Raised Eyebrows and Accolades, Case Study Example

Raised Eyebrows and Accolades

Alan Mulally became the new CEO of Ford Motor Company in 2006. Hesselbein, the editor-in-chief of Leader to Leader, cites the U.S. Army Warrior Ethos as a code for leadership. This code demands that the mission is always placed first, that defeat is never accepted, that quitting is not an option, and that no one is left behind (p. 7). Hesselbein selected Alan Mulally as the first Leader of the Future Award. Mulally’s management style could be characterized as aggressive but fair. Although he is a newcomer to the motor vehicle industry, this breath of fresh air came straight from the Boeing management pool, and, from his arrival to his recent relative success, his transition resulted in “lots of raised eyebrows” (“Alan Mulally: The Outsider at Ford”). He was unapologetic, admitting that he was new to this particular industry and diving in with a fresh eye and a clear mind. As a result, this paper will demonstrate that his leadership escorted in a better financial situation at Ford in the present and a competitive edge for the future.

As far as conflict management styles are concerned, Alan Mulally used a forcing style. He told his executives at Ford that they will have to learn to work with each other or see him regarding the issues. Before Alan came, Ford had power culture where executives competed for turfs. Surprisingly, the executives also employed forcing style in their conflicts and the executives with the most loyalties would normally emerge victorious. But there is a difference between Alan Mulally’s and his executives motives. Alan Mulally wants the executives to work together in the best interests of the company but the executives engaged in forcing style to advance their personal causes and interests without any regard for the company.

According to the company’s owner, Bill Ford, he hired Mulally for his distance from the big ticket mentality which had developed in the company executives. Ford’s tough, blue collar image was considered by some to be its biggest impediment; Ford and Mulally considered this the company’s greatest asset (“Alan Mulally: The Outsider at Ford”). Initially, Mulally’s disruption of routine was misunderstood. When the new CEO reduced the number of lower-level meetings, there was less finger-pointing and more focus on specific problems and solutions. Mulally’s leadership style could be considered a mixture of autocratic and democratic leadership style. Mulally realized early that his ideas are facing competition and he will have to force his decisions before time proves their effectiveness and he attracts loyalty from his subordinates. The first such case emerged when Mulally ordered reintroduction of Ford Taurus with an appealing design even though the line had been killed by the company already. Mulally has also been a disciplined leader who doesn’t tolerate negligence or lack of attention from his executives. He fired executives at Boeing because they are inattentive during meetings and he made it clear he won’t hesitate from doing it at Ford either. But Mulally also makes sure that all departments are aware of what’s going on in the company so they can work together and bring better ideas and suggestions to the table. The benefit of Mulally’s leadership style is that he can introduce changes quickly but it may attract alienated behavior from the subordinates and even though they may follow Mulally’s orders but they won’t go the extra mile that truly motivated followers do. But this will change as Mulally’s initiatives turn out to be quite effective and Mulally proves his leadership skills through results.

According to the Vroom-Jago Leadership Model, Mulally facilitated action. The cultural environment of the workplace and the personality traits and leadership styles of newcomers is essential to the successes of high-level management; he did not blame his predecessors and gradually returned to Ford’s well-respected roots (BOOK p. 108. “Alan Mulally: The Outsider at Ford”). More than sheer profit, Alan Mulally streamlined the company’s operations and created a culture with the momentum to grow for years to come. This long-term vision and tough love leadership has challenged long-standing beliefs both within the motor vehicle industry and within the research of leadership. The executives feared that Ford’s decision to sell Aston Martin and Jaguar would ultimately doom them all, but Mulally sold these brands before they became dead weight. When sky-rocketing prices panicked executives, he calmly scaled back new sales and pushed for greener, more gas-friendly changes to popular existing models. He anticipated; he renovated; he created. Through results, he inspired his employees—no matter how opposed they were to these decisions originally. He did it without the crutch of federal funds. Even Ford’s financial officer described Alan Mulally’s leadership as “pretty relentless”, proving that perseverance has its rewards.

Works Cited

“Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor Company”. Integrating Cases. BOOK: 54-425. Print.

“Alan Mulally: The Outsider at Ford”. Retrieved 12 July 2011 from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_11/b4123038630999.htm.Web.

Hesselbein, Frances. Leader to Leader. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2007. Print.