Cadillac started its first season in Formula 1 with the mission of building a completely new team, and Graeme Lowdon chose an unconventional approach to lead the project. For the team principal, hiring professionals who are only willing to agree with his decisions can compromise performance.
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In an interview with GPblog, Lowdon explained that his role is not simply to determine what each employee should do, but to create the conditions for experts to perform their roles in the best possible way: “When I talk to people on our team, I make it very clear that they don’t work for me, I work for them,” he said.
The executive highlighted that his management philosophy focuses on three pillars: structure, focus, and energy. According to Lowdon, leadership must establish how the team operates, direct the use of a limited resource, time, and maintain the necessary disposition to face the demands of the category.
This philosophy also directly influences Cadillac’s hiring of professionals. Lowdon stated that he expects to be challenged by his employees and rejects the idea of assembling a group made up of people who simply agree with everything: “It doesn’t make sense to hire only people who think the same way and say ‘yes, yes.’ All that happens is that everyone has a good time and then realizes they finished last,” he said.
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The Cadillac chief also explained that he does not intend to teach engineers or other specialists how to perform their functions: “I don’t tell anyone what to do, that’s why they are hired. They are hired because they know they are really very good in their area. My job is to provide those other things,” he added.
Instead of adopting a rigid command structure, Lowdon prefers the concept of a ‘control room,’ based on shared values and a common direction. Cadillac established four principles to support the project: bold ambition, excellence in execution, leadership and innovation, as well as the idea that everyone is part of a single team.
For Lowdon, these foundations are more important than simply gathering technically qualified professionals: “We have to build a team where everyone understands the values, shares those values, and works for each other,” he concluded. According to him, when the right people receive structure, support, and responsibility, the tendency is for the group to move forward without needing to be constantly controlled.
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