C-Max Versus Prius – A clear winner

If you have been interacting with me over the past few years, you will note that I have become a “brand” guy in relation to cars. No, this is not due to the 1967 Mustang being my favorite car of all time (though that is cool). The reason for Ford becoming my favorite brand is the courage I see in the leadership of Ford.

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Just a few short years ago, consumers were backing away from Ford, and I was one of them. I bought a Toyota Prius in 2010, and never even considered any of Ford’s options. This week I bought Ford’s C-Max – big deal? Absolutely, and here’s why: Please Continue Reading …

Resilience

Here’s another excerpt from my soon to be published e-book titled: “Resilience; How Culture Impacted the Rebirth of Ford Motor Company”.

I confess that I don’t like conflict. In fact I once received a “B” grade for a paper I handed in on the subject of partnerships. While my professor affirmed my emphasis on unity within diversity, and the facilitation and articulation of common and inspirational vision, he also exhorted me for my lack of detail in the area of conflict resolution.

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I further confess that I deliberately did not speak to the issue of conflict resolution. I have been involved in conflicted partnerships in the past and did not enjoy the experience. Maybe I was subconsciously hoping for an endorsement of a protocol that could operate sans conflict resolution.

I have since come to admit that conflict is unavoidable. Period. Every relationship will  Please Continue Reading …

Anxiety

Good morning! I am excited to share an excerpt from my soon to be published e-book: “Resilience; How Culture Impacted the Rebirth of Ford Motor Company”.

“All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.”John Kenneth Galbraith

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Hmmm…but what if the “major anxiety” exists within the leader as well? Is this then an advantage…that the leader can relate? If a leader can not relate to the anxiety, do they have enough empathy to care…enough knowledge of the “stuff” to deal with it appropriately?

“The mass of men lead lives of  Please Continue Reading …

Ford: Cultural change takes time

Leaders and employees both must be accountable

There is a better way to do business. A way that encourages every employee to become all they can become. A way that allows people to bring their deepest values to work and have them celebrated. A way that puts re-engineering into a transformational framework (emphasis added), refocusing it as a tool for health maintenance rather than radical surgery. A way that welcomes diversity as a pathway to innovation…
– Richard Barrett, “Liberating the Corporate Soul; Building a Visionary Organization”)

ONE Ford CardFord Motor Company’s plan may appear to be “radical surgery.” However, while One Ford contains the articulation of Ford’s vision and plan in relation to current reality, the accompanying list of expected behaviours sets One Ford up for ongoing “health maintenance,” and the accommodation of future realities.

 Please Continue Reading …

Ford: Walking the talk

Engaging employees takes a dedicated effort

It is widely known that the North American automotive sector needed to go through massive change to avoid extinction in 2008. In case you have forgotten the intensity of this point in time, here are a couple of perspectives:

“In late 2008, our nation’s economy – and the auto industry in particular – entered its deepest crisis since the Great Depression. Almost overnight, demand for new automobiles fell from an annual rate of over 17 million units to an annual rate under 10 million units.” (UAW Solidarity, May-June 2010)

“Should all of the Detroit Three’s U.S. operations cease in 2009, the first year total employment impact would be a loss of nearly three million jobs in the U.S. economy…Lost tax revenue between 2009 and 2011 would be an estimated $156.4 billion (U.S. dollars).” (The Center for Auto Research , USA – PDF)

Ford was one of the Detroit Three, and as such, a big ship to turn around. The magnitude of this change would necessitate complete employee engagement. Ford’s CEO, Alan Mulally, knew this.

Many of us will not be confronted with the magnitude of change required to turn Ford around, but employee engagement is a critical issue in all businesses.

 Please Continue Reading …

ONE FORD

I had the pleasure of interviewing several key people involved in turning FORD Motor Company around following the 2008 financial crisis. The interviews turned into a 3-part series, published in SaskBusiness over the past few months.

We decided to post them to the website for your information. You can find them here:
http://synergysg.net/resources/editorials

The subtitle of article one may catch your interest: “Accomplishing extraordinary change through new beliefs”