How do you become the CEO of Ford Motor Company? Passion, risk taking, leadership, discover the exciting journey of Jim Farley | Impossible-Possible (English version)

Description

What drives a person to defy family expectations and follow their passion? In the latest episode of Impossible • Possible, we dive deep into the inspiring journey of Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Company. “You have to take risks to find your true calling,” he shares, reflecting on his early love for cars and the pivotal moments that shaped his career in the automotive industry. From flipping vehicles as a teenager to facing resistance when he chose to work for Toyota, Jim Farley’s story is a testament to the power of passion and determination. He discusses the emotional challenges of leadership, the importance of risk-taking, and how following your dreams can lead to extraordinary success. Join us as we explore the complexities of personal fulfillment and the drive to innovate within a storied company like Ford. Tune in for insights that could inspire your own journey!

About the podcast Impossible • Possible

For its 160th anniversary, Societe Generale wanted to celebrate the relationship of trust with its clients and partners, without whom nothing would have been possible. Thus, was born the Impossible • Possible art project. Marco D'Anna, a photographer, produced a series of 75 portraits of these men and women on behalf of the Group: entrepreneurs, doctors, financiers, families, volunteers, musicians, industrialists... We decided to go beyond the images... Discover these human stories, where the impossible becomes possible, these authentic testimonials where the protagonists reveal their paths, their visions, their passions.

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Transcription

Jim Farley
My grandfather Emmett Tracy was the 389th employee of Ford. He was an orphan in Dearborn. And he got a job, lied about his age. I think he was 14. And he got a job from Mr. Ford working in the factory. That was the same year that Mr. Ford changed the production from a one-off to assembly line. So my grandfather worked for the company for his whole life as an hourly man. Then, he started his own business when he was in his 50s. And the Ford job allowed my mother to go to college, the first one in our family. My nickname when I was three or four was Jimmy Car Car. I always had a model car in my hand. And when I could, I got a job. And with my money from my job, I bought car magazines. And I went to gas stations and other places to learn about the mechanics from the mechanical people, to watch them work, maybe help them with tools. Then we moved to Connecticut and the Ferrari distributor for the U.S. was in my town. So every time I could, I'd ride my bicycle to the Ferrari dealership and to learn from the mechanics, who were Italian, about this Ferrari or that Ferrari and I became more educated about Ferrari, motorsports, mechanical things and this interests me. I don't know why. I have no explanation. My love of cars was pure and I didn't want to work for a car company because it's a commercial and it could ruin my love of cars. Maybe I had to work on a car I don't care about. Maybe I fall out of love with cars. So I wanted to be pure, to keep it a hobby or passion. And my work was work and cars were a kind of enjoyment. I started buying and selling cars. We call that flipping. I flipped cars. Buy, fix up, sell for profit. Buy, fix up, sell. I did that since I'd been 15, even before I could drive. When I was 16, I drove across the country with no insurance, with a car I bought for $500 in California, back to Michigan, against my parents' wishes. They didn't know. So, yeah, I think everything important in my life, I define by which car I owned or what I was driving. Not fancy cars either. Simple cars. When I decided after graduate school to go to the car business, to go against my logic, I heard a lecture from someone at the school who said you should take a risk. Don't do what other people do. My father was a banker and I worked in a bank during my graduate school in the summer between two years. And I hated it. And that was the most important thing. I remember being in a client meeting. After a whole summer of working, they finally let me meet a client at the bank. And I really liked the people. They were very smart and they loved what they did. But I didn't. And I fell asleep in the meeting. And the bankers were very upset at me. And they said: "What do you want?" And I realized then I should follow my passion. So as American, I applied to GM and Ford and Chrysler. And then, I applied to Toyota. And Toyota in the U.S. was very small. And I got the job offer from all of them, but I decided to go to Toyota. And because I remember that guy saying "take a risk." And I did my research and I knew Toyota was a very good car company, even though they were small. My grandfather was one of the first employees at Ford. So when I called him, I was very nervous. He said: "I heard you got a job offer from Ford." I said: "yes, also from Toyota. And I'm going to take the job at Toyota." And he said in so many words, "I'm happy for you, but you're not welcome in my house." And my relatives in Michigan were very ashamed of my choice. My father was a military officer in World War II in the Navy. He was very upset that I was going to work for a Japanese company. because he's American and he lost friends in the war and he had the kind of idea about Japanese people. I didn't have these ideas. So maybe bad boy going against family wishes. And that was the most important decision I made in my professional life. I then got the opportunity to be number two at Toyota in Europe, and we moved to Brussels. I very much loved living in Europe. I got to travel to Japan all the time. I was always working on new cars. I was so happy. I lived in California. I could ride my mountain bike and drive my cars, work on my cars all weekend. It was like perfect. And then... something happened in my personal life which I won't go into, and I decided to make a change 15 years ago during the Great Recession, just before, I decided to leave after 25 years at Toyota I decided I was never going to know how good I am as a foreigner at Toyota and I wanted to test my true capability and I said "Can I go to Ford? Can I help them? The economy is very bad. Maybe I can help them.” So we moved our life here to Michigan from California, which is very unconventional. And once again, the truth of my life probably, I wound up being in Michigan knowing no one, but having a sense of connection with the company through my grandfather and the purpose of my work as an American, it turned out we avoided bankruptcy, the only company to do so, but it was very hard days. I'm the only one left from that team who was able to, by working together, save the company from bankruptcy. I'm the only one left of the leadership team. Many of my friends in college, who knew me many years ago, say you're successful because you love cars. That's false. When you get to be senior in a business role, it's not about cars anymore. Of course, it's about cars. But cars get me through the difficult days. And without that love of what I do, I think I wouldn't be successful. It’s because I find it very motivational. On the other hand, that passion allows me to get through firing people, restructuring the business with empathy and compassion. And without that passion, I don't think I would have been successful. But not everyone is lucky enough to get that. Not everyone is born to be Jimmy Car Car. Sometimes it happens late in your life. Sometimes you never find it. Sometimes you can find it, but you can't make a living. Or you can find it and it hurts other people. So you have a tough choice to make. Do I follow my passion and hurt people around me? It's difficult. I guess I'm not naive about following a passion, but if you're lucky enough to have one. Like my kids, if if they find something, i don't care what it is, if they really love that more than anything and they think they can make a difference, go for it man!

