fassforward Consulting Group Partners with Ford Cultural Expert and Bestselling Author Bryce G. Hoffman
When asked about his background, Hoffman replied, “Before joining the fassforward team, I was a financial journalist. I spent more than 20 years working for newspapers in California and Michigan, covering the high-tech, biotech and automotive industries. In 2004, I began covering Ford Motor Co. for The Detroit News. This gave me a front-row seat for one of the most amazing turnarounds in business history, which I chronicled in my bestselling book 'American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company'.”
A number of executives have adopted Hoffman’s book as a manual for changing their business’ culture, and have asked him to help them implement some of the key learnings. Hoffman soon found that helping companies solve their problems was a lot more rewarding than writing about them, and therefore decided to leave journalism and share the principles-to-lead-by that he learned from Ford and the other companies he covered.
When asked to talk about how “American Icon” came about, Hoffman gave a surprising answer. “When it was clear that Ford had turned the corner in 2010, I approached CEO Alan Mulally and Chairman Bill Ford Jr. about doing a book about this epic turnaround. They agreed, and for the next year, I was given unprecedented access to all of Ford’s senior executives. I was allowed to observe Mulally and his team in action. Few writers have ever been afforded such a fly-on-the-wall view of a company in the midst of a cultural revolution.”
American Icon was published in 2012 and was immediately heralded as a must-read title for business leaders in all industries. The Wall Street Journal named it one of the “Best Business Books of 2012” and Reuters declared it “a paean to the ingenuity, grit and optimism that once defined American industry and to capitalism played with government on the sidelines.”
“But,” Hoffman added, "'American Icon' is more than a story: it offers concrete lessons on how to transform cultures. The tools and management principles that Alan Mulally used to save Ford were developed when he was President of Boeing’s commercial aircraft group, so they are portable and not industry-specific. Organizations of all sizes can benefit from them, and a number of CEOs have used my book as a textbook."
“Textbooks are great ways to learn theory, but to actually implement these principles requires the help of someone who has seen them work and understands the thinking behind them,” Hoffman responded when asked how this translates in to his work today.
He added, “Drawing on my experience with Ford and other companies, I show leaders how to develop and deploy a management system that helps organizations of all sizes foster teamwork, drive accountability and achieve their strategic goals. In addition, I help leaders how to find and refine a vision for their organization, and teach them how to translate that vision into a clear and compelling plan that all employees can understand and embrace. I work with members of the fassforward team to teach companies how to use message discipline, design thinking, human experience training and cutting-edge marketing tools to overcome their challenges and take full advantage of their opportunities.”
When asked about his partnership with fassforward, Hoffman replied, “I joined fassforward because I share the founders’ belief in the power of individuals to transform companies and cultures, and because I believe that talented individuals working together can accomplish great things. The partnership we are building is greater than the sum of its parts, because each of the partners brings a different, complementary approach to leading change.”
Hoffman says what really attracted to him to fassforward was this: “I saw how happy their clients were to see them. In all the time I’d spent in different companies in different industries, I’d never seen anyone happy to see a group of consultants walk through the door. That’s how I knew fassforward was something special.”
Join Bryce G. Hoffman for his free webinar this Thursday at 1pm EST. Register using the link below.
http://leadingbittersweetchange.com/ads/lessons-on-leading-change-from-an-american-icon/
About fassforward Consulting Group
Since our founding in 2001, our mission has been to help senior leaders translate their vision into reality by shifting minds and moving people to action. We accomplish this through Change Leadership, Messaging + Communicating, and Customer Human Experience.
We provide a rare blend of 20th century experience and 21st century thinking, serving as a guide for large companies that are striving for relevance and momentum. We turn big moments into momentum.
