Leading with Emotional Intelligence: Hands-On ... - always yours

SELF-CONFIDENCE TOOLS AND STRATEGIES 111
Fisker was Director of Ford’s Global Design Studio in Irvine,
California. He also served as Director of Design for the Aston Martin
division at Ford Motors Company and, from September 2001 to
August 2003, as Creative Director of Ingeni Design Company. Ingeni
is a design studio in London that designs the merchandizing products
for Land Rover, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Volvo, Mazda, Lincoln,
and Mercury. In the first six months, Fisker took Ingeni from a startup
business to millions in revenue, working with employees from 15
different cultures. He was also responsible for the design and success
of the $155,000 Aston Martin DB-9, the car that won the Robb
Report “Best of the Best” award in 2005. Fisker also designed the
show car and upcoming production car of the long-awaited Aston
Martin AM-V8 Vantage.
Before being recruited by Ford, Fisker served as the president
of Designworks USA, a division of BMW, where he achieved a 400%
profit increase in his first year. He was the designer of BMW’s limited
edition Z-8 (only 400 were produced), one of the world’s most
sought-after vehicles that retailed close to $200,000. The car was
featured in the James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough, was
named “Car of the Year” in 2000 by the Robb Report, and won the
prestigious Red Dot Award in Germany.
FISKER WAS ASKED
• How did he learn this confidence competency?
• What does he do to be such an effective leader?
• What are his daily practices?
• What are the pitfalls he needs to be aware of?
EARLY LEARNING EXPERIENCES
Fisker stated, “I have always been good at leading people.” He
recalled a learning experience when he was 13 and engaged in an
orienteering course to fi nd a treasure: A group of boys were walking
in the forest, and after looking at the map Fisker decided they