Ford Cars Gets A New Man Behind The Wheel; Meet Mark Fields
On July 1st Ford Cars will have a new man at the post of CEO. Having worked with the company for over 25 years, Mark Fields will lead the company built by Henry Ford, when the world hadn’t even seen automobiles.
Mark Fields will succeed Alan Mulally, a true legend for the Ford Company who managed to scale new heights in short span of 9 years. Hence it will be a tough curtain call for Mark as he tries to steer the company away from financial losses and ensure the blue oval emblem stays on top of the hearts and minds of car buyers all across the globe.
As per the Ford’s own admission, the transition from Mulally to Fields will be the first to happen, without corporate bloodshed or backstabbing. Mulally chose to personally inform Fields about his appointment as CEO of Ford Cars. Fields was ecstatic & said to Times Magazine, “Alan said: ‘First off, congrats.’ And that he is so happy for Ford and for me and for a smooth transition. This is the first time in, literally in our history, of having a seamless [leadership] transition. There were smiles all around.”
Mark Fields is perhaps the most ideal candidate to take the helm of Ford Cars. Though he has displayed his acumen on countless occasions, his growth path is the one that makes him a near–perfect match. Fields hasn’t been growing at Ford as one would normally expect; taking on bigger responsibilities. Instead, he could be likened to Mr. Fixit for the company, reported CNBC.
Just like other contemporary companies, Ford Cars has been facing a lot of tough choices and hard decisions which had perils at both the ends. Ford Cars has found itself in hot waters on many occasions and locations, but almost every time, it chose Mark Fields to take lead and tackle the problems and every time, he has come–up with innovative approaches which weren’t even conceptualized earlier.
Fields, 53, has been running Ford’s North and South American businesses since October 2005. One of the most interesting approaches that revolutionized the internal reporting and overall health of the company, that Fields tweaked was the famous ‘Thursday Meetings’ which lasted just two hours but offered Fields an uninhibited, tell–it–as–it–is state of affairs. This was improved to add a ‘fess-up-and-fix-it culture’, which helped Ford Cars to openly admit its own shortcomings and then work wholeheartedly to remedy them.
If Mark can extend such an honest and open culture in the entire Ford Cars empire, the company could easily scale newer heights and beat other car companies with its rich and powerful line–up.
[Images via Bing]
