AGSM 2008 - Making managers into stars

In the past three and a half years, since Alon Hochdorf took over as the CEO of Zenith Media in Israel, the company has fast-tracked from being the country's No. 6 media agency almost to the top - now sitting in the No.2 position.

With US$100 million in billings and some big name accounts - Procter & Gamble, IKEA and Ford are just three - Hochdorf, naturally enough, is keenly eyeing the No.1 spot. His vision, he says, is for Zenith to be Israel's most respected media agency. "If we can achieve that, then everything else will follow," he says emphatically.

Alon Hochdorf quotes a favourite saying, 'the more I learn, the more I realise what I don't know'.

Photo: Alan Hochdorf

Hochdorf honed his management skills with an MBA from AGSM in the graduating class of 1988. The higher he climbs in the world of international advertising, media and communications, the more useful becomes the knowledge and strategies he acquired in those two full-time years in Sydney, he insists.

Ironically, Hochdorf chose to work in an industry where formal qualifications are often regarded with scepticism. "As an undergraduate in advertising you are surrounded by funky creative people who are very verbal and extroverted - qualifications don't really come into it - but the further up the pyramid you go the more you realise that marketing is just one element of the mix," he points out. He recalls a job interview in his final MBA Year with the managing director of one of the Big Five advertising agencies who told him: "Mate, you're in the wrong business, go and be a business consultant instead."

Hochdorf wisely ignored the advice.

His career has subsequently taken him through most of the world's top agencies, including his first role as an MBA graduate with Ogilvy & Mather in Sydney, two stints with Saatchi & Saatchi in London (the last as a board account director managing the Visa International account for Europe, the Middle East and Africa) along with J.Walter Thompson and McCann Erickson in Israel.

"One of the advantages I have is a more serious business-like approach; the ability to sit in a meeting and understand when clients speak about business-driven issues. This would have been much harder without an MBA education," he says. "Within an MBA course you meet people who are more representative of the wider business environment and the degree gave me a much broader knowledge of the day-to-day issues managers face."

In Israel, the advertising market is estimated at US$1 billion and Hochdorf clearly has made an impact beyond his immediate business.

MBA learning delivered not only the much sought 'helicopter view' of business for an ambitious young man with a passion for advertising. From his early teens in Israel Hochdorf had taken odd jobs in advertising agencies and read keenly on the industry before taking his first degree in advertising and marketing at US San Jose State university graduating with Great Distinction first in class.

Hochdorf quotes a favourite saying, 'the more I learn, the more I realise what I don't know'. Perhaps the most valuable lesson of his MBA studies was heightening his awareness of what he didn't know, the areas that he needed to support as he took on positions of greater responsibility, he reflects.

Drawn to Sydney, initially by his mother who had been living in Australia for several years, Hochdorf who had considered applying to the leading US business schools determined he would make the move if accepted by the top MBA school in the region - AGSM. In the global business context, this decision has proved valuable, he reports. He has the advantage of having insights into the Australia market, and business has brought Hochdorf back to Australia (where he also retains several strong alumni friendships) on several occasions.

Hochdorf prefers to coach his 30 employees, rather than be directive. "It's more empowering and motivating."

And, there's an ongoing benefit in having a genuinely cosmopolitan CV, says Hochdorf who was born in Italy and, as the son of a McKinsey consultant, also spent some of his childhood in Germany and the US, because it enhances his career mobility. "When big international roles come up, there's never any question about whether or not I would be suited to a worldwide role," he explains, at the same time he admits to an 'inner debate' over whether to step back into a global role.

In Israel, the advertising market is estimated at US$1 billion and Hochdorf clearly has made an impact beyond his immediate business. He is a columnist for Forbes Israel, and a popular lecturer at industry events as well as holding an advisory capacity on communications strategy with the Israel Defence Force - it's a role of particular significance with the upcoming disengagement from Gaza and the West Bank.
(In his three years post-high school compulsory service, Hochdorf himself was the commander of a naval patrol boat.)

These days, as he faces the challenge of leading Zenith into the No.1 position (and, of course, ensuring it doesn't slip from No.2), he's adopted a different approach. Hochdorf's mode of management has evolved since his early learnings in Australia, with a leadership style that more reflects the avid sportsman he is. A former member of the Israeli national water polo team and several times competitor in the London Marathon, Hochdorf prefers to coach his 30 employees, rather than be directive. "It's more empowering and motivating. I tell my people they are the stars who are going to score the basket or the try in business. I'm the coach and I want them to succeed. In many instances, the star players get higher salaries than the coach - and that's fine with me. Obviously, their success is also my success. I find you get a better result that way."