Decisive, soft leadership propels FedEx managing director to success

By Kim Ji-soo

Staying at the top for a decade, especially amid the struggling economy, is a challenge; but FedEx Express Korea Managing Director Chae Eun-mi has managed to do so.

Since assuming her post in 2006, Chae, 53, has aggressively expanded FedEx’s Korean unit and improved its performance. The world’s largest express courier company signed a memorandum of understanding with Incheon International Airport Corp. in March for a FedEx cargo terminal at the airport.

“The new cargo terminal is scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2019. FedEx plans to deploy advanced logistics facilities, including an automated cargo sorting system, with a capacity to sort up to 9,000 packages per hour,” Chae said.

The proposed cargo terminal is the latest move in Chae’s expansionary plans. She said the project required massive communication with headquarters in the United States. But communication is what she does best to implement such plans.

She recalls the memorable launching of the company’s Boeing 777s in 2011 from Memphis, Tennessee, where the FedEx World Hub is located, to Korea, to meet increasing demand in overseas direct purchases and exports of small- and medium-sized enterprises, thanks to the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement that eventually took effect in 2012. Under Chae’s leadership, FedEx Express Korea has grown to 14 stations, 5 world service centers, 318 vehicles and 850 employees here.

Chae said the media has cited her soft leadership style, but she says that’s just a part of her approach. “I am decisive. I quickly arrive at a decision after I survey the situation,” she said.

She spoke at near-mach speed, such that her boss has asked her to slow down during presentations. It may well be part of her personality, which certainly suits the punctuality required in her field. She said “practice makes perfect,” and she certainly applies her FedEx training, such as in rapid decision-making.

A graduate of French language education from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, she started her career with Korean Air’s passenger service in 1985, before moving to special flight carrier Flying Tiger in 1987. At the time, many female graduates did not seek a career, nor was it easy for them to find employment.

“I believe I made a timely career positioning at that time by choosing a foreign carrier,” she said. She became a part of FedEx in 1989, when it had just merged with Flying Tiger. Only two years later, in 1991, at 28, she became a customer services manager.

She said she did not experience any difficulties as a woman at FedEx because of the company’s commitment to provide equality opportunities and “promotion from within” policy.

However, she did experience prejudice outside the company, such as when she was a customer service manager and Korean customers would bark at her and ask for a male manager. She handled such rude, overly demanding customers by taking full responsibility for the situation and asking customers about their complaints so that she could resolve them.

“I think my boss in the United States had more important things to take care of than the phones calls that I might have transferred over,” Chae said, stressing how a sense of responsibility was important.

She said one of her most challenging times came when she was also managing the Japanese market.

“It meant working with people who spoke a different language and had a different culture, so even though communication was my strength, the situation posed a challenge,” Chae said. She said she learned Japanese so she could better communicate with Japanese partners and clients.

Her “learning-through-succeeding” approach helped her greatly in her subsequent roles. In 2000, Chae was promoted to a senior management position overseeing ground operations. In 2004, she was appointed managing director of human resources for FedEx North Asia Pacific, overseeing 3,000 employees in Japan, Guam, Korea and Taiwan. These upper management roles provided further valuable learning experiences.

She acknowledges that her career path stands out in the still conservative Korean society.

Showing a photo of herself in which she was the sole female vice chairman at an event this year of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), she said while more women are now in the workforce, very few hold top management positions. Chae was appointed AMCHAM’s vice chairman last November.

A mother herself — she has a 27-year-old son — Chae shared some advice for women in middle management and for how Korea can have more top female leaders.

“The super or alpha girls excel at work until their priorities change with marriage or childbirth and they have multiple roles to fulfill,” she said. “It’s a difficult task, but women still have to work twice or thrice harder than their male colleagues,” she said.

She suggested that multinational firms should remain a competitive working place for women, who commit to any job or task with self-confidence and a positive mind-set. She conveys this message to her employees as well, under the company’s “people-service-profit” philosophy.

“If we take care of our employees, they will provide the best service; and our customers, if they get very good service compared to our competitors, they will keep using us, and eventually, they will contribute to profits,” she said.

Asked to name a particular area among multinational companies, Chae said her logistics area where the process of picking up, customs clearance, making it to final destination, delivery and proof of delivery that requires detailed personnel could be advantageous for women.

Energetic and engaging, Chae said she is looking forward to doing her part in this important phase for the company, which will determine the company’s future in the next five to 15 years. FedEx started the process of acquiring Dutch company TNT Express with a strong European base in 2015, and hopes to finalize the deal in the first half of this year. That same year, it also acquired GENCO Distribution System, which is the largest third-party logistics provider in North America. Last month, FedEx re-launched Bongo International as FedEx CrossBorder, which offers upgraded e-commerce technology and shopping.

She noted the rising role of e-commerce in the company and its increasing focus on the health care industry. The managing director said FedEx’s e-commerce will continue to help small- and medium-sized enterprises in Korea that don’t have experience in logistics and exports clearance. In addition, the company will further focus on the health care industry — a much-sought-after sector as temperature-sensitive deliveries can command higher prices — given its already-existing ability to provide these requirements.

After some three decades, Chae said that she also hopes she can share her expertise to upgrade the Korean logistics sector.