AUDIO / Revisiting interview with new Ford CEO, Jim Hackett, On SiriusXM's "In The Driver's Seat"
Good morning! Following Ford's announcement of Jim Hackett as its new Chief Executive, we revisit SiriusXM host Doron Levin's interview with Hackett back in January, 2017. If used, please credit SiriusXM and SiriusXM's Doron Levin. Jim Hackett on the biggest cultural issue the company currently faces: https://soundcloud.com/siriusxm-news-issues/fords-new-ceo-jim-hackett-speaks-about-the-biggest-cultural-issues-that-the-co-currently-faces DL: So you're a guy, it sounds to me, that really understands people, and understands organizations and understands culture of organizations...tell me what the biggest issue, cultural issue is, for Ford Motor Company going forward, as it approaches this era of new mobility, advanced mobility, which we were talking about with other guests, defining exactly what it was, but it seems to me, that it's impossible for Ford to really succeed in moving in this direction without addressing some of the cultural issues that have to be inherent in changing your thinking about what you're doing now. JH: Yeah, and it has a big advantage there, because the center of gravity in change, in this business strategy are the people you serve. Of course, it's the people that work in the company, but the clues about what the future is going to be comes from the humans that use the system that you're inventing or developing, and totally sincerely, from being on the board but also knowing Bill for years when I was sitting in West Michigan and he was here, we had a similar view of the environment, we had a similar view of the way people ought to be treated, in business...Bill Ford, rushing to the aid of workers that were hurt... DL: I remember when that happened when there was an explosion, in the boiler room, must have been twenty years ago. JH: Yeah, or he goes in the factory...there is no status in the company that separates him from others. I felt the same way, and so, I'm in love with the way the company sees the role, of people and its purpose, so this, by the way, is the hint of the advantage that it has in the future. Ford's New CEO, Jim Hackett on bringing Jim Harbaugh to the University Of Michigan https://soundcloud.com/siriusxm-news-issues/fords-new-ceo-jim-hackett-talks-about-bringing-jim-harbaugh-to-the-university-of-michigan JH: The Jim Haubaugh evolution came because you'd have to be an idiot not to know who was the best candidate, in the world, and so I knew his father, and the long story...it's all been archived, but, I called him, while he was coaching the Niners and said, 'I'd like to talk to you, not about the job, but about the situation.' And he goes, 'Well, that's good because I got a job.' And we spent Saturday nights... DL: So right away you knew how to have a conversation with him for starters... JH: Well, and I think we were both, kind of raised under the same coach, Bo Shembechler, different eras, in fact I think Jim was 10 or 12 years old when I played Michigan, I remember him as a kid. When I called him, the first time, he goes, 'Is this the guy that taped me in the locker?' And I was like, 'No, I cut you out.' So we had a really good beginning, but the series of these discussions led us to find a cord that we believed in, and he makes this comment one Saturday night, he goes, 'Did you just offer me the job?' I said, 'No.' He goes, 'Did I accept?' I said, 'No." He said, 'Good. Because I'm getting excited.' And then I knew, the two of us had a center of gravity that we wanted together, and that makes easy agreements, and so, I gotta tell you, I can't be more proud of him, in the kind of way he's conducted himself in two years and whatever you read about him, he is such a great football coach, a better man, a family man, he cares about everything but himself, and I've never met anybody who's more competitive and works harder... Michelle Domínguez| SiriusXM Radio 1221 Avenue of the Americas | NYC 10020
