Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
There is no reason that America can't compete in a global economy, and I love being one small proof point in that.
We're so interdependent, and what one country does is such an important part of what happens in the global economy.
I've just seen it all - I've seen the bird flu, I've seen the Asian economic meltdown, SARS, 9/11, economic cycles.
Where you really get in trouble is if the market is dropping and the economy's slowing down and you don't take action.
The most important thing that most countries around the world believe in is letting the markets determine the currency.
Never make a joke or try for humor at someone else's expense. In a high-stakes environment, everyone needs to feel safe.
Leadership is having a compelling vision, a comprehensive plan, relentless implementation, and talented people working together.
If you have a common purpose and an environment in which people want to help others succeed, the problems will be fixed quickly.
Google is really committed to improving everything. So it has been really fun to participate in all of their different moonshots.
The most important thing is the fact we have created this successful and sustainable Ford Motor Co. worldwide. I have no regrets.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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?'
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?
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.
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.
The success of SYNC is another proof point that we are doing just that. We will continue to innovate and expand the capability of SYNC by integrating even more new technologies that fit our customers’ lifestyles.
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?
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.
Although the quality of the vehicles is tremendously improving year after year but the underlying reasons that people are buying cars have really gotten focused. It's for high quality vehicles, reliable, fuel-efficient, and safe of course.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
We've incentivized people in the past to maybe turn their vehicles over, you know sooner rather than later. And in the United States with the squeeze on discretionary income and credit that even as the economy comes back there's probably more of a chance than not that it'll be a slower recovery on auto sales.
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.'
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.