“Leadership is having a compelling vision, a comprehensive plan, relentless implementation, and talented people working together.”
― Alan Mulally
“An important part of leadership is being able to hold two things in your mind at once: Dealing with the reality, whatever it may be, and focus on hope for the future. Any leader helping an organization through challenges needs to be able to do both.”
― Alan Mulally
“What I found over the years is the most important thing is for a team to come together over a compelling vision, a comprehensive strategy for achieving that vision, and then a relentless implementation plan.”
― Alan Mulally
“If you get honest feedback and do nothing about it, then the feedback will stop.”
― Alan Mulally
“We’re so interdependent, and what one country does is such an important part of what happens in the global economy.”
― Alan Mulally
“I felt very comfortable moving from aerospace to automobiles.”
― Alan Mulally
“There’s a Ford dealer in every city around the United States. They’re the fabric of the community. They’re either head of the chamber of commerce or the priest, or I mean they’re just the fabric of America, and they took care of us.”
― Alan Mulally
“When people feel accountable and included, it is more fun.”
― Alan Mulally
“Automobiles are fun and exciting. We need them. They are a part of our lives.”
― Alan Mulally
“When work is what you love to do, it’s not work – it’s serving.”
― Alan Mulally
“I really do believe that working together works, and it’s amazing to me.”
― Alan Mulally
“The purpose of life is to love and be loved… what could possibly be more energizing than that?”
― Alan Mulally
“Positive leadership – conveying the idea that there is always a way forward – is so important, because that is what you are here for – to figure out how to move the organization forward. Critical to doing that is reinforcing the idea that everyone is included.”
― Alan Mulally
“No country is ever successful in the long term… without a really strong and vibrant manufacturing base.”
― Alan Mulally
“If you have a common purpose and an environment in which people want to help others succeed, the problems will be fixed quickly.”
― Alan Mulally
“If you have to improve your fuel efficiency every year, it leads to innovation.”
― Alan Mulally
“If you’re going to be world-class, you have to focus.”
― Alan Mulally
“The automobile has moved into the mainstream of our integrated digital world.”
― Alan Mulally
“The similarities between commercial airplanes and automobiles are striking. It’s all about safe and efficient transportation using the latest technology and the best fuel efficiency.”
― Alan Mulally
“At Ford, one of the behaviors is you listen, and you don’t have side conversations during the meeting. It’s just so important everybody stays focused.”
― Alan Mulally
“Ford is committed to building a sustainable future for the benefit of all Americans, and we believe Ford is on the right path to achieve this vision.”
― Alan Mulally
“Transparency is so important in business.”
― Alan Mulally
“Be true to yourself and your values.”
― Alan Mulally
“This working together is just so important: you’re either working together, or you’re not working together.”
― Alan Mulally
“We don’t worry over macro-economic factors when investing, as we are always thinking about the long-term.”
― Alan Mulally
“Data can set you free.”
― Alan Mulally
“Everybody cares about not only quality and functionality, but they also want the power of choice, whether it’s a small vehicle or a large vehicle.”
― Alan Mulally
“I had a great life at Boeing. I’d been there for 37 years and contributed to all the Boeing airplanes as a designer: the 707, 727, 37, 47, 57, 67 and ‘triple 7’ and the 87.”
― Alan Mulally
“I love hanging out with skilled and motivated people.”
― Alan Mulally
“There is a great market for cars in the United States – as Honda and Toyota have proven.”
― Alan Mulally
“The more senior your management position is, the more important it is to connect the organization or the project to the outside world. You know, how does this fit in with what we’re doing? What is the real goal, the real mission?”
― Alan Mulally
“I’ve been very fortunate to be part of projects that are really big and broad.”
― Alan Mulally
“Don’t manage your career. Follow your dream and contribute.”
― Alan Mulally
“Think about just exceeding expectations of every job you’re being asked to do. Continually ask for feedback on how it’s going. Ask everybody involved what you can do to do an even better job, and the world will beat down your door trying to ask you to do more and more.”
― Alan Mulally
“Boeing is a United States icon.”
― Alan Mulally
“Some people believe the U.S. can’t compete in the design and manufacture of sophisticated products. I think we absolutely can if we pull together. We have shown that we can do that in commercial airplanes, and we can absolutely prove that we can do that in automobiles.”
― Alan Mulally
“I’m a creative guy, a designer, a customer.”
― Alan Mulally
“You can’t manage a secret.”
― Alan Mulally
“I think my first-ever car was a Chevrolet, 1960.”
― Alan Mulally
“I sleep very well, although sometimes it’s hard to go to sleep ‘cos I’m so excited about the business performance review the following day.”
― Alan Mulally
“The most important thing is the fact we have created this successful and sustainable Ford Motor Co. worldwide. I have no regrets.”
― Alan Mulally
“Information should never be used as a weapon on a team.”
― Alan Mulally
“Never make a joke or try for humor at someone else’s expense. In a high-stakes environment, everyone needs to feel safe.”
― Alan Mulally
“I really like working with talented people to do something for a lot of people around our world.”
― Alan Mulally
“The most important thing is to simultaneously deal with reality – really the way it is, not the way you wished it could be or you hoped it could be – but also have a vision about where you want to go.”
― Alan Mulally
“Because of the Internet of Things, we’re all going to be connected.”
― Alan Mulally
“As we develop our energy policies in the United States to generate our energy clean, then I think we’re going to really move to a world that all of us want, and that is a sustainable future.”
― Alan Mulally
“A lot of people don’t want to get bad news.”
― Alan Mulally
“You can’t improve if you don’t know what the real situation is.”
― Alan Mulally
“Nothing will ever have the impact that 9/11 had on Boeing and on the world. It just changed things overnight.”
