American Icon

In American Icon by Bryce G. Hoffman the author takes us through the tumultuous turnaround of Ford Motor Company from the backwaters of the automotive industry to the vanguard. Bill Ford and Alan Mulally were able to execute a remarkable comeback through fierce commitment to the plan.

When Mulally started at Ford, his first move was to root out the problems that existed under the covers and the skeletons in the closets of his business units. While it took time, Mulally’s integrity and pursuit of the truth encouraged his team to air their issues and display them for the team to see.

Once the issues were out in the open, the Ford team had to take their medicine. They did this by sitting through Mulally’s newly instituted weekly business review. Each executive was in charge of reporting an update from his/her business unit. They then began restructuring the company and looking for efficiencies and ways to catch up and surpass the competition.

Once these changes started to take effect the results began to appear. This took longer than it may have due to the global financial crisis that severely hampered demand, but Ford’s position in the market gradually improved. Once the recovery from the recession was underway Ford was well ahead of its competition.

Mulally’s pursuit of the truth and his integrity seem to be a leading cause for why the turnaround became as successful as it did. Rather than avoiding the ugly problems, Mulally rooted them out and faced them head on.