Talking With DART CEO Gary Thomas About Leadership – Part 1

With an operating budget of over $350 million, a total budget of over $1.6 billion, and over 3,300 employees, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is a sprawling 13-city system providing bus, light rail, commuter rail, paratransit, and high occupancy vehicle (HOV) service over a 700 square mile area. Through 2013, the DART rail system is slated to double in size to 93 miles. Extensions now in development include the 17.5-mile Northwest Corridor, with a 13-mile branch extending to D/FW International Airport, and another 10.2-mile extension serving the Southeast Corridor.

DART is governed by a 15-member board appointed by member-city councils based on population. The board named Gary Thomas DART’s president/executive director in 2001. Before becoming CEO, Gary had served for three years as DART’s Senior Vice President, Project Management, overseeing the design and construction of all of DART’s major capital projects, including the light rail system. A member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a Registered Professional Engineer, Gary received his B.S. in Civil Engineering and Bachelor of Architecture degrees from Texas Tech University. He currently serves on the APTA Board of Directors.

I recently spent around three hours interviewing Gary about his work as CEO of one of the country’s largest, fastest growing, and most respected public transportation authorities. This and my next column highlight what Gary shared with me over the course of our wide-ranging discussion.

Doug: Gary, as you look ahead, what do you see as the preeminent executive leadership challenges facing you and your CEO colleagues in public transportation in today’s rapidly changing, challenging world?

Gary: Well, there are challenges aplenty in today’s world, Doug, but three really loom largest to me because they’re at the very heart of every system’s – including DART’s – sustainability: building public understanding and support; developing our human resources; and helping the Board function as a really high-impact governing body. One of the most important “hats” I wear as DART’s CEO is Chief Educator and Diplomat. Although I share this role with my Board members, I’d say that I easily spend 45 to 50 percent of my time in the external arena. This is really a no-brainer, when you think about it. DART is a huge, tremendously complex organization that, like all other public transportation agencies around the country, is heavily subsidized by taxpayer dollars. Our future stability and growth depend on strong public understanding and support. If local government and business leaders, our riders, and the general public don’t understand how we operate and how we’re financed, we’re in trouble. I also wear the hat of Chief Human Resource Developer at DART, which means I pay a close attention to strategies for attracting people to both operational and managerial jobs and to making sure that our employees’ knowledge and skills are systematically developed. After all, DART is people above all else, not buses and trains. And I wear the Chief Board Developer hat at DART, making sure that the volunteers serving on the DART Board get the support from me and my staff they need to make the really high-stakes strategic and policy-level decisions that determine DART’s long-term success.

Doug: Would you say a bit more about your role as DART’s Chief Educator/Diplomat?

Gary: As I mentioned, I’m wearing this really critical Chief Educator/Diplomat hat around 50 percent of the time because people in our region who don’t understand the benefits we generate, how we run our transportation business and how we’re financed aren’t likely to be our champions. With rapidly growing demand and rising fuel costs, believe me, we need every champion we can get. What do I do when I’m wearing this hat? Well, for one thing, I devote lots of time and attention to key stakeholders around the region. For example, I regularly meet one-on-one with mayors and city council members, keeping them abreast of DART developments and briefing them on current issues, and I touch base with key state legislators as often as I can. I’m also constantly on the speaking circuit in the region, speaking at meetings of such organizations as the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Dallas, and the various service clubs. I’m sure there are more scintillating speakers around, but people tell me they appreciate my taking the trouble to explain what we do at DART, and they like my plain-spoken, tell-it-like-it-is, from the heart style. I’m convinced that people appreciate honesty and directness in communication, and sounding like a used car salesman would be the kiss of death.

Doug: What skills and attributes do you consider most important in meeting the leadership challenges you and other public transportation CEOs face in today’s world?

Gary: Let’s assume that anyone who reaches the top spot in a public transportation organization understands the technical aspects of the business. That’s a given. However, being technically accomplished, while it’s important, won’t take you very far as a CEO. Experience has taught me that, above all else, if you’re going to succeed as a CEO these days, you’ve got to be able to rise above the myriad operational details – the “trench,” if you will – and see the really critical opportunities and challenges coming down the pike. I guess you’d call this having strategic vision, seeing the whole forest and not being blinded by the trees. I also think to succeed as a CEO you need to be able to persevere and be pretty thick-skinned. If you and your board have embarked on a well-thought-out course of action, you can’t afford to wilt under criticism; just putting your head down and plowing ahead is often the only sensible tack you can take. Equanimity is another valuable CEO trait – not letting yourself get easily upset by the arrows of criticism coming your way and definitely not lashing out and burning bridges. And I’ve already talked about the CEO’s job in the external arena, which means you have to be an effective communicator. You’ve got to connect with key audiences out there and turn them into knowledgeable supporters.

Doug: What do you do to keep your leadership knowledge and skills up to date, Gary?

Gary: Well, like most CEOs, I suppose, I read books that are coming out on various facets of CEOship, and I make a point of participating in APTA’s CEO forums, which I have found very informative. Beyond the tried and true, I’ve been participating in a really powerful CEO development program I’d like to tell you about called Vistage. In a nutshell, it involves my meeting once a month with around 15 other CEOs from for-profit and public/nonprofit organizations with budgets in the $5 to $300 million range. We always have an expert from outside who addresses some aspect of leadership, after which a Vistage representative facilitates active discussion. The speakers are always very knowledgeable and thought-provoking, and I can’t tell you how stimulating and practically useful it is to exchange ideas and share real-life experiences with other CEOs. For example, I learned a really valuable lesson from a recent Vistage meeting that focused on group dynamics: “You stand for what your tolerate,” which means that the behaviors you tolerate as a CEO tell people what you really stand for, regardless of what you preach. I have found that rubbing elbows with CEOs outside of my field is one of the best ways to get myself thinking outside of the proverbial box and to get my creative juices flowing.