Prost in financial difficulties

[bella]

rubens barrichello.

[Minardi fan]

Damn she beat me to it...

[Liz]

[Bononi]

Originally posted by Liz
Or a PD.

Anyone speak Portuguese? What's the Portuguese for "Slow and Fragile?"

"Lento e frágil"

[Liz]

Call the team LeF then.

[Gerard]

Hey, lef is a Dutch word. It means guts or courage.

[Liz]

Then it's a very good name for a team. Especially that team. They will need both guts and courage.

[senna12]

They must hire Emerson Fittipaldi as a special consultant. He knows how to run a team, too!

[Bononi]

senna12

and maybe Ayrton as a patrone ??

[BBKing]

Originally posted by Liz

A good boss has to listen to every opinion, change his thinking to suit the situation even if it results in his acting against his own short-term selfish interests to reach a greater success for everyone, has to sweet-talk employees and cater to them in the matter of time off, etc. And above all else he has to suck up to sponsors, investors and hangers-on, making sure they stay loyal to his cause by giving them what they want.

Sorry to say this but it does not happen like that in real life. I am musician and let me tell you that when we are preparing for the opening of the opera season, the director will not mince his words and his insults to get everybody play along. It is like being under the orders of a dictator who wont let you go your way or care about your motivation or nice taking you. Is a precision work, there is not room for democracy. Everybody knows his role and has to be precise in the execution.

I don’t think a Formula 1 team is much different. Like in the orchestra every fraction of a second is determinant to the outcome. There is simply no time to waste in Harvard book managerial techniques. If somebody is not moving his arse you better kick him out before he screws up the whole thing….LOL

I think Michael Platini (French football player. I once was in the match where he played and he was screaming to all his teammates. He was a lunatic that wanted his teammates to play the way he want them to play.) would be a better manger than Prost. Prost is just too timid to do that kind of job. Probably is too nice talker so people around him don’t take him seriously. I am not saying he is good or bad I am just expressing my opinions.

[Liz]

You make some very good points. And I have sung in professional chorales so I know what you mean about the temperment of musicians! I have heard that movie and stage directors are similar.

But bosses do have to be a lot more conciliatory than star players or their star players will quit. The boss can't quit.

However, I have heard people say that Prost's problem is that he is "too nice" - maybe he overreacts trying to not be too nice and then he's too difficult?

Anyway thanks for the post, it has a lot of food for thought in it.

[eatapc]

Originally posted by Liz
A good pilot is an ego-driven, self-centred, totally dominating person (see TGF) who allows absolutely no one to have an opinion but him. ... A good boss has to listen to every opinion, change his thinking to suit the situation.... Sir Jackie Stewart being the exception that proves the rule, perhaps...

I'm not sure I agree with Liz's evaluation, although it may be a generalization that points to tendancies that are often true. (BTW, where would Bobby Rahal fit in?) Haven't there been successful pilots who were nice guys? Haven't there been successful team owners/managers who are cold-hearted scoundrels, who don't want to hear opinions other than their own? My own feeling is "it takes all kinds." In many sports, successful managers can inspire loyalty by being open and reasonable or can instill fear by being dictatorial and Machiavellian. Both ways have been shown to work, and maybe aspects of both are necessary in varying proportions -- i.e., managerial personalities fall along a bell curve. Conductors tend to be more dictatorial. Film directors can go either way. Ditto company chief exectives. Politicians are always devious and self-centered. In any case, judging by Diniz's poor driving and arrogant excuses after accidents, I don't think he'll be a friendly, open-minded type of manager.