Leading with Emotional Intelligence: Hands-On ... - always yours

48 LEADING WITH EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
inventories, and where the customers do the work. 66 In 2000, when
revenues were $431 million, Whitman announced that eBay would
reach $3 billion in 2005. (Initiative, Leadership, and Achievement
Orientation) “Few investors believed in her, and even her board had
doubts.” 67
Whitman was the youngest of three children and grew up
in Long Island, New York. She went to Princeton University and
majored in Economics and then attended Harvard Business School.
She has always been driven and even had the Wall Street Journal
delivered to her dorm room as an undergraduate. Whitman studied
brand management at Proctor and Gamble and strategy at Bain
Consulting. She then worked at Disney, Stride Rite, Florist Transworld
Delivery (FTD), and Hasbro.
As president and CEO of FTD, Whitman had her fi rst taste of
the limelight. In 1995 she rejuvenated the brand and it became a profitable
private company. She was attractive to eBay because of her
consumer marketing background. Whitman demonstrated her adaptability,
leadership, and change management skills numerous times
at eBay. She fended off competition, hired a top technology chief at
all costs, and survived a 22-hour website crash, which she called a
“near death experience.” eBay’s purchase of PayPal was risky yet
successful. Terry Semel, former CEO of Yahoo!, called it “a great
acquisition.” (Adaptability and Change Catalyst)
eBay’s success is built on service orientation. Whitman herself
responded to many customer emails. The company responds to
emails in 24 hours or less and maintains customer loyalty, and more
than half of the eBay referrals are from customers. Listening to customers
and providing for their needs had helped Whitman expand
the company and maintain the “small-town feel on a global scale.”
(Service Orientation) Onstage before several thousand customers,
she told them, “eBay’s success will always be based on your success.
eBay reaffirms my faith in humanity. eBay is proof that people are
basically good.” 68 (Empathy and Leadership)