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Fred Smith and FedEx: The vision that changed the world 1 Every night several hundred planes bearing a purple white and orange design touch down at Memphis Airport in Tennessee. What precedes this landing are package pick-ups from locations all over the United States earlier in the day. Crews unload the planes' cargo of more than half a million parcels and letters. The rectangular packages and envelopes are rapidly reshuffled and sorted according to address then loaded onto other aircraft and flown to their destinations to be dispersed by hand many within 24 hours of leaving their senders. This is the culmination of a dream of Frederick W. Smith the founder president chief executive officer and chairman of the board of the FedEx Corp. known originally as Federal Express the largest and most successful overnight delivery service in the world. Conceived when he was in college and now in its 28th year of operation Smith's exquisite brainchild has become the standard for door-to-door package delivery. 2 Recognized as an outstanding entrepreneur with an agreeable and winning personality Smith is held in high regard by his competitors as well as his employees and stockholders. Fred Smith was just 27 when he founded FedEx. Now so many years later he's still the "captain of the ship". He attributes the success of the company simply to leadership something he deduced from his years in the military and from his family. 3 Frederick Wallace Smith was born into a wealthy family clan on August 11 1944 in Mississippi. His father died when he was just four years old. As a juvenile Smith was an invalid suffering from a disease that left him unable to walk normally. He was picked on by bullies and he learned to defend himself by swinging at them with his alloy walking stick. Cured of the disease by the age of l0 he became a star athlete in high school playing football basketball and baseball. 4 Smith's passion was flying. At 15 he was operating a crop-duster over the skyline of the Mississippi Delta a terrain so flat that there was little need for radar navigation. As a student at Yale University he helped revive the Yale flying club; its alumni had populated naval aviation history including the famous "Millionaires' Unit" in World War I. Smith administrated the club's business end and ran a small charter operation in New Haven. 5 With his study time disrupted by flying his academic performance suffered but Smith never stopped looking for his own "big idea". He thought he had found it when he wrote a term paper for an economics class. He drafted a prototype for a transportation company that would guarantee overnight delivery of small time-sensitive goods such as replacement parts and medical supplies to major US regions. The professor wasn't impressed and told Smith he couldn't quantify the idea and clearly it wasn't feasible. 6 However Smith was certain he was onto something even though several more years elapsed before he could turn his idea into reality. In the interim he graduated from Yale in 1966 just as America's involvement in the Vietnam War was deepening. Since he was a patriot and had attended officers' training classes he joined the Marines. 7 Smith completed two tours in Vietnam eventually flying more than 200 missions. "In the military leadership means getting a group of people to subordinate their individual desires and ambitions for the achievement of organizational goals" Smith says fusing together his military and business experiences. "And good leadership has very measurable effects on a company's bottom line." 8 Home from Vietnam Smith became fascinated by the notion that if you connected all the points of a network through an intermediary hub the streamlined efficiency could be enormous compared to other disjointed decentralized businesses whether the system involved moving packages and letters or people and planes. He decided to take a stab at starting his own business. With an investment from his father's company as well as a chunk of his own inheritance Smith bought his first delivery planes and in 1971 formed the Federal Express. 