The two most distinctive aspects of his career were - first, he was a 'Product' man having spent his entire career in design, product development and manufacturing. He was a Stamford MBA. After completing his military service, he joined FMC as a product planner and worked on the development of 'Thunderbird' in the 1950s and on the 'Mustang' in the 1960s. In the late 1970s he became the Chief of Ford's International Automotive Division.
In his early years at Ford, he had witnessed and experienced the 'turf' wars between different functions and was aware how quality had been relegated to a lower priority than cost accounting and financial controls. The best way to ruin a company's progress is to hand over the reins to the bean counters in the words of the great Mr. Robert Townsend.
Though FMC was the number 2 in terms of size and volumes, it was always perceived as number 1 in terms of quality and innovation in the US auto market. Ford has been relegated to the third place today. Mr. Peterson, along with all old time Ford loyalist employees, wanted to restore the pride of place to Ford. Under Mr. Peterson's leadership, FMC achieved a remarkable turnaround. In auto industry it was ranked number 1. The model 'Taurus' won all the three top awards of the auto industry in 1987 Car of the Year, Best Domestic Car and Top Car. Mr. Donald Peterson was deemed to be a simple, unassuming and a reticent man. He said that Mr. Henry Ford II chose him simply because he was the only 'Product' man around in the then top management team. Mr. Ford realized that FMC needed new products. Mr. Peterson was the opposite of Mr. Henry Ford, who was egotistical and aggressive. So were many of the former leaders of FMC, like Mr. Lee Iacocca. Most business leaders and managers choose their own image in the successors and team members. If there was a possibility of another aggressive or assertive product person being available at that time, Mr. Ford would have probably chosen him over Mr. Peterson. Managing difficult subordinates and peers is child's play compared to managing a difficult boss.
According to Dr. Pascale, when he was invited to address the MBA students of Harvard Business School, he was uncomfortable on the podium and many students were left wondering as to how he had carried it out. Obviously, public speaking was not his forte.
He said, ‘I did not do it. I had enabled the large number of FMC employees to do so'.
This statement is the hallmark of a great leader. Great leaders do not take the credit for the good work done.
Mr. Peterson exemplifies the 'Working Leader'. The future needs more professional leaders like Mr. Peterson. It is not easy working for people like Mr. Henry Ford. Mr.
Peterson was really 'managing on the edge' as rightly coined by Dr. Pascale. This is where Mr. Peterson's greatness lies.
© May 2007. www.madgopes.com. All rights reserved.
To learn more about this author, visit Madhavan T Gopalachary's Website.
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Madhavan T Gopalachary
(Visit Madhavan's Website)
Madhavan Gopalachary, nick name "madgopes"
(g pronounced as in go) given by IIT
classmates, is a Mechanical Engineer and
an alumnus of Indian Institute of
Technology, Madras having passed out
specializing in IC Engines &
Thermodynamics.
He has nearly 35 years of experience in
the Corporate World. He started off as a
trainee and handled sales, marketing,
manufacturing, product management, profit
center management, strategic planning and
corporate development including R & D in
various organizations and at various
levels before becoming a CEO. His last two
professional assignments were at CEO level
before embarking to start management
consultancy business on January 01, 1998.
He has worked for British, Swedish MNCs as
well as very large Indian business houses.
He has spent a large portion of his time
from June 1998 till date in East African
Countries practicing as an independent
Management Consultant.
More details can be obtained at the
following web sites:
mmg.name/
mtg.html
mmgconsu
lting.biz/
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