Kansas Homeboy And KU Alum Makes Good!: Kansan of Year: Alan Mulally

[SallyRand]

Kansan of Year: Alan Mulally

http://cjonline.com/news/business/20...r_alan_mulally

KU alum put Ford back on the road with strategy, leadership!

"By Jan Biles
December 18, 2010 - 4:15pm

Every Thursday at 7 a.m., Alan Mulally, Ford Motor Co. chief executive officer and president, presides over a meeting with Ford executives from around the globe to review the company's business plan.

Using a color-coded scale, the executives report on the status of projects and strategies. Green means all is well; yellow, caution; and red, trouble.

When he initiated the meetings shortly after taking the helm of the automobile manufacturing company on Sept. 1, 2006, Mulally said all of the executives' indicators would be green, even though the company was losing billions of dollars.

One day, a red indicator stood out among the green. The executives fell silent. Mulally suddenly started clapping and announced he appreciated "clear visibility."

The executive explained that a technical problem with one of the vehicles was holding up production. His colleagues began offering ideas to help resolve the issue.

After that, Mulally said he began to see a rainbow of colors at the meetings because "everyone knew it was safe to tell the truth." They also realized they were expected to know the business plan so they could work as a team.

"Just think if I'd been angry or disappointed," he said during a recent phone interview. "The next week, it would be all green again."

The Thursday morning meetings are a part of the detailed process Mulally has taken to implement a comprehensive strategy to get the automaker back on track. He is credited with taking Ford from the brink of financial failure to being a rejuvenated contender in the worldwide marketplace.

His strategy centers on focusing on the Ford brand and creating a full family of vehicles for the global market ? vehicles that are best-in-class products when it comes to safety, design, fuel efficiency and value.

Also key is pulling all workers together around "a compelling vision." Mulally said he found that vision in an advertisement founder Henry Ford placed in the Saturday Evening Post on Jan. 24, 1925.

The advertisement shows a couple with two young children on a hill, with their Ford car parked nearby. The couple looks over the countryside where Fords are traveling along winding highways. A faint image of the Ford plant floats among clouds.

The ad tells readers that behind all of the activities of Ford is one universal truth ? a whole-hearted belief that riding on the people's highways should be within easy reach of all.

"In accomplishing its aims the Ford institution has never been daunted by the size or difficulty of any task," the ad reads. "It has spared no toil in finding the way of doing each task best. It has dared to try out the untried with conspicuous success."

'A great engineer'

Mulally, 65, was born Aug. 4, 1945, in Lawrence. His father, Charles "Dick" Mulally, was a mail carrier and Army veteran. His mother, Lauraine, was an outgoing person who made a comfortable home for him and his three sisters.

Mulally said his parents and others in the Lawrence community taught him about the concept of serving others, working as a team, and enjoying people and what one does in life.

After he graduated from Lawrence High School, Mulally enrolled at The University of Kansas, where he earned bachelor's and master's of science degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 1968 and 1969, respectively, and met his future wife, Nikki Connell. In 1982, he completed a master's degree in management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mulally was hired by Boeing in 1969 as an engineer. He worked on a number of significant engineering and program-management assignments, including contributions on the 727, 737, 747, 757 and 767 airplanes.

His performance, work ethic and leadership skills catapulted him up the ranks at the aircraft manufacturer. Prior to being hired by Ford, he served as executive vice president of the Boeing Co. and president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. In that role, he was responsible for all of the company's commercial airplane programs and related services.

Carl Locke, former dean of KU's School of Engineering, said he met Mulally in the mid-1980s. His colleagues told him he needed to meet the KU alum because they expected Mulally would become president of Boeing one day. Later, Locke was instrumental in getting Mulally to join the engineering school's advisory board.

Although Mulally wasn't always able to attend board meetings, when he did "it was obvious he was the smartest guy in the room" by the way he asked questions and strategized, Locke said.

The former dean also was impressed with Mulally's outgoing personality and ability to quickly put others at ease.

Locke said he once flew to Seattle to have dinner with Mulally and several Boeing employees who were KU alumni. He said as Mulally introduced each employee, he commented on their strengths.

"His strong attribute is garnering loyalty through bringing out the best in everyone," he said.

Stuart Bell, current dean of the School of Engineering at KU, said he initially met Mulally during an alumni meeting in 2002 or 2003. His impression of the Boeing executive: "This is an engineer."

Bell said engineers are good at analyzing and assessing projects and problems, setting goals and devising strategies, and working a plan to obtain a desired outcome.

Those skills, he said, are evident in the targeted, goal-oriented plans Mulally implemented at Boeing ? and now Ford.

"It's not rocket science," Bell said. "He's just a great engineer."

In 2002, Mulally received KU's School of Engineering's Distinguished Service Award for his engineering and managerial accomplishments at Boeing.

From planes to cars

Four years ago, William Clay Ford Jr. asked Mulally to succeed him as head of Ford Motor Co. He would be paid $18 million in salary and bonuses. Yet, Mulally said a major reason he decided to take the job was the automaker's legacy.

"I was being asked to serve an American corporate and global icon," he said, adding he thought his 37 years of experience at Boeing could help turn the ailing company into a business that could thrive and compete in the marketplace.

Locke said he was surprised when he learned Mulally was leaving Boeing. He believes the move was, in part, a reaction to Mulally's being bypassed for Boeing chairman of the board/chief executive officer when Philip Condit stepped down from that job in March 2004.

"I was concerned when he went to Ford," he said. "The auto industry was in dire trouble and losing money. I wondered if he would be able to make a change (in Ford)."

Comparing Boeing and Ford today, Locke said Mulally made the correct decision and Boeing made a "big mistake" by letting him go. Boeing has been in the headlines recently because of problems with its 787 Dreamliner, which was supposed to begin passenger service two years ago.

One of Mulally's first moves at Ford was to take out what he calls "a home improvement loan." He borrowed nearly $24 billion by mortgaging Ford's assets. The move was criticized at the time, but it was lauded last year when General Motors and Chrysler accepted bailout money to avoid bankruptcy.

Because of its comprehensive plan, Mulally said Ford had the money it needed to survive the economic downturn.

"I'm very proud that Ford didn't take taxpayers' money," he said.

William Roach, professor in the School of Business at Washburn University, said the most important change Mulally has made at Ford is making cars that people want to buy.

Roach said Mulally has replaced the arrogance of the old Ford company with a new sense of humbleness. Prior to Mulally's arrival, he said, the company pushed out cars, convinced consumers would buy whatever it made. Today, the automaker builds cars that reflect buyers' demands and can compete in the global market.

"It's data-driven management, and that's a step ahead," he said.

MarketWatch, which is published by Dow Jones and Co., indicates unit sales are up 21 percent at Ford this year, setting the company up to gain market in back-to-back years for the first time since 1993.

"Ford's stock has almost doubled this year to $16.80 after more than quadrupling in 2009," according to MarketWatch.

Locke said Mulally, who was named one of the world's most influential people by Time magazine in 2009, has kept Ford viable by following its "One Ford" mission statement: "One team. One plan. One goal."

"This is his hallmark," Locke said."



Below:

Alan Mulally delivering 1M'th 2010 Fusion with SYNC to Microsoft's Steve Ballmer
Redmond, Wash. - May 26, 2009 - Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally (left) visits the Microsoft campus to deliver Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's new 2010 Fusion Hybrid equipped with the 1 millionth Ford SYNC system. SYNC, which is powered by Microsoft Auto software, is Ford's fully-integrated, voice-activated in-car communications and entertainment system for mobile phones and digital music players. (5/26/09)

[Agent 488]

your other jokes were funnier.