This paper is about Alan Roger Mulally (born August 4, 1945), who is an American engineer and businessman. Mulally is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ford Motor Company. Ford, which had been struggling during the late-2000s recession, returned to profitability under Mulally and was the only major car manufacturer to avoid government-sponsored bankruptcy.

Mulally moved to Ford in 2006. He had worked at Boeing since 1969. He had been chief engineer for development of the 777, and was later Vice President of Engineering for commercial aircraft. Mulally had no sales experience, and he was not a “Detroit car man,” much less a car man at all. He sold his Lexus after moving to Dearborn.

What is most impressive is Mulally’s “results oriented” leadership style. His management is crisp and authoritative, although he defers to the firm’s design experts on the minutiae of the product lines. But on the big questions of the company’s past mistakes and where it’s headed, Mulally made key decisions that placed Ford in good stead. When Mulally testified before Congress in December 2008, along with GM’s Rick Wagoner and Chrysler’s Robert Nardelli, he announced that Ford would be able to survive the recession without a bailout.

The Role of Leadership and How It Can Impact Organizational Performance

Leadership is an art, and like other arts, requires discipline, good techniques and self-expression. There are some basic rules or formulas connected with an art, but these are primarily guides to self-expressions. Techniques used successfully by some, are perhaps usable by others. However, an individual learning the art must first convert knowledge to techniques, and then perhaps blend them with personal characteristics that lead to self-expression.

Perfection in leadership, as in any art is never achieved. There is always room for improvement.