Tariffs were struck down, but the pressure didn't budge. So how does a 100-year-old auto supplier with 60,000 people across 28 countries actually transform? It starts with culture.
In Part 2 of the Tenneco story, Jan Griffiths sits down with Jim Voss, CEO of Tenneco, to break down the Tenneco Way — the operating system Jim calls the company's sustainable competitive advantage. This is not a poster on a wall. It's the six-gear framework behind one of the most talked-about turnarounds in automotive.
Jim walks through radical candor and building a company where bad news travels fast, organizational velocity as the next great differentiator, tenacious execution, accountability without micromanagement, and why "win" is a mindset, not an outcome. He also gets practical on rolling values out across 28 countries, growing talent through Tenneco University, and the P3 standards that went from impossible to gold.
If you're done with the command-and-control playbook and ready for the one that actually works, this is your episode.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
- Why culture is an operating system, not a soft HR initiative
- How radical candor gets an organization to the truth, faster
- Organizational velocity and how to break status quo thinking
- Accountability and ownership without micromanagement
- How to roll core values out across 60,000 people in 28 countries
- Why P3 and pride drive performance, you can't buy
Episode Highlights:
[1:38 The Tenneco Way: culture as an operating system
[4:35] Radical candor: start with the truth
[8:11] Building a company where bad news travels fast
[15:14] Simplify: kill bureaucracy and silos
[18:10] Organizational velocity, the real differentiator
[22:48] Tenacious execution
[24:00] Accountability without micromanagement
[32:38] The Tenneco mindset and the power of humility
[41:08[ P3: People, Pride, Performance
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The Automotive Leaders Podcast is hosted by former automotive executive Jan Griffiths, the champion for culture change in the automotive industry, who brings real leaders into honest conversation about tariffs, supply chain shocks, EV uncertainty, AI, and the shift from command-and-control to authentic, human-centered leadership.
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