CARRYING THE Baton
It can’t be easy moving into any executive role when you’re replacing a hard-nosed, high profile performer with a stellar record for success. Even tougher, perhaps, when your natural character is somewhat more subtle. Such was the early challenge facing Isuzu Australia chief Andrew Harbison. But beware! Behind the mild-manner exterior lurks a shrewd, highly driven individual with no doubts about where Isuzu needs to be. At the top!
It was maybe five or six years ago. Nah, probably more. Then again, perhaps not.
Whatever, it’s hard to keep track, especially when trying to recall a particular Isuzu drive event. There have been so many over so many years and let’s face it, a few hours at the wheel of a white Japanese truck rarely lends itself to the creation of a rock carving in the cranial cavern. Occasionally, but not often.
So let’s just say that once upon a time at one of these events somewhere, a memorable conversation at least took place. I had the wheel; Phil Taylor had his feet up.
For those who never had the pleasure, Taylor was a relentlessly fierce force in maintaining Isuzu’s Herculean domination of the Australian truck market before retiring early last year as director and chief executive officer of Isuzu Australia Ltd.
Over a lot of years and in spite of a few indelible, sharply debated differences on some issues, we had become quite good and trusted friends, on and off the record. Something to do, I think, with being a pair of headstrong hard-arses of the same vintage, intensely competitive natures and similarly basic upbringings.
Anyway, there we were rambling along in just another little white truck, probably reminiscing about Louisvilles and the like, when out of nowhere the subject of succession planning came up. Right then and there, a decidedly adamant Phil Taylor blurted that he’d already identified the likely heir to his executive
