1. Running head: LEADERSHIP AT FORD MOTOR COMPANY 1
LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES
AND STYLES AT THE
FORD MOTOR COMPANY
Katie L. Organ
COMS60811
Purdue University
Author Note
Author is a graduate student at the Brian Lamb School of Communication, Purdue University.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to the department chair.

2. LEADERSHIP AT FORD MOTOR COMPANY 2
The situation
“With twelve investors and one thousand shares, the Ford Motor Company had spent
almost all of its’ $28,000 cash investment by the time it sold the first Ford Model A on July 23,
1903. But by October 1, 1903, Ford Motor Company had turned a profit of $37,000” (Ford
corporate history, 2016). Challenge and struggles are nothing new for the Ford Motor Company,
but when the US economy took a down-turn in late 2007, Ford was already positioned to work its
way through the challenge. Led by William Ford, Jr. and Alan Mulally, the Ford Motor Company
was able to avoid taking a massive loan from the US Government, now referred to as a ‘bail out’.
This paper will explore the strategic leadership communication style of Alan Mulally and the
executive leadership team at Ford, and the successes and pitfalls of leading a major corporation
through a difficult financial situation.
The beginning of the end
In 2007, the writing was on the wall with the housing industry bubble beginning to show
signs of instability. Hot on the heels of that bubble were the automakers, Ford, General Motors,
and Chrysler, all wondering how their fate would fare as the American auto market began to feel
the squeeze. “When President Obama took office, America’s automobile industry was on the brink
of collapse. The financial crisis had nearly frozen access to credit for vehicle loans and sales had
plunged by 40 percent. Faced with that sober reality, the Obama Administration moved quickly to
protect the broader economy by stabilizing the industry” (www.treasury.gov, 2016). In late 2008,
Congress authorize $700 billion for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. General Motors
and Chrysler took part in the TARP program, borrowing $51.0 billion and $11.2 million
respectively from the US Government (www.treasury.gov, 2016).
However, the Ford Motor Company did not participate in the TARP program as Ford was
already supported financially with a massive borrowing effort that took place in November of

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2006. “In a packed ballroom at a New York hotel, Ford’s chief executive, Alan R. Mulally, said he
would mortgage all the company’s assets for billions of dollars in loans to finance an overhaul of
the troubled automaker. Although the economy was healthy then, Mr. Mulally said the money
would give Ford ‘a cushion to protect for a recession or other unexpected event’. At the time, the
request was considered an act of desperation. But the $23.6 billion in loans it received turned out
to be Ford’s salvation” (Vlasic, The New York Times, 2009).
A new era
While GM and Chrysler were working through the public relations backlash over taxpayer
money being used to float private businesses, the Ford Motor Company was moving forward with
a new CEO, Alan Mulally. The company had been traditionally spearheaded by a member of the
Ford family, but the family recognized the need for a change in thinking. “Bill Ford didn't just
hand over the reins of the company to Alan Mulally, who he recruited from Boeing (BA, Fortune
500) after several competing auto industry executives turned down the CEO spot. As Executive
Chairman, Ford is at work every day, collaborating with Mulally on the direction of the company.
‘I talk to Alan many times a day, every day. The way we like to work, our styles are very similar,
we don't have formal meetings, we bounce back and forth between each other’s offices. We don't
like to have any kind of scheduled meetings. We communicate on every big decision, and a lot of
little ones too’ " (Quote from Ford Jr., Hammond, Fortune, 2011).
“’It was a defining moment for us,’ Mr. Mulally said in an interview. ‘But they never
would have been willing to lend us the money if we weren’t on a different path.’ Mr. Mulally had
been on the job as Ford’s chief executive less than 90 days when he asked for the loans. But as he
told the bankers, he was prepared to make tough decisions, including selling off brands, shedding
jobs and focusing Ford’s efforts on small cars rather than trucks and sport utility vehicles” (Vlasic,
The New York Times, 2009).

