Leadership is having a compelling vision, a comprehensive plan, relentless implementation, and talented people working together.
Alan Mulally
An important part of leadership is being able to hold two things in your mind at once: Dealing with the reality, whatever it may be, and focus on hope for the future. Any leader helping an organization through challenges needs to be able to do both.
Think about just exceeding expectations of every job you're being asked to do. Continually ask for feedback on how it's going. Ask everybody involved what you can do to do an even better job, and the world will beat down your door trying to ask you to do more and more.
The reason I loved working at Boeing was because I loved the idea of air travel as a way of bringing people and cultures together - because when we come together as people and cultures, we realize that we are not that different after all, and when we realize that we are not that different after all, the world becomes a better place.
The most important thing is to simultaneously deal with reality - really the way it is, not the way you wished it could be or you hoped it could be - but also have a vision about where you want to go.
I really do believe that working together works, and it's amazing to me.
If you get honest feedback and do nothing about it, then the feedback will stop.
When people feel accountable and included, it is more fun.
A lot of people don't want to get bad news.
You can't manage a secret.
My favorite expression is a tag line or an advertising and marketing campaign that Ford ran a number of years ago. They ran it for almost 12 years, and it was, 'Have you driven a Ford lately?'
The One Ford plan drives the business to get PGA, Profitable Growth for All, meaning that every year we increase the profits and cash flow. So how do we do that? We serve all the markets around the world with a complete family of vehicles and use the One Ford Plan.
What I found over the years is the most important thing is for a team to come together over a compelling vision, a comprehensive strategy for achieving that vision, and then a relentless implementation plan.
No country is ever successful in the long term... without a really strong and vibrant manufacturing base.
If you have a common purpose and an environment in which people want to help others succeed, the problems will be fixed quickly.
It's really important that we have an improvement curve on fuel mileage and CO2 reduction.
I've been very fortunate to be part of projects that are really big and broad.
At Ford, one of the behaviors is you listen, and you don't have side conversations during the meeting. It's just so important everybody stays focused.
The most important thing is the fact we have created this successful and sustainable Ford Motor Co. worldwide. I have no regrets.
There is a great market for cars in the United States - as Honda and Toyota have proven.
If you're going to be world-class, you have to focus.
We've always loved the automobile, and we all love Henry Ford's original vision to open the highways to all mankind, the freedom and movement.
When I arrived in Ford, a decision was made to sell many marquee brands. This was because 85 per cent of the sales were from Ford and Lincoln brands. We were clear that for the company's strong future, we needed to focus on the Ford brands.
I can remember the first time I tried to drive into the garage of the world headquarters of Ford in a Camry. It was almost like they wouldn't let me in. They said, 'Why do you want to do that?' I said, 'Because we are going to make the best cars in the world, and we need to know everything about the competitor's car.'
There is no reason that America can't compete in a global economy, and I love being one small proof point in that.
With Sync technology, we're seamlessly connected to the Internet, hands-free, and able to focus on the road but also able to handle guidance and navigation and play your music.
More and more people realize the importance of economic growth, near-term and long-term in the U.S., and the competitiveness with other countries around the world.
The purpose of life is to love and be loved... what could possibly be more energizing than that?
The purpose of business is to make a reasonable return by making products and services that people want and value. If you are not, you are wasting resources.
Where you really get in trouble is if the market is dropping and the economy's slowing down and you don't take action.
I'm more convinced than when I accepted this job that we can create a viable Ford Motor Co. that makes cars and trucks that people really do prefer. And we can make them using minimum resources and minimum time and be competitive with our competition.
The A-PAC region is so important, mainly because it is growing much faster than the global average.
Positive leadership - conveying the idea that there is always a way forward - is so important, because that is what you are here for - to figure out how to move the organization forward. Critical to doing that is reinforcing the idea that everyone is included.
It was an honor to serve at Boeing on the 777.
Having one national standard for mpg and CO2 is extremely important.
I drive a different car every night.
Because of the Internet of Things, we're all going to be connected.
You create value, and you create jobs.
If you have to improve your fuel efficiency every year, it leads to innovation.
I grew up with Microsoft. I know the leadership of Microsoft.
Everybody cares about not only quality and functionality, but they also want the power of choice, whether it's a small vehicle or a large vehicle.
Data can set you free.
All of us want to know that we are doing great things, that we are touching a lot of people, and that what we are doing is something bigger than ourselves.
It's all about competitiveness: are you making the products that people really do want and value, and are you making it more efficiently and using less resources and less time than the competition?
You need to have a can-do attitude. There is always a way.
We want people to still have choices - Ford cars and trucks, whatever works for their lifestyle.
The more senior your management position is, the more important it is to connect the organization or the project to the outside world. You know, how does this fit in with what we're doing? What is the real goal, the real mission?
I found a new love in Google. I'm a Googler now.
I felt very comfortable moving from aerospace to automobiles.
I don't see anything changing about our desire for quality and fuel efficiency and safety and smart design, no matter what the vehicle size.
