Ryder’s Swienton is Distinguished Speaker for 2010
His grandfather came to America from Poland and could not read or write until the day he died. His father was a union worker in Chicago. And today, Gregory T. Swienton leads a Fortune 500 company, Ryder System Inc., with revenues topping $5 billion a year and 23,000 employees worldwide.
Swienton – the first person in his family to attend college — shared both personal and professional details on Nov. 19 at WorldCity’s 2010 annual Global Connections Distinguished Speaker Program.
The Chicago-born executive heads up an award-winning transport and logistics company founded in Miami Beach in 1933 and still based in South Florida. It focuses mainly on managing vehicle fleets, warehouses and distribution for large companies, mainly in North America, Europe and Asia.
Ryder is known for its technology, even earning its first-ever patent recently for software; for solid employee relations, often appearing in lists of best places to work for women and Hispanics; and for environmental efforts, recently becoming the first transport company to win a top “green” award.
Swienton spent more than two years in a seminary during college and emphasizes values of community service, character and “getting things done the right way” for all employees. Those ethical values nurtured long-term “give continued performance and credibility in the organization,” he said.
The Distinguished Speaker program is a departure from the normal panel discussion held during the nine other events at Global Connections each year. The Distinguished Speaker program was initiated in 2009 with Citrix CEO Mark Templeton.
Here are some of Swienton’s answers to participant questions:
On the future of the U.S. economy: Ryder’s chief executive and chairman sees slow, multi-year growth ahead. The big constraint: uncertainty. “Until you have certainty on tax and regulation policy, you will not have large companies creating jobs,” he said.
On tips for being a CEO: Build a strong staff. That means looking for and cultivating people who are honest, with high integrity, speak openly and who put politics aside. He referenced the book, “Speed of Trust” by Stephen Covey as helpful to build a strong team.
Swienton sees no clear path to becoming a CEO, but generally advises: “Do the very best in the job you’re in, and your career will take care of itself.”
On free trade and the NAFTA trucking dispute: “There’s nothing better than trade and free trade,” Swienton said. Yet achieving it often means careful negotiation.
For example, the North American Free Trade Agreement called for Mexican trucks to cross freely into the United States. But U.S. groups have resisted, “I think driven by the Teamsters, and their argument is safety,” Swienton said.
The solution : Involve the Teamsters and negotiate an accord that all “trucks have the same standards” to operate in the United States, he responded to FedEx’s Don Johnson.
On factories moving nearshore: As fuel costs rise, Swienton sees more factories moving back from Asia to Mexico to supply products for the U.S. market. That’s welcome news for Ryder, because “one of the jewels of our operation is Mexico and cross-border” business.
On labor unions: “If you have management-employee relations that are truly bad, that’s when you tend to have unions… I think they are a bit of an anachronism,” Swienton responded to Hogan Group’s Steve Smith.
Ryder has unions mainly in cities with long histories of unions, including New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles. He sees unions as often politicized: “The fact that you have unions for government jobs is a way to take a lot of dues and use them for political purposes. And I find that inappropriate.”
On trends in logistics: Look for miniaturization of goods.
For example, newspapers used to be a key customer for transport companies, but newspapers are getting smaller or moving to the Internet. Books too are moving to e-readers. Over time, that means fewer trucks and cargo-hauling equipment needed, he responded to LanCargo’s Matias Lagos.
On attracting more corporate headquarters to South Florida: A South Florida headquarters helps in creating a “better-than-average” board of directors, because many senior executives or retired ones have homes in the area, Swienton said. Wall Street also gives “disproportionate attention” to South Florida companies, because analysts and like to visit the sunny area during cold New York winters, he said.
But luring top managers to live in South Florida presents a key challenge: education for their children. Schools lag other areas, and executives invariably ask if they will have to send their kids to private school. “That’s one of the biggest deals,” he responded to Luis Casas of Florida International University’s School of Business Administration.
On appearing on the TV show Undercover Boss: Swienton said he’s been approached to do the show, but figures it would not work well with him. He’s very visible in the company, speaking and answering questions on live Web casts, sending out CDs for truckers to listen to while driving and visiting offices.
“One of my objectives is not to be unknown and also to be approachable,” Swienton responded to Medtronic’s Cristina Palacios. “I would need a very serious disguise.”
Global Connections is one of six event series organized by WorldCity to bring together executives of multinational companies to discuss international business topics. The Global Connections series is sponsored by FIU’s School of Business Administration and real estate company Waterford at Blue Lagoon.
The next Global Connections meeting is set for Jan. 28 to discuss the 2011 global economic outlook.