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Leading with style
“Researchers have identified a number of leadership communication styles in the past half-
century. These varying styles can be pared down to two primary models of communication: one
model compares authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire styles of leadership communication; a
second model contrasts task and interpersonal leadership communication.” (Hackman & Johnson,
2013, p. 39). Ford Jr. and Mulally both exhibited characteristics of a more democratic style of
leadership. “Democratic leaders engage in supportive communication that facilitates interaction
between leaders and followers. The leader adopting the democratic communication style
encourages follower involvement and participation in the determination of goals and procedures”
(Hackman & Johnson, 2013, p. 40). Additionally, Mulally demonstrated a transformational style of
leadership through not only his communication style but his actions associated with presenting the
company’s case for borrowing money.
In the research conducted regarding transformational leadership Van Wart observes that
“effective leaders not only ensure that things get done and that employees are appropriately
empowered in the present but also take the organization into the future (2013, p 558).” Mulally’s
actions when first coming on board at Ford ultimately lead the company to a full economic
recovery in a shorter amount of time than was previously expected by investors. “Unlike the
transactional leader who indicates how current needs of followers can be fulfilled, the
transformational leader sharply arouses or alters the strength of needs that may have lain
dormant…It is leadership that is transformational that can bring about the big differences and big
changes in groups, organization, and societies” (Bass, 2007, as quoted in Hackman & Johnson,
2013, p.102).

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The application of style
“To build the case [for borrowing money] to the other stake-holding members of his
family, Ford needed to go back to the basics of good business communication from the executive
level: Lay out your plan, be as forthcoming with information as possible, answer questions and
seek feedback” (Cassano, Smart Business, 2011). Ford Jr. and Mulally did just that. They knew
that their current approach to research and development was not going to be enough to sustain the
company through their economic hardships, so they went to work to set about a change at the Ford
Motor Company. They employed transformational styles of leadership to overhaul how the
company operated, as well as how the employees felt about the company and behavior within the
corporate culture. In the Hackman and Johnson text, a transactional leader is described as “most
concerned with the satisfaction of physiological, safety, and belonging needs” (2013, p.101). In the
reverse, a transformational leader “also attempts to satisfy the basic needs of follower, but they go
beyond mere exchange by engaging the total person in an attempt to satisfy the higher-level needs
of self-esteem and self-actualization” (2013, p. 101).
At the beginning of the overhaul of the business, the leadership team presented their
strategy for borrowing money from banks and investors. They exhibited both influential and
natural authenticity in regards to their plans for transforming the business through continued
investment in research and development activities, as well as natural authenticity in regards to
improving the commodities (vehicles) that would be offered in the marketplace as a result of the
capital investment. Leaders who exhibit traits of influential authenticity are “perceive as authentic
that which exerts influence on other entities, calling human beings to a higher goal and providing a
foretaste of a better way; not inconsequential or without meaning” (Molleda & Roberts, 2014, p.
159). Leaders who exhibit traits of natural authenticity are “perceive as authentic that which exists
in its natural state in or of the earth, remaining untouched by human hands; not artificial or

6. LEADERSHIP AT FORD MOTOR COMPANY 6
synthetic” (Molleda & Roberts, 2014, p. 159). Their authentic leadership styles coupled with a
transformational agenda allowed them to raise $5.9 million (Fox News, 2009).
In their case study exploring the concepts of global yet local, or ‘glocal’, strategic
communications in relation to the PR campaign for Colombian coffee, authors Molleda and
Roberts noted that “Gilmore and Pine (2007) introduce five genres of perceived authenticity
corresponding to these five economic offerings: commodities (natural authenticity), goods
(original authenticity), services (exceptional authenticity), experiences (referential authenticity),
and transformations (influential authenticity)” (2014, p. 159). Ford Jr. and Mulally were
attempting to lead a global manufacturing company, whose roots in the community of Detroit are
deeply embedded, through massive internal and external changes in order to avoid failure on a
global scale. “Glocal” strategic communication and leadership was present throughout all their
efforts. Mulally and his team presented their leadership concepts with different aspects of Gilmore
and Pine’s authenticities.
After the necessary capital was raised, however, the work was only just beginning. Mulally
and his team needed to think broadly about how they were going to lead the company through the
change that so desperately needed to occur in order for Ford to be profitable again in the not too
distant future. Mulally’s transformational leadership style, coupled with his communication skills,
allowed him to focus his next efforts on the internal culture at Ford.
Leading internally
“The other critical component in building your business for the future is a motivated work
force. You motivate employees by giving them avenues to pursue their ideas and removing
roadblocks. But you also need to encourage the behaviors you want to see. Ultimately, your
internal culture needs to work in tandem with your outside resources. When a motivated work
force can draw upon extensive financial and intellectual support, your company can have the tools

