The CEO of UPS on Taking the Reins Amid Surging Pandemic Demand - Harvard Business Review
When I decided to accept the role of chief executive officer of UPS, in the late winter of 2019, it seemed like a straightforward choice. Having recently retired from Home Depot after 24 years of service, nearly two decades of them as CFO, I wasn’t necessarily looking for a new job. But I’d been a UPS board director since 2003, and when the board started searching for a successor to the outgoing CEO, the directors created a leadership profile that matched my experience and skills. Up-and-coming internal candidates needed more time to develop, and as an outsider-insider, I could lead the company until they were ready.
I knew that UPS was an amazing organization with a powerful brand, a culture and values perfectly aligned with my own, operations in more than 220 countries and territories, and roughly half a million talented employees whom I hoped to inspire around a shared purpose. Because the company’s stock had been flat for six years, there was also an opportunity to create value for shareholders. And, frankly, my husband was keen to get me out of the house and working again.
So at the time, it was easy to say yes to the position. I formally accepted at the beginning of March 2020 with a plan to officially transition in June. Quickly, however, the job became a whole lot more complicated. On March 11 the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak a global pandemic, forcing many of us to shelter in place and UPS and its employees to step up its essential service as never before.
When I decided to accept the role of chief executive officer of UPS, in the late winter of 2019, it seemed like a straightforward choice. Having recently retired from Home Depot after 24 years of service, nearly two decades of them as CFO, I wasn’t necessarily looking for a new job. But I’d been a UPS board director since 2003, and when the board started searching for a successor to the outgoing CEO, the directors created a leadership profile that matched my experience and skills. Up-and-coming internal candidates needed more time to develop, and as an outsider-insider, I could lead the company until they were ready.
I knew that UPS was an amazing organization with a powerful brand, a culture and values perfectly aligned with my own, operations in more than 220 countries and territories, and roughly half a million talented employees whom I hoped to inspire around a shared purpose. Because the company’s stock had been flat for six years, there was also an opportunity to create value for shareholders. And, frankly, my husband was keen to get me out of the house and working again.
So at the time, it was easy to say yes to the position. I formally accepted at the beginning of March 2020 with a plan to officially transition in June. Quickly, however, the job became a whole lot more complicated. On March 11 the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak a global pandemic, forcing many of us to shelter in place and UPS and its employees to step up its essential service as never before.
