When I became president and COO of Harley-Davidson’s motorcycle division in 1987, the hard work of saving the company was done. We had survived seven arduous years of crisis. But that hardly meant Easy Street lay ahead. In fact, we faced an altogether new and daunting challenge—sustaining progress. But how to do that? For me, the answer was clear—especially when it came to issues of leadership. We needed to create an environment at Harley where everyone took responsibility for the company’s present and its future.
A version of this article appeared in the July–August 2000 issue of Harvard Business Review.
