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The Characteristics Of Henry Ford

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Innovators change things. They take ideas composed in their minds, or the mind of others, and promote those ideas until they become encompassed into our everyday lives. “Innovation requires self-confidence, a taste for taking risks, leadership ability and a vision of what the future should be” (“Henry Ford). Henry Ford had all of these qualities, but it took him many years to acquire them entirely. Ford was born in Dearborn, Michigan on July 30, 1863, which used to home his fathers farm. From early on Henry Ford exhibited some of the characteristics that could one day lead him to be powerful, successful, and famous.
“He organized other boys to build rudimentary water wheels and steam engines. He learned about full-sized steam engines by becoming friends with the men who ran them. He taught himself to fix watches, and used the watches as textbooks to learn the rudiments of machine design. Thus, young Ford demonstrated mechanical ability, a facility for leadership, and a preference for learning by trial-and-error.” (“Henry Ford)
At the age of 16 Ford left home on the farm to the city of Detroit and found apprentice work as a mechanist at the Michigan Car Company. He returned home to the family farm in Dearborn three years later, but continued to service and operate steam engines and work periodically in Detroit factories. In 1891 Henry returned to Detroit with his wife, Clara, whom he married a few years prior, and found work at Edison Illuminating Company as an engineer.

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