Ford CEO Talks About Working Together

Ford CEO Talks About Working Together

by Katie Jones

Ford's effort to protect the environment is clearly manifested in their production of environment friendly vehicles. This concern for the environment has led the company to produce hybrid cars and vehicles which run on alternative fuel as well as clean diesel engines for their larger vehicles.

Ford's Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally recently made the company's dedication towards protecting the environment his topic while talking at the Lied Center in Kansas City. He talked about the power of working together and the need for it. During the course of his speech, he also shared his experiences in life to those present during his speech.

The Chief Executive Officer of the United States' second largest car manufacturer claimed that he loves the idea of working together. In fact, working together is the main topic of his talk. He talked about his tenure as the President and the Chief Executive Officer of Boeing Commercial Planes. Mulally said that it is of utmost importance that a leader should put people first and include everyone on the project as well. And to make it possible, Mulally said that communication is needed and is entirely very important for the whole process. "The biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it occurs," says Mulally. "The fact that you say something and expect them to know what it means; that's arrogant," says the Kansas University alumnus.

Mulally stressed out that there is a need for coworkers to be on the same page. They should be able to work on a single plan with everyone pitching in on the job at hand. Mulally said that when a problem surfaced in the workplace, he wants to be working with people who can find a way to address the situation and solve the problem. He also said that he saw that kind of people at the institution. "There is not an institution in the world that has more motivated, more skilled and neater students than the University of Kansas," says Mulally.

During his speech, he recounted his experiences in life as a young man working odd jobs in Lawrence. He said that his career started delivering newspapers. After that, he became a bag boy for Dillon's grocery store in the area. He left the job after he was inspired by then President John F. Kennedy to become an astronaut. He was at that time taking up liberal arts but then he switched to aeronautical and astronautical engineering at the University of Kansas. After he switched courses though, he was told that he is not fit to be an astronaut because he is slightly color blind.

After he graduated from the University of Kansas, he was told by a professor at the university to try to get a work at Boeing. The said professor has then recently left Boeing. After that, he was hired at Boeing and after some years joined Ford Motor Company as the new CEO. In connection with him being the current CEO of Ford, he also talked about their company's effort to protect the environment. He talked about several alternative fuels which are aimed to reduce the amount of damage that vehicle emissions are doing to the environment. He also tackled and dissected his thoughts on the problems that are being faced by the auto industry pertaining to the use of alternative fuels.

For example, he cited the use of bio-ethanol, while using ethanol as substitute for gasoline; it will need a lot of raw materials to supply the country with its needed fuel.

That is why Ford, with Mulally at the helm, is developing technologies that will reduce the dependency of the auto industry on petroleum products. Several Ford models with Ford fenders and other Ford auto parts are already offered with a hybrid version to reduce the amount of gasoline that they have to consume.

While there are already environment friendly vehicles out in the market, Mulally thinks that it is not enough. "The auto industry only accounts for 15 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, so the whole country needs to work together," says Ford's CEO.