7. LEADERSHIP AT FORD MOTOR COMPANY 7
to weather just about any circumstance that comes your way. There will still be adversity, but
you’ll be prepared for it” (Quote from Ford Jr., Cassano, Smart Business, 2011). The importance
of being authentic to the roots of the Ford company were strategically critical to the success of the
changes needed to be made. Mulally understood that he could not simply implement a new way to
doing business without taking in the ‘glocal’ factors. It was critically important that Mulally and
the leadership team be authentic in their communication with the teams. Addressing difficult issues
of change with teams who’s locally based roots run deep in Detroit and with teams who worked in
the global manufacturing centers around the world could not have been conducted in the same
manner. “’There are different ways to deliver the same message and we learned that we had to be
flexible,’ said Mike Parris, manager for mass communications. ‘It didn’t make sense to feed
straight stories, and we couldn’t get into tons of approvals so we would share themes and then trust
them [local management teams] to do the job right.’ To keeps ideas flowing, members of the
communications team benchmarked their operations with other companies and held off-site
meetings with a facilitator to brainstorm ways of getting the messages out” (Marton, 1999, p. 11).
Ford Jr. and Mulally’s democratic style of leadership was a major contributing factor to the
success of the internal communication change campaign. Democratic leadership ‘involves
followers in setting goals, engages in two-way, open communication, and solicit input regarding
determination of policy and procedures” (Hackman & Johnson, 2013, p. 41). The management
teams across Ford understood what the direction of the campaign was, and not only did they feel
empowered to manage the campaign in their own sites but were actually empowered to do so by
Mulally and his team. The ‘glocal’ leadership approach to managing the communication provided
regular feedback in the form of surveys. “Employees’ support for Ford 2000 [campaign] was
gauged through surveys initially conducted every six weeks and then quarterly. The surveys also

8. LEADERSHIP AT FORD MOTOR COMPANY 8
helped determine employee response to the barrage of information they were receiving” (Marton,
1999, p.10).
As a true transformational leader, Mulally applied the basic philosophies of his leadership
style across all facets of the organization time and time again. “To succeed, he [Mulally] said,
programs such as “Go Further” must begin by making sure every constituency in the company is
fully apprised of the common platform and expectations about it; then break it down to help
individual employees understand what it means for them in their roles; then obtain commitments
from employees and begin measuring behaviors that will indicate the internal branding effort is
taking hold; and, finally, seriously recognize and reward the desired behaviors” (Buss, 2016).
“Focus on communication quality as well as quantity. Communication behaviors that are
positively correlated with emergent leadership include: setting goals, giving directions, managing
tension and conflict, and summarizing. Not only is quality communication essential to becoming a
leader, but effective leadership communication helps the group as a whole. Groups are most likely
to make good decisions when their most influential members facilitate discussion by asking
questions, challenging poor assumptions, clarifying ideas, and keeping the group on track”
(Hackman & Johnson, 2013, p. 205).
Leadership through public relations and branding
Ford Jr. and Mulally understood that their democratic leadership of the company through
the economic downturn by cultivating investor relations and internal communication alone would
not be enough to ensure the survival of the Ford Motor Company. They knew that a significant
level of effort and investment would be required with the American and international publics, who
ultimately buy Ford’s vehicles. Investing in branding and public relations could have been
perceived as superfluous to the needs of the business, but Ford Jr. and Mulally understood the
benefits.

