Ford is known as one of the greatest entrepreneurs of all time. But was he such a great leader at all? How do you spot a weak leader?Was Henry Ford a Good Leader?
By: Maximilian Perkmann
Tags: Business, Startup, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Management

Ford is known as one of the greatest entrepreneurs of all time. But was he such a great leader at all? How do you spot a weak leader?Was Henry Ford a Good Leader? Maximilian Perkmann Follow Dec 14 · 4 min read

There is an often-told story of what happened when some intellectuals denounced Henry Ford, claiming he didn’t know much. Ford challenged them to come and ask him anything they liked. He listened to their questions and, when they were through, he simply reached for several phones on his desk and called in some of his bright assistants and asked them to give the answers the intellectuals sought.

Model T — Pixabay.com

He ended by telling the panel that he’d rather hire smart people to come up with answers, so he could leave his mind clear to do more important tasks, tasks like thinking.

One of the quotes credited to Ford goes: “Thinking is the hardest work there is. That is why so few people engage in it.”

Was he such a great leader?

The Other Perspective

John Maxwell poses the story of Henry Ford as a negative example in his chapter about the leadership principle of “empowerment”. According to him, the company lived for a long time on the revolution that has been the Model T and its innovative form of production. Henry Ford has invented assembly line production with the Model T.

However, the company faced a hard time with Henry Ford in the following years. By blocking the ideas of capable employees and with his eccentric behavior Ford almost destroyed the company. Only his son Edsel Ford was able to rescue the company. Because of Edsel, several employees remained in the company. Henry Ford’s grandson “Henry Ford II” took over the management in the next generation. In the beginning, he made some very good decisions and, above all, hired excellent managers. Unfortunately, he fell into negative patterns too, causing some great damage through intrigue. You can read the exciting details about this in the 21 Leadership Principles. I do not want to go into more details, but I just want everyone to have a serious look in the mirror. Do you see some parallels to the Ford family?

Are You a Weak Leader?

A weak leader is driven by fear. The fear of no longer being the center of attention, the fear of being replaced, and the fear of losing control.

Photo by Alfred Aloushy on Unsplash

In fact, a great leader does not need to fear replacement. When people lead excellently, an exciting paradox comes into play: those who work to make themselves superfluous are given more and more responsibility.

Provide a safe framework

The most valuable thing a leader can give is a safe framework where they don’t have to worry about things that aren’t their job. Everyone has a limited amount of resources in their head. So if someone needs their brain capacity to manage uncertainty, they won’t have that capacity available for creative performance. If a leader provides a safe framework, then employees can concentrate fully on their creative work.

Theodore Roosevelt simply says that “the best boss is the one who has enough brains to select good leaders who can achieve his goals, and then does not interfere with their work.”

Insecurity in Leaders

How do you spot insecure leaders?

Resistance to change

Change means uncertainty. That’s why “weak” people often struggle with change. However, self-confident people are aware that preventing change is much more dangerous in the long run than the short-term uncertainty of a change process. Even if a change does not bring the desired result, we can always continue to change until it fits again.

Lack of Self-confidence

If you don’t know who you are, you can’t stand firm when there is a problem. Being self-aware and being able to confidently represent decisions is a must for every leader.

Micro-Management

Most of the time, the good development of an organization depends on the leader doing a few big things well. Insecure leaders tend to get lost in a thousand small details and “micromanaging” their employees.

Competition

Insecure leaders become nervous when others increase in authority in the organization. As a result, they try to reduce their influence or to

Take Away

“Leadership, is the ability to bring out the best in people. The technical skills of business are easy. The hard part is working with people.” — Rich Dad, Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad Poor Dad

Working with people, taking responsibility and trust are some serious skills when being in a leadership position. To conclude, I want to bring up another quote from Harry Truman, 33rd president of the United States:

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit — Harry S. Truman

Interested in leadership? Have a look at my article Agile Leadership: A Mindset, Not a Method