Come and build a castle with us
Creating something that is bigger than ourselves can only be done together. It’s perhaps the magic of collective team intelligence that creates more value than individuals that are working on their own.
And this is where our leadership plays a crucial role. As leaders, we should deliver our results through our people. In other words, create value with our teams. For many leaders, this is something that needs to be learned.
I see often how companies struggle to fight silos at their business. And the reasons for it are understandable. Leaders believe deep down that it’s faster to do things on their own. They experienced that it’s just quicker on the short term. Sometimes they have a specific expertise that takes time to teach others. And then there’s the eternal struggle between urgent and important things that demand our attention. Leaders that are not able to navigate this bite their tail.
Alan Mulally, the former CEO of Boeing and Ford Motor Company, developed an integrated management approach that proved to be very effective at all levels. Through his approach, he created value for all his stakeholders. It’s built on a clear set of principles and starts by creating ONE value roadmap for the company. Once the plan is created, he engages in a fully transparent follow-through process with his people. In these sessions, he monitors execution relentlessly on the goals that were set: data-driven meetings that are hard on the results and tender on the people.
When we survey CEO’s, 85% of them say they are happy with their strategy. However, if we ask them about the execution of their strategy, the number drops to around 20%. Execution may not be rocket science but, in real life, it’s extremely difficult to get it right. We believe that the data-driven monitoring sessions that Alan Mulally organized at Boeing and Ford made all the difference. Yes, they were a part of the entire management system, but critical for the value created. Each week, he organized mandatory global, data-driven monitoring session to follow-through on the projects they set out. Working on them as ONE team. Now, that’s a true team-based approach. Creating more value because 1 + 1 can sometimes even be 11...
1 + 1 can sometimes even be 11...
I don’t believe in simple ‘how to’ books or glorifying individuals. It’s often an oversimplification of reality. Not to mention that we all have our struggles. However, I do think that we can find inspiration if we carefully select cases. I truly want to recommend the one from Alan Mulally.
There are some nice video’s online (he’s a great public speaker). Some articles and last but not least, there’s the book: American icon about his turn around at Ford Motor Company.
Hope this inspires
Paul Donkers
Paul P.J. Donkers is a sought-after global business coach and management consultant. More about his work and projects can be found via www.tencompany.org and via www.ikigaicoachinginstitute.com
Paul and his partners work since decades with leaders to assist them create more value. If you want to have a confidential conversation, just reach out to us via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
