Yahoo Finance FedEx exec Udo Lange on working with Richard Smith and company's culture
This story has been updated to correct Richard Smith's current job title at FedEx Express.
Udo Lange, who spent the past 3⅟₂ years as president and CEO of FedEx Logistics, is taking on a new role within FedEx.
Lange, 51, in March moved into FedEx Express and became president of Healthcare, Logistics and Americas International. He will report to Richard Smith, whom he is quite familiar with from his time at FedEx Logistics. Smith is now president and CEO, Airline and International at FedEx Express.
While FedEx announced plans on April 5 to consolidate all of is operating companies into one company, including FedEx Express, Lange's new role is not expected to be impacted by the changes, according to the company.
The Germany native — who joined the Memphis-based logistics giant in 2015 — will be responsible for seeking to establish FedEx as the logistics leader in the global healthcare industry and further aligning international shipping and supply chain, among other tasks in his FedEx Express role.
Lange will be responsible for optimizing FedEx's global networks while disrupting freight forwarding markets, reducing global clearance costs and improving customer experience, further aligning the company's specialty services to better penetrate key segments, and driving continued growth for Americas International teams across 50 countries and territories. Since his FedEx tenure began, Lange has lived in Memphis with his wife, Winnie, and two children, Victoria, 14, and Felix, 17.
He recently spoke to the USA TODAY Network about his new position at FedEx, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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How did this transition come about for you from FedEx Logistics to FedEx Express?
Lange: Oh, this is, it's just a wonderful opportunity for me, Omer. So if you think about it, I moved my family 7.5 years ago from Germany over to Memphis, so that's a pretty big move ... and I still remember the kids six months into being in Memphis, I asked them, "How do you like it here?" And they said to me, they were probably 6 and 9 at the time, "Daddy, we like it here. We don't care where you work, but we will stay in Memphis." So the family was happy, and I just have had a wonderful career with FedEx so far.
I worked with Richard (Smith) doing FedEx Logistics, and then he promoted me into the CEO of FedEx Logistics. And that Richard now entrusts me with this extended responsibility where I now lead FedEx Healthcare for the whole FedEx enterprise, lead our logistics and our Americas International business. it's just an amazing opportunity. I'm really humbled that I can get into this role.
And, of course, I enjoyed a lot working with Richard, and it feels a little bit like déjà vu. When I became the CEO of FedEx Logistics, he gave me five businesses at the time, and funny enough in this new role, I have all five business (again), they just got a little bit larger.
What is it like working with FedEx Express' Richard Smith?
Lange: In my whole career, he's definitely among the best bosses I ever had. And so why is that, you may wonder. He has a really very strong vision, and he has a very strong strategy connecting into the vision and then a focus on the execution side as well. Then, he's also the chief motivator. So he's really good at connecting with people from all levels.
And then I learned all these sports terms at FedEx. So he says to me, "Udo, I'm your offensive lineman." And, of course, I come from Europe, so you play soccer there, not football. So he needs to explain what that means, but what it basically means is that, "Udo, I clear the field for you, and then you and your team, you can do the play that is the winning play." That's just a great boss.
He's about removing road blocks, clearing the field, and then if you align with him on the strategy, you can go out and execute and he just empowers you in a tremendous way and instills trust in you and gives you large responsibilities. So what else would you want to have in a boss honestly? And he's just great fun to work with.
How excited are you to begin your new role at FedEx, and what are your biggest priorities?
Lange: I'm super excited about the new role because basically, on the one hand, I keep the team that I have, but then I get pretty much the same amount of leaders added, which many of them I know during my time of FedEx, but now you bring this all together and create this new team, you have strong strategies in place. So this is not a fundamental shift in the strategy, it's really executing the strategy that we have and then unlocking the synergies between the levers and then adding value for our customers and developing our teams and with that delivering financial impact.
My biggest priorities are really right now, understand what are the challenges that each of the teams and their businesses have. How can I help there? How can I remove roadblocks? How can we unlock synergies between the different businesses? How can that be improved even as our go to market, again more market share, and also, of course, delight our customers. Then on the healthcare side, so my enterprise responsibility is how do I understand where we are overall with health care? What are the core initiatives? How can I help to get these accelerated, and just continue our amazing track record on health care and make us even stronger and stronger in the space, delighting our customers on a global basis?
What have you enjoyed most about working at FedEx for the past eight years?
Lange: Even before knowing FedEx, my culture values were bring the best out in people, delight your customers and deliver financial impact. And so when I got interviewed, a lot was first about the strategy but then also about the cultural fit and then, you know, FedEx cultural pillars are people, service and profit, and that just is a wonderful fit. But so I was curious also to join FedEx Express, of course, for the amazing capabilities, I always say, from a capability perspective, you can look at FedEx like a logistics university — anything you want to know about logistics, there's somebody at FedEx who is leading edge in that space.
I will never forget my first day on my first day at FedEx, Billy Willard, our senior vice president of HR, who was actually instrumental in hiring me — he said, "Udo, you are now here at FedEx. You are holding the culture in your hand as the COO for (FedEx) Trade Networks." And I said, "Billy, I don't even know what the culture is." And he said, "Well, Udo, I know, but you better figure it out quickly and we will all help you." So at the time when the I got coaching sessions with Mike Ducker (former FedEx Freight president and CEO) (who) of course is a cultural icon. And still today, I regularly meet with Mike and it's just wonderful that you can work in a company of the scale that FedEx has, but also one that values the culture so much and where you just can do great things with other people and delight our customers.
What is like to take on this new role with FedEx’s 50th anniversary right around the corner?
Lange: I would say these are just two different events. So, of course, it's great that I have my new role, but the FedEx 50th anniversary is so much bigger than my new role. It's just amazing that this company has been created 50 years ago and is now on a journey towards a $100 billion company, is continuously winning awards for being in the best employer rankings, many, many customer awards. People just appreciate what we are doing.
It's just unbelievable how this company has evolved and how the breadth of capabilities of FedEx has evolved. Just think about what we did as part of the vaccine distribution where we were absolutely fundamental to working or fighting against the pandemic. So this is just a very special moment in time for the company, and it's just amazing to see how FedEx has evolved over the last 50 years. And I'm really excited to help us usher in what's next for the company in my new role.
Omer Yusuf covers the Ford project in Haywood County, FedEx, tourism and banking for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached via email Omer.Yusuf@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @OmerAYusuf.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FedEx Express' Udo Lange on new role, Richard Smith, FedEx culture