9 The early days were underscored by extreme frugality and financial losses. It was not uncommon for FedEx drivers to pay for gasoline for their vans out of their own pockets. But despite such problems Smith showed concern for the welfare of his employees. Just as he recalled even when they didn't have the money even when there weren't couches in the office and electric typewriters they still set the precedent to ensure a good medical and dental plan for their people. 10 Along the way FedEx pioneered centralization and the "hub and spoke" system which has since been adopted by almost all major airlines. The phrase FedEx it has become a fixture in our language as much as Xerox or Google. 11 Smith says success in business boils down to three things. First you need to have appealing product or service and a compelling strategy. Then you need to have an efficient management system. Assuming you have those things leading a team is the single most important issue in running an organization today. 12 Although Smith avoids the media and the trappings of public life he is said to be a friendly and accessible employer. He values his people and never takes them for granted. He reportedly visits FedEx's Memphis site at night from time to time and addresses sorters by name. For years he extended an offer to any courier with 10 years of service to come to Memphis for an "anniversary breakfast". That embodies Fred Smith's philosophy: People Service Profit (P-S-P). Smith says "The P-S-P philosophy is like an unbroken circle or chain. There are no clearly definable points of entry or exit. Each link upholds the others and is in turn supported by them." In articulating this philosophy and in personally involving himself in its implementation Frederick Smith is the forerunner of the new sphere of leadership that success in the future will demand. 弗雷德o史密斯与联邦快递：一个改变了世界的创想 每天夜晚，在田纳西州的孟菲斯机场，都有几百架带着白、紫、桔色图案的飞机降落。而在每天此前的早些时候，这些飞机都在美国各地收集包裹。工作人员从飞机上卸下的包裹及信件数量超过五十万之巨。长方形的包裹和信封又在这里依据收件地址被迅速整理分拣，然后装载上其他飞机，飞往各自的目的地，在那儿再由人工投递——到这时很多邮件离开寄件人之手还不到24小时。这是弗雷德里克·W.史密斯的终极梦想，他就是联邦快递集团（最初为联邦快递）这一全球最大、最成功的隔夜送达服务企业的创始人、总裁、首席执行官及董事会主席。如今，史密斯这一源于大学时代的妙想已在现实中经营到了第28个年头，并已成为包裹快递入户行业的标杆。 史密斯被公认为是一位和蔼可亲、性格迷人的杰出企业家。无论是他的竞争者、员工，还是他公司股票的持有人，都对他十分敬重。弗雷德·史密斯创建“联邦快递”时只有27岁。现在多年过去了，他仍然坐在“掌门人”的位置上。他将公司的成功简单地归因于领导力，而这一推论则来自于他的军旅生涯及其家庭的影响。 弗雷德里克·华莱士·史密斯1944年8月11日出生于密西西比州一个富裕的家族。他四岁时父亲就离世了。史密斯年少时被视为病残者，因为他得了一种病，使他无法正常行走。为此他常遭受坏孩子的侮辱捉弄，他学会了挥舞合金拐杖来保护自己。十岁时他的病治好了，到了高中他则成了学校里的体育明星，足球、篮球、棒球样样能行。 史密斯对飞行充满了激情。15岁时，他就曾驾驶一架作物喷粉飞机在密西西比三角洲的天际翱翔，三角洲的地形平坦开阔，甚至都不需要雷达导航。在耶鲁大学上学时，他参与重建了耶鲁飞行俱乐部，在美国海军航空史的每个时期都有这一俱乐部出来的校友的身影，包括一战时期著名的“百万富翁飞行队”。史密斯负责管理俱乐部的事务，同时还在纽黑文经营一项小规模的租赁业务。 由于飞行打乱了学习时间，他的学业受到了影响，但史密斯从未停止寻找自己的“伟大想法”。在撰写一门经济学课程的学期论文时，他认为自己已经找到了它。他设计了一份运输企业的经营草案，该运输企业可以确保连夜递送小型或时间紧迫的货品到达美国的主要地区，如替换零件、医药用品等等。教授对这篇论文未予重视，他告诉史密斯说，他无法量化他的想法，并说这一想法明显不切合实际。 然而，史密斯确信自己已经发现了些什么，尽管又过了好几年他才得以把自己的想法付诸实施。在此期间，他于1966年从耶鲁大学毕业，那时正值美国在越战中越陷越深，而他是个充满爱国热情的人，又参加过士官训练课程，所以他加入了美国海军陆战队。 史密斯在越南战场上服役两期，完成了两百多次飞行任务。“在军队中，领导力意味着能使团队中所有成员将个人的期望与抱负置于从属地位，而以实现集体目标为重，”史密斯说道，这其中融合了他军旅生涯和经营管理的经验。“而优秀的领导力对控制一个公司的盈亏底线来说具有相当重要的作用。” 从越南战场回国后，史密斯开始执着于这样一个理念，即如果能将某个运输网络的各个节点通过一个中介枢纽相互连接，其效率较之其他各环节相互之间无联系的分散经营的模式来说要高出许多，不论这一系统所涉及的是运送包裹和信件还是人员和飞机。他决定放手一搏，创建自己的企业。史密斯用父亲公司的投资和他自己继承财产的一部分购买了第一架快递飞机，并于1971年创建了联邦快递。 最初的日子伴随着极度的拮据乃至财务损失。联邦快递公司的司机自己掏腰包为货车付汽油费的情况屡见不鲜。但是，尽管面对这样的问题，史密斯仍然为公司雇员的福利着想。正如他所回忆的那样，即使在他们公司没有钱、办公室没有沙发和打字机的情况下，他们仍然开辟先例，保证员工享受很好的医疗和牙齿保健福利。 一路走来，联邦快递率先践行了集中调控和"轴辐式"空中交通系统。自它以后，该系统被几乎所有大航空公司所采纳。而“联邦快递一下”也成为了像“复印一下”或“谷歌一下”这样的固定说法，成为了我们的词汇。 史密斯说生意上的成功归根结底就是三点：首先你需要一项吸引人的产品或服务以及一套制胜的战略；其次你需要一套高效的管理系统；在拥有这些之后，如何领导好一个团队就是当今经营一家公司最为重要的事了。 尽管史密斯回避媒体采访和公众生活的荣耀，但他却被称为是一位友善而平易近人的雇主。他重视自己的雇员，从不认为他们理所应当该为自己工作。有报道称，他会时不时在晚上造访联邦快递位于孟菲斯的基地，并且称名道姓地与包裹分拣人员打招呼。他会主动发邀请给任何一位已在公司服务十年的快递员，请他们到孟菲斯出席“周年庆典早餐”，这已经持续了很多年。而这其中包含了弗雷德·史密斯自己的哲学：人员，服务，利润（P-S-P）。史密斯说，“P-S-P的哲学理念就好像一个不可分割的循环，没有清晰可辨的入口或出口，每一个环节都支持着其他环节，同时也反过来受其他环节支撑。”通过明确表达并亲身践行这一理念，弗雷德里克·史密斯已成为未来成功所必需的新领导领域的开拓者。 |
