Ford Vehicles
Supply chain issues are affecting Ford vehicles. As reported by the wonderful daily newsletter Morning Brew in its September 24 edition, the auto manufacturer anticipates having 45,000 vehicles available in lots but unable to ship because of a need of semiconductor chips and other items. It is the “other items” which I find especially intriguing.
Side not – if you are not a daily subscriber to Morning Brew, you should click HERE and change that today. It is a 2-to-5 minute read containing a down-the-middle-of-the-road recap of the previous day’s business, political, athletic, entertainment, national and global news. It is a must-read for busy leaders. Now, back to the “other items” I referenced in the previous paragraph.
The Ford vehicles, particularly its F-Series pickups, are missing their iconic “Ford” name tags. Tribar Technologies, one of Ford’s previous name tag suppliers, is having supply issues of their own. As a result, one of the many reasons the updated Ford F-150 pickup you’ve been looking to purchase is not at your local dealership is because its name tag is unavailable. And you can’t have a Ford without its logo!
Leadership Lesson
There is a lesson here for leaders. Many times the one mistake leaders need to be very careful about making is… the little one.
Little mistakes can result in big problems.
Little mistakes slowly erode away a leader’s trust. You begin to hear phrases like “It’s never any one thing big but it’s always something.” Little mistakes also have a way of snowballing. Everything begins adding up. Momentum is eventually lost. There are no perfect leaders but those who continually make little mistakes are often replaced.
Little Things
It’s always the little things. Successful leaders know this.
My biggest leadership challenges over the years have resulted from small everyday decisions I mistakingly made regarding processes and policies. These decisions felt “off” at the time but I quickly forgot about them. They just did not seem all that important. No big deal, right? But eventually, those faulty decisions compounded over a series of months and when discovered, cost me dearly in leadership capital.
Though not life or death, they were the leadership equivalent of the Apollo 13 explosion resulting from a damaged wire insulation in an oxygen tank. It was a small part and not a big deal until someone stirred the tanks.
The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is just a little extra, but the opposite is true as well. The difference between acceptable and unacceptable is often just a one small decision.
If your “leadership tanks” were stirred, would there be an explosion? If your seemingly insignificant decisions were inspected, would it cost you in leadership capital and trust? If you needed to sell 45,000 trucks, would you even have the name tags of the vehicles?
It’s always the little things and little mistakes that make the biggest differences.
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