We are pleased
to announce a bi-monthly series by Mr. V. Shankar, former Managing
Director & CEO of Rallis India Limited. Reflecting the author’s personal
learning and experience over four decades’ association with companies in the
Unilever and Tata Groups, the topics will range across diverse aspects of
business. These will include Strategy and Leadership, touching dimensions of
Assurance, Governance and Excellence as well
On a lazy Sunday
afternoon, my better half suggested, ‘Let’s watch FORD vs. FERRARI’.
Usually spot-on with her researched recommendations, I wasn’t surprised; she is
a sports enthusiast, too – I said, ‘Yes, family time!’ Despite being the latest
release, fortunately we got tickets in a multiplex.
I was blown away by
the film. It transcends the terrific racing sequences. What probably fascinated
me as well were the leadership lessons that I gleaned from it.
CAUTION: Spoilers
Ahead!
The key characters
include Henry Ford II, the CEO of Ford Motor Company; Enzo Ferrari,
the founder of Ferrari; Lee Iacocca, Vice-President at Ford; Leo
Beebe, Director, Ford; Carroll Shelby, an automotive designer,
racing driver and founder of Shelby American Inc.; Ken Miles, engineer
and ace racing driver; and Mollie Miles, Ken’s strength and a car
enthusiast.
The film is based
on the remarkable true story of the visionary American car designer Carroll
Shelby and the fearless British-born driver Ken Miles who together battled
corporate interference, the laws of physics and their own personal demons to
build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the
dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 1966 Le Mans in France.
While watching the film I could connect with many leadership and management
practices I learnt over the years leading businesses as their CEO.
Changing
mindsets
Ford car sales were
slowing down and the company wanted to be in the exciting segment targeting the
younger generation. Henry Ford II realises that he should drive his team to
face up to the market reality and challenge the status quo. He addresses
the workmen and communicates the message in a direct, powerful manner.
(1) Ford II walks
up to the factory floor and does not call everyone to a town hall or conference
space. This sudden intervention spurs urgency. Setting is important;
(2) The running
factory is brought to a grinding halt and the consequent silence is deafening.
People get the message what happens if sales do not pick up. Non-verbal
communication;
(3) Ford II invites
every employee to come up with ideas. In fact, he says, don’t come back to work
if you haven’t any. Instilling ownership in every person to tackle an
enterprise-wide issue is important. Engage the people.
Ear to the ground and align strategy to customer expectations
Iacocca presents a
searching market analysis on what the auto industry wanted and customer
expectations building up to that. He highlights the need to build a different
category of cars, which was not the core competence of Ford. Tracking and
recognising environment trends on changing customer tastes and market behaviour
is crucial to building company strategy and competence.
Collaborations,
a way of life
Iacocca calls out
the humbling fact that Ford Motor Company is not capable of manufacturing high
speed cars in the short term. It will take a huge toll of resources and quite a
while – but time is of the essence. The company made a decision to collaborate with
or acquire Ferrari who specialised in this segment for making a jump start. ‘Not
invented here’ mind-set hinders progress.
Know the
opposite party
Ford II made an
offer to buy Ferrari and its fleet of race cars in 1963. Iacocca and team
negotiating with Enzo Ferrari did a good job navigating through the proposal.
All looked good, when Ferrari after perusal of the agreement asked a question,
‘Will I have control over the racing team?’ Ford said no, and that turned out to be a deal breaker. Ferrari leveraged this
opportunity and got a better deal with Fiat while retaining its right on the
racing team! For successful negotiations, it is important to study the rival
and know where to draw the line.
Challenge the status quo
Ford II takes head-on the challenge of Enzo Ferrari and vows to win the 24
Hours of Le Mans sports car race considered one of the most
prestigious automobile races in the world, which Ferrari won for five
consecutive years. Time was short and so he wanted the best resource on the
job. In came Carroll Shelby. Ford not only contracted Shelby American Inc. the
task of building GT40 and winning Le Mans, but also ensured that the
bureaucracy would not come in the way of his achieving this goal. To bring
about a disruptive change, it is essential to restructure, reconfigure and
realign practices.
Avert personal biases
Leo Beebe is given the responsibility of the Le Mans project. He
disliked Ken Miles despite being told that Miles is an outstanding driver. He
believed that Miles was not in Ford’s league. Beebe decided to keep Miles out
and Ford lost the race in 1964. How do you diminish subjectivity in
decisions, a key question?
Knowing competition and rules of the
game is paramount
Halfway through the race, the brakes give way and the Ford car gets into
the pit for replacing brakes. The competitors challenge this as breach of
rules. Without a change in the brakes, Ford will buckle up. The Ford team turns
the table by throwing the rule book back quoting clauses which do not prohibit
brake change. It goes through. Be on top of it – know your onions.
Passion, the Brahmastra
Passion is the sine qua non to success. Enzo Ferrari had a passion
for race cars and created a world-class company envied on this score. What
propelled Ford, too, was the fury to have supremacy of the market. This drove
him to create Ford cars which could be synonymous with race cars. It became his
obsession as he proclaims, ‘Let’s bury Ferrari at Le Mans.’ Ken Miles
was mad about speed cars and he had a fierce addiction to racing cars. Passion
is a core component for unrelenting progress.
Trust, the touchstone to winning
Caroll Shelby had immense trust in Ken Miles as a racing driver. His
trust was so unshakeable that he staked his entire company to Ford in return
for onboarding Miles as the racing driver. In a similar vein, Iacocca reposes
trust in Shelby designing the right car for Ford to win the race. Mollie had
unstinted support for Ken given her huge respect and trust in Ken as an ace
racer. Trust, integral to winning.
Finally, you can’t win them all but…
keep going relentlessly
As Le Mans 1966 race nears its end, only Ford cars remained,
signalling a clear victory for the company. But rather than having one winner,
Beebe asks the cars to cross the finish line simultaneously to create a
momentous event for Ford. This essentially forces Ken Miles to lose the race he
had positively won. When the winner was announced, it was a blow to Miles, who
didn’t emerge as the winning driver due to a technicality, despite his car
being the fastest. He sacrificed personal glory for the larger collective goal.
Hiding his profound disappointment, Miles holds his head high and says to
Shelby, ‘You kept your promise. I’m happy you gave me the chance to
participate’. I was moved by Ken’s tremendous character. He really enjoyed what
he did! Be a sport.
Ford won Le Mans
consecutively in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969.
