A Tale of Two CEO's

Both men were at the pinnacle of power in corporate American, heading up the two largest auto companies.  Rick Waggoner was at the time CEO of GM while Bill Ford, a family scion, headed Ford Motor Company.

In 2006, a few GM board members were having doubts as to whether Waggoner was the right man to lead GM's turnaround amid mounting debt, declining d market share, and a natural tendency to avoid clashing with the UAW.  There was a movement afoot to replace him which he was able to dodge.  There questionable accounting practices which he was able to survive.  Then, there was the potential alliance with Nissan/Renault which Waggoner had evaluated by his own management team, versus an outside financial consultant.  His management team was able to convince the GM board from pursuing the alliance.  In so doing, Waggoner saved his job which was the whole purpose of conducting an in-house evaluation.

In 2006, Bill Ford had come to the stark realization that he was not the man to lead Ford.  He was at the top because he was a Ford.  Displaying unusual personal courage, humility, and self-awareness, he decided to step aside to find another CEO.  He pursued Boeing's Alan Mulally as his replacement as CEO.  Mulally, who had helped turnaround Boeing's problems, insisted that Ford serve as Chairman before accepting the job.

In 2008, GM along with Chrysler went to Washington DC to ask Congress to bail them out.  Ford had taken its medicine under Mulally and had begun to turnaround thereby eschewing any federal assistance.   In 2009, Waggoner was forced out at GM.