The car industry waving goodbye to Renault’s inspirational boss Luca de Meo, the man behind a turnaround that now has the firm producing some exciting and desirable cars in a way no-one could have predicted five or 10 years ago, got me thinking about the importance of charismatic leaders.
My last interaction with de Meo was at the Paris show last year, where a room full of journalists was kept waiting for 45 minutes after the sudden arrival of the French President on the Renault stand required de Meo’s presence there. The atmosphere in the room switched immediately on his belated arrival, going from bored disgruntlement to instant attention on an intelligent, articulate and sharp man who had a room of cynical journalists hanging on his next word.
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