Alan Mulally - Ford's Comeback Kid

(These excerpts are from FORTUNE Magazine's May 25, 2009 edition)

Although I am not necessarily a Ford fan, Alan Mulally's words made him one of my leadership heroes. I was glad to see that there are some executives out there that know how to lead in the new millenium.

Here are some of his quotes from the article:

STRATEGIC PLAN:
"Communicate, communicate, communicate. Everyone has to know the plan, its status, and areas that need special attention".

COMMUNICATION FRAMEWORK:
"This is a huge enterprise, and the magic is, everyone knows the plan."

RESPECT:
"They don't bring their big books anymore because I'm not going to grind them with as many questions as I can to humiliate them."

ACCOUNTABILITY:
"We'll see them next week. We don't take action - I'm going to see you next week."

FOCUS:
"If somebody starts to talk or they don't respect each other, the meeting just stops. They know I've removed vice presidents because they couldn't stop talking because they thought they were so damn important."

TRUST:
"They can either work together, or they can come see me. They're not here. There's nobody outside. So they must be working together."