EBay CEO offers tips for success
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By Doug Schorpp | Thursday, December 20, 2007 |
VIDEO: eBay CEO in Bettendorf
Meg Whitman, president and CEO of eBay, was in town Wednesday to stop by Au…
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Meg Whitman, president and CEO of eBay, says there are three basic principles to good management.
“The thing that distinguishes great managers is that they care about their employees,” said Whitman, who joined eBay in 1998 when she was hired by its founder, Pierre Omidyar.
The second principle involves being the right person in the right job at the right time with the right values, she said.
No. 3 is the ability to focus, focus, focus. She said it is better to do five things very well than to complete 15 tasks in a mediocre manner.
Whitman is in Iowa for two days to campaign for Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. Along with those campaign-related visits, she took time Wednesday morning to speak to a Bettendorf Chamber of Commerce breakfast at the Abbey Hotel, Bettendorf. She discussed how eBay became the largest auction service and addressed emerging e-commerce and business trends.
Since she joined the company in 1998, she said, eBay has grown from 30 employees to more than 16,000. In all, more than 1.3 million people depend on eBay for their living.
Prior to eBay, Whitman was president and CEO of Florists Transworld Delivery, or FTD, and subsequently became general manager of Hasbro Inc.’s preschool division. She also held executive positions with Stride Rite Corporation, Walt Disney Company, Bain & Co. and Procter & Gamble.
The Wall Street Journal named her one of the 50 women to watch in 2005; Time named her one of the world’s most influential people in 2004 and 2005; Fortune magazine ranked her the most powerful women in business in 2005 and the most powerful woman in American business in 2004.
Whitman shared the story of the early years of eBay and major upgrades along the way. She said eBay sellers will sell about $60 million worth of items in 2007. “It’s all virtual. No warehouse. No inventory,” she said.
Among business tips Whitman offered those who attended the breakfast was one of Omidyar’s concepts: “It’s all about the customers. Level the playing field as often as possible,” she said, meaning let all customers have the same access and opportunities.
She said businesses need to reorganize often and never compromise their integrity. Managers, she added, need to get out and about and not just sit behind a desk. Also, good managers “hire ahead of the curve.”
Another premise is that “disruptive ideas are vital.” Whitman said “you have to be constantly reinventing yourself,” in effect, creating a disruptive status quo. For example, some employees at eBay have had 10 bosses in the 12 years it has existed.
“Constant innovation is key,” she said. “It’s hard to innovate when you are big. It’s hard to innovate when you’ve been successful.”
Whitman highlighted a motto she and the company follow: “The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of a mistake.”
Her Bettendorf visit also included a visit to Auction Solved, a business in Duck Creek Plaza managed by Steve and Alli Cottrell. It serves as a brokerage firm of sorts, helping consumers market, sell and then ship items that are listed and sold on the eBay Web site.
The visit was memorable for Cottrell and his employees. “Any time you get someone of this stature to show support to a local business, it is an honor to have her come here.”
Doug Schorpp can be contacted at (563) 383-2292 or dschorpp@qctimes.com.
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