John DeLorean's Leadership
When John DeLorean was general manager of Pontiac, he was like a breath of fresh air to those of us who worked in the home assembly plant. He had a certain flair about him that made working for him exciting. Not only did he change the Pontiac image from family transportation; he transformed Pontiac to a vehicle of excitement, speed, the design of the future, and a management system that was not afraid to work outside of the box.
I remember one year, the fifteen colors Pontiac was to offer had been decided upon and were, in fact, already in production. Mr. DeLorean decided, after production had already begun, that he wanted Pontiacs to be available in blue. In short order, we had a blue paint color to his choosing. I don't remember the official name of the color, but all the assembly plant personnel referred to it as "DeLorean Blue."
Keep in mind; this was an era when suits and ties were expected of the management team. One year, during Mr. DeLorean's tenure, we had a model kick-off meeting at a large restaurant in Detroit. All the supervisors and management were invited. We all showed up in ties and suits. Mr. DeLorean greeted us at the door in a sports jacket, no tie, and deck shoes with no socks. Today this would not raise any eyebrows, but at the time, it was a great departure from the stoic traditions at GM.
Those were great times.
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