Faith in the Workplace

Writer's note: This interview, two weeks before Fred Smith died, turned out to be the very last of his long, long career. And it occurs to me that the sadness at Fred's death is dwarfed by the impact of his life. In only one interview, that impact almost knocked me over. As I was leaving our extended time talking, I asked if he'd be getting out of bed. He matter-of-factly said no. Then he declared, as he does, "Death is the gateway to eternity."

Mostly, I knew that Fred Smith was in his nineties—a relic born circa 1912 and by some act of God still dispensing leadership advice in 2007. That's sweet, I thought. Zig Ziglar dedicated a book to him. That's sweet too. Howard Butt admired him. Christianity Today named an international award for him. His bio said he was veep of operations for Gruen Watch Company, consultant to Mobil, Caterpillar, Genesco. In Dallas, he built a food packaging brokerage firm. Awards and honorary degrees seemed to trail him.

All impressive, but now, for goodness' sake, he was ninety-five.

I also knew his weekly "Breakfast with Fred" meetings (www.breakfastwithfred.com) were well-attended. And though my mental picture of that was stuffed chairs, doilies, and dusty Venetian blinds, some interest was piqued.

So I called to set an appointment and actually got sweet Fred, who boomed, "What other has-beens are you talking to?"

And I arrived—something told me to be punctual—to a hospital bed in an open and airy back bedroom to meet Mr. Smith, tall and commanding even when horizontal, prepared for the interview with five salutary statements, supporting points, and illustrations.

"Let's take some of my ideas that I don't see written about much. This will give you something fresh," he said in his corner-office voice. Then he watched as I plugged in my laptop and ordered myself next to the bed.

And then he opened his mouth and taught me, saying:

"First, leadership is more than a list of characteristics. It is a chemical mixture of characteristics in light of the times. Churchill was great in war, thrown out in peace, and yet we think of him as one of the great leaders. It's like biscuits: you have ingredients, mixture, and then the heat that combines them. So the times are important to define the individual's ability at leadership."

I was still typing the stiffness out of my fingers and working to keep up. He slowed to my pace.

"General Motors was known to have three or four people who could take over the presidency at the time depending on what they needed. I remember when the vice president of manufacturing was made president—then when Roger Smith was president. You have financial men, legal men … the temperature of the times determines who is really a leader. See, you have maintenance leaders and then you have growth leaders."

"One's a risk taker?" I ventured. Some part of me still hoped this would be a Q&A.

"Yes, there was a time when I'd say the phone company could use a maintenance CEO. But when all the competition in communication came in, you had to have a different type. Same thing with the railroad—missed the boat because they thought they were in the railroad business when they were in transportation."

Mr. Smith was warming up.

"Peter Drucker said there are three important questions and he gave me those on a placard and signed it. Someone hand me that over there."

Now I held a small poster signed by Drucker that said:

What is our business?
Who is our customer?
What does our customer consider valuable?

"My son, Fred, once asked Peter to speak to a group of CEOs. Peter walked into the room and said, 'Gentlemen, remember the task is the reward.' "

We seemed to have slipped onto a frontage road, at least, so I asked a question I'd come in with. I said, "You're 95 and have had a full life. Some of your most productive years were well after the age when most people retire. What do you have to say about retirement?"

"You just change your focus, change your occupation."

Glancing again at the questions I'd come in with. I boldly asked another: "Where does a businessman find meaning in life?"

"Can you think of a more meaningful part of life than a job? If you'd gone through The Depression and seen people lined up at employment windows and soup kitchens: men who wanted to support families and couldn't find jobs. There's no greater social good than furnishing jobs."

Then he motioned as if to return to the outline in his mind.

"Point two: Any time you use the word motivation, you should be able to substitute the word thirst. And motivation should always be mutual. If you want people to do what you want, that's manipulative. If you do what's mutually helpful, that's motivation."

And the motivation is money? Isn't that a low motivation?

"If you've ever been out of a job or not had it, it's like air. With money you have options, without it you don't. It's like blood: I make blood to live; I don't live to make blood. I always speak of an accumulation rather than a worth. A millionaire may not be worth a plug nickel but he's accumulated $10 million."