Topic- Tesla
Describe the diversity climate at your organization. How diverse is the organization in terms of composition (race, gender, nationality, age etc)? What measures has the organization taken to demonstrate their commitment to diversity in the organization? How do they achieve/plan to achieve diversity in the organization?
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An Intern’s Insider View of Leadership at Tesla
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An Intern’s Insider View of Leadership at Tesla
At Tesla, leaders exercise their authority in a unique way that promotes innovation, rapid
progress, and an ambitious vision for the future of sustainable transportation and energy. As an
intern at Tesla, I have observed firsthand how the company’s executives and engineering
directors empower employees to take ownership of critical projects and drive advancements. At
the same time, Tesla’s leaders still provide high-level guidance, resources, and course correction
to align team efforts with the company’s overarching goals. For example, Elon Musk acts more
as a galvanizing force who sets the tone and direction for Tesla through his bold vision and
ambition rather than micromanaging specific engineering efforts. The engineering directors
allow their teams flexibility and creativity in determining solutions while still setting priorities
and objectives. This collaborative authority structure provides autonomy for innovation, along
with helpful leadership to steer efforts toward success. During my time at Tesla, experiencing
this hands-on, visionary leadership approach has shown me how empowering teams behind an
inspiring mission can spark game-changing innovations that disrupt established industries.
Elon Musk, as CEO, sets the overarching goals and ambitions for Tesla. His visionary
leadership puts enormous pressure on the company to rapidly advance electric vehicles and clean
energy technology. Musk pushes employees to innovate constantly, disrupting the status quo of
the auto industry. However, he also gives teams autonomy to determine how to achieve those
aims best. Engineers are encouraged to rethink solutions from the ground up rather than just
optimizing existing designs. Musk acts more as a galvanizing force that aligns employees behind
Tesla’s mission less as a traditional top-down manager.
Tesla’s engineering directors exhibit a similar blend of vision and employee
empowerment. They set the priorities and objectives for their departments based on Musk’s
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transformative goals for sustainable transportation and energy. Nevertheless, they allow their
teams flexibility in how precisely to accomplish those aims. Whether iterating the cooling system
for the next-gen Roadster or designing new battery cells, engineers have the creative freedom to
explore unconventional solutions. This culture fuels the innovative spirit that disrupts established
industries.
However, Tesla leaders balance autonomy with providing resources, guidance, and course
correction. Musk frequently checks in with engineering leads to evaluate progress and chimes in
with suggestions without micromanaging. Directors give their teams access to whatever
resources or expertise is needed to test ideas rapidly. Moreover, if designs do not pan out after
objective testing, leaders will steer teams toward more fruitful paths. This collaborative authority
structure leaves room for trial and error while still providing helpful direction.
The result is a company culture built on bold innovation, rapid experimentation, and open
communication between visionary leaders and empowered teams. Employees are motivated to
think outside the box not constrained by traditional corporate hierarchies. Leaders align these
efforts with the overarching mission to accelerate sustainable transportation.
While this leadership approach drives tremendous progress, it also comes with growing
pains. The emphasis on moving fast and reinventing the wheel can come at the expense of
thorough testing and quality control. During the Model 3 ramp-up, pressure to innovate
manufacturing led to some process deficiencies that hindered meeting production targets. Still,
most view these as inevitable learning experiences that enabled Tesla to implement solutions like
their new tabless battery cell design eventually.
Overall, Tesla’s innovative leadership structure has proven enormously successful. The
company has achieved in 15 years what traditional automakers have not accomplished in 50 in
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transitioning to electric vehicles. Tesla has emerged as the preeminent automobile manufacturer
in terms of market value, significantly surpassing its competitors. Of course, formidable
challenges still remain to achieve Musk’s sustainability visions. However, by empowering teams
behind a bold mission, Tesla’s leaders have sparked game-changing innovation that disrupts
established industries. This hands-on, visionary leadership style will continue to drive the rapid
changes needed for a sustainable future.
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Tesla’s Inner Workings
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Tesla’s Inner Workings
Working at Tesla has given me a truly one-of-a-kind insider’s view into this pioneering
company’s inner operations. I joined Tesla as an intern, thrilled by their inspirational mission to
accelerate the world’s shift to sustainable energy. After working here for a couple of months, I
have gained a precious firsthand understanding of how this trailblazing company operates dayto-day. My time here has provided a special opportunity to see behind the scenes of Tesla’s
revolutionary innovations. I was so enthusiastic to join Tesla, fueled by their mission to spur the
transition from fossil fuels to widespread renewable energy adoption. Now, I have an absolutely
invaluable understanding of how this industry-leading company operates. My time at Tesla has
given me a unique insider perspective on the inner workings of this boundary-pushing company.
In our design meetings, the creativity and innovation of our team constantly motivate me.
We are pushed to rethink traditional ways of doing things to make the best electric cars and
energy products imaginable. For the new Roadster’s cooling system, for example, we iterated
countless times trying to maximize efficiency and minimize waste heat. Our final design utilizes
air as a coolant rather than water or oil, decreasing weight and permitting rapid transient
response – an unconventional yet revolutionary tactic in automotive.
Careful attention to even the littlest details is essential at Tesla. Each part and process is
examined not just for function and cost but also for sustainability. At a recent factory tour, I saw
how our seat manufacturing team created new vegan leather from recyclable materials to reduce
animal product dependency. Meanwhile, our battery team recycles old battery packs to reuse in
energy storage products. This commitment to sustainability drives me to ponder environmental
impact in all my engineering choices.
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Tesla’s bold mission does not come without challenges, however. As a young company,
Tesla often has to prove itself against established players with far greater resources. When
making the Model 3, we went through many trials, getting costs down while maintaining quality.
Manufacturing problems sometimes made us miss production targets, causing issues meeting
customer demand. In our organization behavior class, we learned how hard enacting
organizational change can be in established companies – and Tesla is trying to transform an
entire sector. While progress may seem slow, facing immense obstacles, Tesla has continued to
persevere thanks to its unique innovation-focused culture.
Seeing firsthand how much impact a small group of motivated engineers can have when
empowered to innovate has shown me what Tesla is capable of. The relentless drive to achieve
our company’s bold vision has rallied the whole team to push the boundaries of what is possible.
In operations management, we learned how organizations like Toyota revolutionized
manufacturing through ongoing enhancement philosophies like kaizen. Similarly, Tesla
constantly evolves its tech and processes to mainstream electric cars. As an intern, I worked on
our new Tabless battery cell design that lowers manufacturing costs while improving
performance – an innovation that will accelerate the global transition to sustainability. Being able
to apply my class learnings to drive real-world change at Tesla has been tremendously rewarding.
In summary, my Tesla experiences have granted me a special inside perspective on this
groundbreaking company. While the road ahead is long and tough, the creativity, innovation, and
determination of the Tesla team give me hope that we can achieve our vision of an electric,
sustainable future. Recording my observations in this journal has allowed me to connect my
business school learnings to the actual process of changing an industry. The lessons I have
learned working on cutting-edge tech alongside inspired engineers will stay with me wherever
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my career leads. This journal has been invaluable for synthesizing my academic knowledge and
professional experience. I am grateful for the chance to share my Tesla experiences as we keep
pushing the boundaries of what is possible in sustainable energy.

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