Talking With DART CEO Gary Thomas About Leadership – Part 2

In my last column, I highlighted points that Gary Thomas, president of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), made in our recent three-hour interview focusing on CEO leadership. That last column dealt with Gary’s thoughts on critical leadership challenges facing CEOs in today’s volatile world, the role of the CEO as Chief Educator/Diplomat, critical CEO skills and attributes, and keeping CEO skills and knowledge up to date. In this column, Gary tells us what he finds most and least satisfying about his CEO role, describes how a mistake he made taught him a valuable lesson that made him a stronger CEO, shares practical wisdom on building a healthy partnership with his Board Chair, describes his approach to developing his Board’s governing capacity, tells us how he guards against burnout on the job, and shares one of his CEO leadership goals for the coming year. Let’s let Gary tell it in his own words.

Doug: Gary, what do you find most – and least – satisfying in your CEO work at DART?

Gary: You know, Doug, the two aspects of my CEO job that I enjoy the most, and find most satisfying, are almost at opposite ends of the spectrum. First and foremost, I take great satisfaction in dealing with what I think of as DART’s “strategic agenda” – particularly, working closely with my Board in articulating a crystal-clear vision for the long-term future, fashioning action strategies to realize key elements of the vision, and actually seeing the strategies implemented. I don’t mean this to sound like a pain-free process; there are always environmental changes that dictate course corrections, and adjusting strategies can be technically and politically challenging. This was certainly the case this past fall, when we had to do some serious re-planning for our expansion of our light rail Orange Line to Irving. Strategic planning is, as you well know, the “gold standard” for Board and CEO collaboration – the stakes are so high and the work of fashioning strategies is so complex. But I also love – and this is probably my inner engineer speaking – getting into the nuts and bolts details of problem solving. I don’t mean trivial issues, of course, but I do mean the nitty-gritty. Re-working the cost estimates for the Orange line expansion meant getting into some real, but truly important, detail.

To tell the truth, Doug, I don’t make a practice of whining about the less satisfying aspects of my CEO job; after all, no job is perfect, and I feel really fortunate to be where I am at this point in my career. But I have to say that there is a steady stream of minutiae that claims maybe five percent of my time, and that petty stuff obviously doesn’t make my job more fun or satisfying. An example would be periodic news media fishing expeditions, or some of the personnel issues that can bubble up to my level. But all in all, I have absolutely nothing to complain about!

Doug: Tell me about a mistake you’ve made as CEO that’s taught you a valuable lesson.

Gary: Are you suggesting I make mistakes, Doug? Just kidding. I really learned a powerful lesson this past fall that I don’t mind telling you about. Back in April and May of 07, my staff alerted me that the cost estimates for our Orange Line expansion might be off as much as $900 million. I felt that their calculations weren’t firm enough to justify going to the Board, so I asked them to go through a more detailed analysis and get back to me. Well, then, to be honest, I got so caught up in a myriad of other matters that I wasn’t as focused as I should have been, and when the numbers came back showing the same $900 million under-estimate this past November, I took the issue to the whole Board for the first time. The whole thing became a media circus, and several of my Board members were rightly upset that I hadn’t alerted them much earlier to the potential problem, even when the numbers were very tentative. They were right, and I learned a valuable lesson about the need for an early warning system for the Board, at least when big issues are involved. I was so concerned about accuracy and about not needlessly alarming Board members that I made a bad judgment call. Fortunately, everything came out allright in the end, but I could have avoided some emotional trauma.

Doug: Tell me about some things you do to keep the working relationship with your Board Chair healthy.

Gary: I learned early on, Doug, that every Board Chair is a different individual with a different style of operating, and I make sure to tailor my communication to particular styles. I’ve had Chairs who like frequent informal, face-to-face communication, and I’ve had Chairs who love to read formal briefing memos. Taking a one-size-fits-all approach would be disastrous; it’s my job to adapt, not the Chairs’. But there are two little golden rules I never violate in working with my Board Chair: (1) communication should be frequent and detailed; and (2) it should always be honest and completely candid.

Doug: What steps have you taken to keep your partnership with the whole DART Board close, positive, and productive?

Gary: Above all else, Doug, I wear a very special CEO hat: Chief Board Developer. What this means is that I take accountability for taking the initiative in designing structures and processes to keep my Board members creatively and proactively involved in making critical governing decisions and judgments. For example, we employ standing committees as a powerful means of ensuring in-depth Board member involvement in dealing with complex issues, and we hold an annual two-day retreat at which Board members and I can really delve into the strategic issues facing DART. And I also make sure that there is ample opportunity for the kind of informal interaction that helps to build a cohesive Board culture, such as informal suppers between committee and full Board meetings and invitations to Board members to sit at the DART table at events like an annual Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

Doug: As CEO of a large, complex, and rapidly expanding transportation system in one of the country’s largest metropolitan areas, what do you do to re-charge your batteries and keep from burning out on the job?

Gary: Well, I find rubbing elbows with other public transportation CEOs not only useful in terms of staying on top of developments in my field, but also – in direct answer to your question – very energizing, and so I make a point of attending APTA CEO meetings. You might think that’s not really getting away from things, and I suppose you could call attending conferences a “busman’s holiday,” but I do find spending time with my colleagues refreshing. I also make sure that I get away from the office – and from the transportation business – whenever it’s feasible. I haven’t been able to spend two straight weeks away for quite some time, but I’ve found occasional four-day weekends a very effective way to re-charge, especially if my wife and I can get away for a driving trip in the beautiful Hill County south of Dallas. I also believe that hobbies are a very important form of relaxation, and if you drop by my home over the weekend, you’re likely to find me tinkering with my old pickup in the garage or doing woodworking.

Doug: Well, our time’s almost up, Gary. Let’s bring our time together to a close by your telling me one target you’ve set for the coming year to strengthen your CEO role.

Gary: I’m a great believer that, whatever job you do, you should always be growing in your role; you should always be looking for opportunities to make more of a difference, to add more value. One of the most important goals I’ve set for myself as DART’s CEO is to expand my network of strategic contacts in the Metroplex, which is what we call the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro area. I’m especially interested in building relationships with business leaders and exploring how DART can make use of advances in various industries. As you know, Doug, the Metroplex is blessed with several corporate headquarters and with an incredibly diverse for-profit sector, so there’s no shortage of networking opportunities.