In his remarks accepting Chief Executive Magazine’s award for 2011 CEO of the Year, Ford Motor CEO Alan Mulally told a story that illustrates the distortion field that can envelope senior executives unless they are determined to hear the truth.
It was shortly after Mulally joined Ford in 2006 after a 36-year career at Boeing. He convened a staff meeting with every department instructed to prepare color-coded charts indicating the degree to which they were tracking goals. Three hundred and twenty graphs were presented; 320 all-green charts indicated that every part of Ford, without exception, was on-target. Mulally was stunned and showed it. “But Finance tells me that we will lose $17 billion this year. Guys, is there anything that’s not going well?”
Mulally showed that he was eager to have managers talk to him about realities, however inconvenient those conversations may be, and work at solving real problems, however painful it may be. With that, the corporate culture at Ford shifted. At the next staff meeting, the progress charts were peppered with significant amounts of orange and red. At that point—by being willing to confront hard truths—Ford could actually begin the hard work of building for the future. The discipline has paid off. Ford announced profits of $2.4 billion in the second quarter. In his acceptance remarks, Mulally announced that Ford has paid down $20 billion of the $23 billion debt that he approved in 2006.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