Description

About the podcast Impossible • Possible

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Jim Farley
My grandfather Emmett Tracy was the 389th employee of Ford. He was an orphan in Dearborn. And he got a job, lied about his age. I think he was 14. And he got a job from Mr. Ford working in the factory. That was the same year that Mr. Ford changed the production from a one-off to assembly line. So my grandfather worked for the company for his whole life as an hourly man. Then, he started his own business when he was in his 50s. And the Ford job allowed my mother to go to college, the first one in our family. My nickname when I was three or four was Jimmy Car Car. I always had a model car in my hand. And when I could, I got a job. And with my money from my job, I bought car magazines. And I went to gas stations and other places to learn about the mechanics from the mechanical people, to watch them work, maybe help them with tools. Then we moved to Connecticut and the Ferrari distributor for the U.S. was in my town. So every time I could, I'd ride my bicycle to the Ferrari dealership and to learn from the mechanics, who were Italian, about this Ferrari or that Ferrari and I became more educated about Ferrari, motorsports, mechanical things and this interests me. I don't know why. I have no explanation. My love of cars was pure and I didn't want to work for a car company because it's a commercial and it could ruin my love of cars. Maybe I had to work on a car I don't care about. Maybe I fall out of love with cars. So I wanted to be pure, to keep it a hobby or passion. And my work was work and cars were a kind of enjoyment. I started buying and selling cars. We call that flipping. I flipped cars. Buy, fix up, sell for profit. Buy, fix up, sell. I did that since I'd been 15, even before I could drive. When I was 16, I drove across the country with no insurance, with a car I bought for $500 in California, back to Michigan, against my parents' wishes. They didn't know. So, yeah, I think everything important in my life, I define by which car I owned or what I was driving. Not fancy cars either. Simple cars. When I decided after graduate school to go to the car business, to go against my logic, I heard a lecture from someone at the school who said you should take a risk. Don't do what other people do. My father was a banker and I worked in a bank during my graduate school in the summer between two years. And I hated it. And that was the most important thing. I remember being in a client meeting. After a whole summer of working, they finally let me meet a client at the bank. And I really liked the people. They were very smart and they loved what they did. But I didn't. And I fell asleep in the meeting. And the bankers were very upset at me. And they said: "What do you want?" And I realized then I should follow my passion. So as American, I applied to GM and Ford and Chrysler. And then, I applied to Toyota. And Toyota in the U.S. was very small. And I got the job offer from all of them, but I decided to go to Toyota. And because I remember that guy saying "take a risk." And I did my research and I knew Toyota was a very good car company, even though they were small. My grandfather was one of the first employees at Ford. So when I called him, I was very nervous. He said: "I heard you got a job offer from Ford." I said: "yes, also from Toyota. And I'm going to take the job at Toyota." And he said in so many words, "I'm happy for you, but you're not welcome in my house." And my relatives in Michigan were very ashamed of my choice. My father was a military officer in World War II in the Navy. He was very upset that I was going to work for a Japanese company. because he's American and he lost friends in the war and he had the kind of idea about Japanese people. I didn't have these ideas. So maybe bad boy going against family wishes. And that was the most important decision I made in my professional life. I then got the opportunity to be number two at Toyota in Europe, and we moved to Brussels. I very much loved living in Europe. I got to travel to Japan all the time. I was always working on new cars. I was so happy. I lived in California. I could ride my mountain bike and drive my cars, work on my cars all weekend. It was like perfect. And then... something happened in my personal life which I won't go into, and I decided to make a change 15 years ago during the Great Recession, just before, I decided to leave after 25 years at Toyota I decided I was never going to know how good I am as a foreigner at Toyota and I wanted to test my true capability and I said "Can I go to Ford? Can I help them? The economy is very bad. Maybe I can help them.” So we moved our life here to Michigan from California, which is very unconventional. And once again, the truth of my life probably, I wound up being in Michigan knowing no one, but having a sense of connection with the company through my grandfather and the purpose of my work as an American, it turned out we avoided bankruptcy, the only company to do so, but it was very hard days. I'm the only one left from that team who was able to, by working together, save the company from bankruptcy. I'm the only one left of the leadership team. Many of my friends in college, who knew me many years ago, say you're successful because you love cars. That's false. When you get to be senior in a business role, it's not about cars anymore. Of course, it's about cars. But cars get me through the difficult days. And without that love of what I do, I think I wouldn't be successful. It’s because I find it very motivational. On the other hand, that passion allows me to get through firing people, restructuring the business with empathy and compassion. And without that passion, I don't think I would have been successful. But not everyone is lucky enough to get that. Not everyone is born to be Jimmy Car Car. Sometimes it happens late in your life. Sometimes you never find it. Sometimes you can find it, but you can't make a living. Or you can find it and it hurts other people. So you have a tough choice to make. Do I follow my passion and hurt people around me? It's difficult. I guess I'm not naive about following a passion, but if you're lucky enough to have one. Like my kids, if if they find something, i don't care what it is, if they really love that more than anything and they think they can make a difference, go for it man!

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