Executive Decision - March/April 2008 - (Page 18)

Murray D. Martin XD: Leadership is a difficult quality to quantify. How should a CEO be judged? MM: I’ve asked the organization to focus relentlessly on five priorities: Increase customer value, improve operational efficiency, solidify our core mailing business, focus on MM: Each group of stakeholders will have its own view on this: The board of directors will look at the soundness of company strategy, investors at financial returns, employees at company culture and their own career paths, regulators at ethics and compliance, communities at philanthropy and citizenship. Leadership is working with all these groups and more to develop positive outcomes for everyone. And of course, I have to judge my performance against my own standards, because I am never satisfied. XD: What is the most important challenge you face today? growth areas and build a more engaged culture. What is interesting about this list is that it contains no financial metrics. If we can deliver on these priorities, the financial returns will take care of themselves. I am drilling into our business operations with my senior leadership team to make sure we have plans, projects and teams in place to uncover opportunities in each of these five priority areas, and it’s truly exciting to see how they have responded. In addition, we have made some changes to the structure of the organization, bringing all of our mailstream hardware under a single leader for North and South America, and having our fast-growing software and marketing services organizations report directly to me. MM: Creating an engaged workforce. We have many challenges at Pitney Bowes, but nothing so daunting that a turned-on workforce of 35,000 people can’t overcome them. Their efforts, their creativity, their passion for success is a power that is truly awesome when unleashed. It’s how we got to be number one in our industry in the first place, and it’s how we are moving into new market spaces with a high confidence for success. But you have to work hard to keep your employees engaged. We poll our global employee base every year, and we get 80% participation, so we know what is on their minds and how we need to keep changing. XD: The pressures on CEOs have increased dramatically. How has this influenced your style of leadership? MM: I’m not a patient person by nature. If I like something, I always like it better if it goes faster. The people who work for me will tell you that in that respect I haven’t changed much since becoming CEO. What has changed, however, is that I now allocate a greater share of my time to communicating—employee town halls, media interviews, industry speeches and conferences and other venues. The CEO is the face of the company, and no one can substitute for the CEO XD: Y have been president and CEO of Pitney ou Bowes for almost a year. Company-wide, what is the biggest change you have executed in the last 12 months and how has it impacted your corporate culture? in many settings. XD: In an era based on transparency disclosure , and pay for performance, what is Pitney Bowes doing to ensure greater accountability? 18 EXECUTIVE DECISION I execdecision.com http://execdecision.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Executive Decision - March/April 2008

Executive Decision - March/April 2008 Contents Index of Advertisers Contributing Editors From the Editor's Desk Publisher's Note You Be the Judge - Unionization Thought Leader - Pitney Bowes Management - Flying High for Long-Term Results Strategies - Sovereign Wealth Funds Cover Story - In Whom Do We Trust? The Movement for Greater Accountability & Disclosure Finance/Legal - The New Boycott Model Green At Work - Transforming for Sustainability Technology - Embracing Risk Leadership - Executive Reputation Management The Global Village - China Moves to Curb Prices Economic Profile - California Gold Rush Transformations - I Can See Clearly Now, The Brain Is Gone Marketing - Effectively Using Market Research The Bottom Line - Brands: A Shrinking Advantage or Shifting Advantage? Pulse - Pandemic: Not If But When SPECIAL SECTION - Living On the Green: Luxury Golf Destinations

Executive Decision - March/April 2008

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