Go Ford!

I just have to say that the Ford Motor Company is making me very happy.

Some time in 2008, I said to someone that if I had the wherewithal to do it, I would be Ford shares. Unfortunately, I really didn't have the funds so I couldn't buy. At the time, I was also saying that I needed to decide whether the buy a Ford motorcar or Ford shares. I decided on the shares because I really felt that of all the American auto companies, Ford was the one to watch. I was right. Look at what Ford has been able to accomplish in 1 year!

The $4 billion earned in the past two quarters is a testament to the value of real leadership in the boardroom. Even before the rest of the auto world seemed to be aware of the challenges ahead, Ford was mortgaging everything to access the cash needed to reinvent itself. That is leadership. I'm sure that at the time, there were analysts who, not knowing or seeing what the Ford leadership was seeing or knew, thought that Ford CEO Alan Mulally was out of his mind. Why would you take on $20+ billion in debt when there was no obvious crisis at hand? Well, the answer to that question is: so that when opportunity knocks, you can open your doors and welcome it in.

And so here we are. Over the last 9 months or so, consumers have been taking a long hard look at Ford and thinking that maybe, just maybe, this company knows what it's doing. The buying public's loss of confidence in Toyota coming at the same time as reports of increasing reliability of the Ford products have proved to be a magic elixir for Ford. That was opportunity knocking and Ford was ready to open the door.

It is very easy, as the new leader in an organization, to go with the status quo. To some extent, it may actually be necessary. Some time needs to be spent observing how business is done, before any significant changes are made. Add to that, a new CEO is entirely dependent on the information provided to him/her by direct reports seeking to establish themselves in the new pecking order. All the internal politics and poli-tricks aside, CEO Mulally chose this path. And a good thing too!

As a stranger to the auto world, Mulally came to Ford from Boeing, the new CEO had the advantage of clear sight uncluttered by old mores and protocols. That he trusted his insights and experience is a testament to his skill as a manager and leader. One of the things that often holds us back is the inability to see things in a new way. In the case of Mulally, he had never been in the industry before, so he could only see what his instincts as a businessman would allow him to see. He wasn't blinded by the 'this is the way we do business' line of reasoning. As it turns out, what he saw as an outsider allowed him to come to DC in the summer of 2009 and not take a penny from the Federal Government. Lucky him. Lucky Ford, because Chrysler and GM have faced a fair amount of hostility as a consequence of their borrowings. Opportunity. Knocking. Again.

At the end of the day, it's all about the quality of the product and Ford's got that. At the end of the day, it's all about organizational leadership and Ford's definitely got that. Would that every company had the benefit of visionary leadership.