more willing than average to challenge conventions. Like most Japanese, they had known hardship. They were visionary, with big ideas and goals. They all developed many new skills during their adult years. But of the four, Matsushita was the extreme case. The other three suffered, but not as much as KM. The others talked of big goals and aspirations, but not on the same scale as Matsushita.”
Konosuke Matsushita is one of the most compelling historical role models of an executive demonstrating leadership and management prowess together.
Leadership and Management / Turning Adversity to Advantage 
I haven’t read this book, but a few years ago when I was in Japan I was given a copy of Matsushita’s biography during a visit to the company and I have to say it is a good read. I believe it is out of print, but you should be able to pick up a used copy easily enough. By the way, I am not a big fan of having to sign in to Windows Live to post…sometimes you want to be able to customize your user information based on the blog to which you wish to post or even post anonymously…
Sorry about the signing on, but the comment spam is so out of hand it is one of the few ways to try to contain it. Thanks for your suggestion. Do you recall who wrote it?
Hi Bruce,Sorry for the delayed response. I should have written that I read Matsushita’s autobiography not biography. The actual title is: Quest for Prosperity: The Life of a Japanese Industrialist http://www.amazon.com/Quest-Prosperity-Life-Japanese-Industrialist/dp/4569222285/Here are two good quotes from the book: "Perhaps one of the reasons for Matsushita Electric’s success is that I made it a rule as leader of the company to note the strong points of my employees and try to accept their weak points. Of course, since I concentrated so much on their strong points, I sometimes put a person without the necessary abilities in an important post, and this sometimes led to failure. Still, I was ready to accept such failures, for I would rather blunder into mistakes because I believed in the abilities of people than from being constantly wary of their weaknesses. If you become too preoccupied with people’s inadequacies, you cannot get them to work for you without constant anxiety about whether they will fail you or make a grave error. This not only causes immense mental strain; it can also rob your management of boldness and courage, and the business will not grow as you would like it to.""Gratitude for blessings is the most exalted of all virtues. The measure of one’s existence is enhanced in proportion to the strength of his spirit of gratitude. We all feel some degree of gratitude. I have always thought that young people who feel strongly the sense of gratitude are the ones who will grow and accomplish the most."