Philip Caldwell was the first CEO of the Ford Motor Company who was not a family member; however, he is known to realize revolutionary changes for the corporation due to various changes. One of the colleagues underlined that Caldwell was “not a salesman, not a manufacturing man; he is not a finance man, but he has worked in all three areas and mastered all three disciplines” (The New York Times, n.d.). To bring drastic changes and receive such reviews from colleagues, Caldwell should have been a great leader with a number of good qualities. This paper will disclose the leadership style and features of Philip Caldwell and analyze his impact on the Ford Company.
To be substantive, it is essential to state that Caldwell’s successful performance and leadership led Ford Motor Company toward another level of business. Caldwell improved labor relations, returned the company from crisis to profitability, increased sales, and developed innovative models Taurus and Sable. Many people that worked with him say that his successful leadership partly takes root from the times when Caldwell was a procurement officer in the Navy. Philip had a job that required him to initially develop a plan, then efficiently organize it, and then speak about it. Therefore, his character was built with high discipline and extended practice.
However, some people state that Caldwell was very obsessive, stubborn, and weird but these features did not prevent him from being a successful leader. For instance, there was a story when Caldwell asked his manager to transfer a zipper bag to the airport with highly confidential information. As it later turned out, the bag had many tiny jam pots that are served on board. This example discloses that Philip liked absolute obedience when he was a chief executive. In that obedience, possibly, he saw the discipline and loyalty of the employees that lead to efficient and successful performance.
The major feature of Philip Caldwell was his powerful sense of purpose that dominated and clouded other weird features of the man. Philip wanted to make Ford a leader in machinery in the United States. He wanted the company to become the best in quality, even better than Toyota. “Successes have many fathers, failures have none,” said Caldwell (The New York Times, n.d.). However, within time, Philip managed to conform and develop as a leader. He understood that nothing could be perfect, and good enough is also a decent level of success. That is why feeling the tendencies of fashion in cars at the beginning of the 19th century, Caldwell became the leading supporter of the Taurus-Sable twins. The decision of developing these models led Ford Company to the other level of success.
Thus, Caldwell’s leadership style is mostly having a transformational leadership style as he created valuable changes for himself, his employees, and the company. Philip has changed his perspectives on the outcomes of the firm and managed to fight idealization whilst making goals. Caldwell inspired many people by the example of his performance and innovative thinking. During the harsh periods for the company, Philip Caldwell had some features of an authoritative leadership style by having the most control in his hands and valuing obedience. It is possible that an authoritative style was needed during the critical moments of Ford Motor Company. Despite the fact of people reported the weird qualities of Philip, not one of them stated that the leader was disrespectful toward his employees. Caldwell took decisions together with the managers of the company and valued each one of them.
Reference
The New York Times (n.d.). Philip Caldwell: New breed of Ford leader. Web.