Insight
Mulally: Leadership teams must include every discipline to prevent information silos
“I always have like maybe 12 or 13 people reporting to me, which a lot of people always wondered how I did that, but I had to have Every discipline need to be on that team, because if not, then if you have the haves and the have nots on the leadership team, you…”
Insight
Mulally: Organizations must have zero tolerance for violating operating processes and behavioral norms
“Now, there's one corollary to that, Shane, that's really important, and that is zero tolerance for violating this process of working, the business plan review, the creating value roadmap, including everybody all stakeholders on the leadership team. Zero tolera…”
Insight
Mulally celebrated employees reporting problems rather than penalizing them
“Many leaders, if they have a red item, first of all, that embarrasses them, they think they're not doing their job, as opposed to that red item is a gem. We, I clap when you have a red because you're not the, you're not red. It's your item's red.”
Insight
Requiring solutions before reporting problems prevents fast issue resolution
“Because a lot of cultures are you only bring an issue if you have an answer. That doesn't allow it working together the way we're talking about, where you can move quickly on the issues.”
Disclosure
Mulally maintained 13 direct reports to include every operational discipline
“I always have like maybe 12 or 13 people reporting to me, which a lot of people always wondered how I did that, but I had to have Every discipline need to be on that team, because if not, then if you have the haves and the have-nots on the leadership team, you…”
Insight
Enforcing organizational behaviors reshapes employees' internal values over time
“Once they join this environment and you have these expected behaviors, And they're the right expected behaviors, and you start acting this way, then you start being this way. So gradually, your mindsets, and your beliefs, and your values, they all start to mov…”
Disclosure
Mulally enforced zero tolerance for violating core operating processes
“Zero tolerance for violating that operating process, and zero tolerance for violating these expected behaviors, because we all can see in each other.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ford executives presented 300 green status charts despite losing $17 billion
“We have about 300 charts with the entire team. And we've also shared with them now for the first time that we lose seventeen billion dollars. And all 300 charts, Shane, were colored green.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ford's executive reporting transparency drastically improved within two months
“Within two months, When I arrived at Ford, we were on our way. The colors were all showing up. The behaviors were getting just fantastic. The stress was going down. The issues we're dealing with were considered gems, and we're going to solve them together, and…”
Insight
A CEO's primary role is facilitating specialized knowledge workers
“You have, well, all of this talent, all of which knows more than you do about their given subject. This is Peter Drucker's knowledge workers, and so we need the hearts and minds of all the knowledge workers in a safe and a healthy environment, and so the bigge…”
Insight
Mulally: Consistent organizational behaviors gradually reshape individuals' beliefs and values
“Once they join this environment and you have these expected behaviors, And they're the right expected behaviors, and you start acting this way, then you start being this way. So gradually, your mindsets, and your beliefs, and your values, they all start to mov…”
Disclosure
Mulally: Boeing 777 leadership team included all internal and external stakeholders
“So when you're designing the airplane, we include not only the airlines, but we include, of course, all the employees, all the suppliers, all the certification agencies around the world, all the cities in which the airplane is going to be used, and all of the …”
Insight
Mulally: Leaders should celebrate red status reports instead of treating them as failures
“When you share these things, I mean, many people, many leaders, if they have a red item, first of all, that embarrasses them, they think they're not doing their job. As opposed to that red item is a gem. We, I clap when you have a red because you're not the, y…”
Insight
Work-life balance requires daily calendar reflection, not occasional planning
“When people are managing their work-life balance, they might think that, oh, well, I have something planned with the family and next year so I got that one covered. No, I think you're going to have to think about that every day. So the idea of an integrated li…”
Assertion Supported
Ford secured a $23.5 billion loan for restructuring and product development
“Taking out a small home improvement loan of 23 and a half billion dollars to finance The restructuring, but also we financed the product development plan to support other customers and our growth.”
Insight
Workplace ridicule and attacks undermine employees' commitment to transparency
“See, if somebody would go after somebody, or act like they knew what the answer was, or be rhetorical questions, or whatever, anything that would cause an unsafe culture of love by design, Where people felt like they're going to be a victim or be made fun of, …”
Insight
Asking rhetorical questions to flaunt intelligence destroys collaborative team dynamics
“Had another person that always liked to do rhetorical questions, which is not very healthy for working together. Like, you're trying to, you ask the question, you know the answer so that you can show everybody you have smarts you are. Not working together.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
When confronted, 80% of resistant executives chose to commit to new standards
“80% of the time that it happened, they moved in the direction of staying and making a commitment and making great progress on working together, because it goes back to just basic fundamental human values that are powerful.”
Disclosure
Mulally halted meetings if executives used phones or laptops
“When we're doing a business plan review, there are no devices. If you pull out your device, or you're looking at your computer, we just stop the meeting and look at you.”
Assertion Supported
Ford faced a projected $17 billion loss due to brand over-expansion
“They'd become a house of brands, and purchased Aston Martin, and Jaguar, and Land Rover, and Volvo, and still 70, 80% of the business was Ford, and which, as you know, you can't be world-class too many things at the same time, and so they were going to lose se…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Mulally led weekly business reviews for 45 years, missing only ten
“I've gone through my introduction of the vision, strategy, and plan for 45 years, every week. I think I maybe missed 10 meetings, because wherever you are you phone in, or you link in, and the kids used to link in with me before somewhere.”
Alan Mulally