― Alan Mulally
“I drive a different car every night.”
― Alan Mulally
“I can remember the first time I tried to drive into the garage of the world headquarters of Ford in a Camry. It was almost like they wouldn’t let me in. They said, ‘Why do you want to do that?’ I said, ‘Because we are going to make the best cars in the world, and we need to know everything about the competitor’s car.’”
― Alan Mulally
“It’s all about producing products people want.”
― Alan Mulally
“There is no reason that America can’t compete in a global economy, and I love being one small proof point in that.”
― Alan Mulally
“The A-PAC region is so important, mainly because it is growing much faster than the global average.”
― Alan Mulally
“When I arrived in Ford, a decision was made to sell many marquee brands. This was because 85 per cent of the sales were from Ford and Lincoln brands. We were clear that for the company’s strong future, we needed to focus on the Ford brands.”
― Alan Mulally
“Whatever we do toward energy independence has to be done in the context of using less resources.”
― Alan Mulally
“More and more people realize the importance of economic growth, near-term and long-term in the U.S., and the competitiveness with other countries around the world.”
― Alan Mulally
“My favorite expression is a tag line or an advertising and marketing campaign that Ford ran a number of years ago. They ran it for almost 12 years, and it was, ‘Have you driven a Ford lately?’”
― Alan Mulally
“I was the lead designer and the general manager of the triple 7 and, of course, the dynamite 787.”
― Alan Mulally
“Consumers want safe and really efficient automobiles.”
― Alan Mulally
“All of us want to know that we are doing great things, that we are touching a lot of people, and that what we are doing is something bigger than ourselves.”
― Alan Mulally
“The Chinese love Ford’s product line: they love the quality, the fuel-efficiency, the safety, the brand.”
― Alan Mulally
“Google is really committed to improving everything. So it has been really fun to participate in all of their different moonshots.”
― Alan Mulally
“We’ve always loved the automobile, and we all love Henry Ford’s original vision to open the highways to all mankind, the freedom and movement.”
― Alan Mulally
“I taught my executive team how to argue.”
― Alan Mulally
“I’ve been through geopolitical and economic cycles.”
― Alan Mulally
“I’ve just seen it all – I’ve seen the bird flu, I’ve seen the Asian economic meltdown, SARS, 9/11, economic cycles.”
― Alan Mulally
“I know how inter-dependent the world is.”
― Alan Mulally
“Where you really get in trouble is if the market is dropping and the economy’s slowing down and you don’t take action.”
― Alan Mulally
“At the most fundamental level, it is an honor to serve – at whatever type or size of organization you are privileged to lead, whether it is a for-profit or nonprofit. It is an honor to serve. Starting from that foundation, it is important to have a compelling vision and a comprehensive plan.”
― Alan Mulally
“The most important thing that most countries around the world believe in is letting the markets determine the currency.”
― Alan Mulally
“What I’ve learned is the power of a compelling vision.”
― Alan Mulally
“It is just more rewarding to do things in a supportive environment.”
― Alan Mulally
“I found a new love in Google. I’m a Googler now.”
― Alan Mulally
“Ford had a number of different strategies over the years that they thought obviously made sense at the time, just like all the different brands, and also the regional operations.”
― Alan Mulally
“We want people to still have choices – Ford cars and trucks, whatever works for their lifestyle.”
― Alan Mulally
“My career has been spent developing airplanes.”
― Alan Mulally
“I have a lot of respect for Microsoft.”
― Alan Mulally
“I grew up with Microsoft. I know the leadership of Microsoft.”
― Alan Mulally
“The purpose of business is to make a reasonable return by making products and services that people want and value. If you are not, you are wasting resources.”
― Alan Mulally
“You need to have a can-do attitude. There is always a way.”
― Alan Mulally
“The One Ford plan drives the business to get PGA, Profitable Growth for All, meaning that every year we increase the profits and cash flow. So how do we do that? We serve all the markets around the world with a complete family of vehicles and use the One Ford Plan.”
― Alan Mulally
“Having one national standard for mpg and CO2 is extremely important.”
― Alan Mulally
“I believe America should make things.”
― Alan Mulally
“The reason I loved working at Boeing was because I loved the idea of air travel as a way of bringing people and cultures together – because when we come together as people and cultures, we realize that we are not that different after all, and when we realize that we are not that different after all, the world becomes a better place.”
― Alan Mulally
“Man, have I become a car guy!”
― Alan Mulally
“A gas tax could be one important element of an integrated energy policy.”
― Alan Mulally
“You create value, and you create jobs.”
― Alan Mulally
“I’m more convinced than when I accepted this job that we can create a viable Ford Motor Co. that makes cars and trucks that people really do prefer. And we can make them using minimum resources and minimum time and be competitive with our competition.”
― Alan Mulally
“With Sync technology, we’re seamlessly connected to the Internet, hands-free, and able to focus on the road but also able to handle guidance and navigation and play your music.”
― Alan Mulally
“It’s really important that we have an improvement curve on fuel mileage and CO2 reduction.”
― Alan Mulally
“It was an honor to serve at Boeing on the 777.”
― Alan Mulally
“Both Boeing and Ford are absolutely committed to safe and efficient transportation.”
― Alan Mulally
“It’s just really important that we have boundaries and guidelines to operate. Our homes, the cars, everything is going to be on the Internet. And so what are the guidelines? What do we want?”
― Alan Mulally
“It’s all about competitiveness: are you making the products that people really do want and value, and are you making it more efficiently and using less resources and less time than the competition?”
― Alan Mulally
“I don’t see anything changing about our desire for quality and fuel efficiency and safety and smart design, no matter what the vehicle size.”
― Alan Mulally
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