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In their study addressing the return on investment of public relations, authors Lee and Yoon
examined the application of international public relations leadership methodologies at a more
macro-level. “The most important contribution of this study is to show empirical evidence of the
bottom-line impact of country-level international public relations based on macro-level analysis.
To practitioners in public diplomacy and international public relations, the findings of this study
are supportive of the value of public relations at the country level. As in the company setting,
international public relations budgets at the country level are often easy targets for reduction,
especially in times of economic downturn due to the difficulty of showing tangible outcomes from
international public relations investment. This study clearly presents convincing empirical
evidence as to the value of international public relations, specifically in the form of economic
returns back to the country” (2009, p.19). Mulally in particular understood that Ford needed to lead
its way back to the American public’s brand conscious prior to the improvement of the overall
economic picture, in order to be well positioned to make back the lost market share once the
recovery began.
As a transformational leader, Mulally understood how critical it would be for Ford’s
continued growth and success to spend money on marketing and advertising. He hired Jim Farley
as marketing officer. Mulally laid out his plan and vision for Ford, but ultimately empowered
Farley to make decisions he felt would be best for the brand. “"He pulled out a document and there
were, like, 200 individual models on it. But he said to me, 'You see this blue oval? We are going to
focus on Ford, and take Ford and integrate it globally,’ Mr. Farley said of his meeting with Mr.
Mulally. ‘As a competitor, I was always scared that Ford was going to do that.’ But the bigger
concern was a cultural one. Mr. Farley, a self-described "freak," was worried he wouldn't fit in at
Ford. ‘By 'freak,' I mean that I like bottom-up ideas, creative thinking at the client, not the agency.
I expect our team to come up with new ideas and I expect that to flow up from the bottom. I was

10. LEADERSHIP AT FORD MOTOR COMPANY 10
worried the culture would reject me like a bad organ,’ Mr. Farley said. ‘Alan just said, 'Jim, we'll
stand back to back. Like Wyatt Earp.’ Instead of wondering whether he would fit in with the
culture of Ford, Mr. Farley changed the culture” (Thomaselli, 2010). Through a democratic and
transformational leadership style, Mulally was able to secure the recruitment of Farley for the
marketing team. Mulally’s efforts results in $4.7 billion in profit year-ending 2010, the company’s
largest profit since 1998 (Thomaselli, 2010).
Conclusions
Mulally and his team worked tirelessly to deploy their communication campaign across the
‘glocal’ organization. There were missteps along the way, but ultimately the leadership style of
Mulally and the reinforcement of Mulally’s leadership style by Bill Ford Jr., allowed Ford to
emerge from one of the worst financial situations in the company’s long history. “Leaders are not
the only factor influencing organizational success, follower happiness, and constituent satisfaction;
however, leaders are generally significant factors and, sometimes, the most important factor (e.g.,
Fernandez 2005; Hennessey 1998; Kaiser, Hogan, and Craig 2008; Trottier, Van Wart, and Wang
2008). For example, in a study using 30,000 respondents, Dull (2010) demonstrated the strong
relationship between trusted leadership and satisfaction, perceived performance, and a sense of
freedom in expressing opinions. The literature also points out, however, that leadership is often
romanticized or exaggerated in many circumstances, even when leaders are perceived to play
relatively strong roles” (Van Wart, 2013, p. 555).
Through the application of the principles of the democratic style of leadership Mulally
listened to his team, employees, and investors, which led him to not only maintain a healthy level
of investment of company funds and resources in research and development efforts, but also to
drive change in the internal culture at Ford from one of segregation and mismanagement to that of
collaboration and partnership. Furthermore, Mulally continually demonstrated authenticity

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throughout the transformation of the internal culture, investor relations, and external branding
efforts. He spoke candidly, openly, and honestly to the team at Ford about the company’s financial
situation. He presented his ideas to move the company forward both clearly and with relevance to
the overall strategic plan. Employees and investors understood that tough times were ahead, but
that on the other side of those tough times there would be prosperity. The team rallied around
Mulally’s plans and now Ford is back as the number two auto manufacturer in the United States.
Leadership and leadership styles may not ultimately be responsible for an organization’s success,
as it takes many individuals working hard towards a goal in order to achieve it. However, without
consistency of leadership and leadership styling, an organization may find itself lost among the
multiple avenues that can be taken towards success.

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