Eccles Business Buzz

In this third episode of Eccles Business Buzz, we welcome Greg Kennedy, who graduated from the Eccles School in 1987 and is one of our most dedicated Eccles advisory board members. Greg recently retired as Senior Vice President of Airport Operations at Delta Airlines where he was responsible for some of the busiest airports in the world including our very own Salt Lake International.

Greg walks us through his family story and his experiences growing up, wrestling to go to college, and how he ended up at the University of Utah and eventually, the Eccles School.

He narrates his extensive experience working in the airline industry, some of the ups and downs, dealing with major crises like 9/11 and COVID-19, and the importance of leadership through it all.

Greg shares his definition of empathy and how his perspective has changed thought his career. He also talks about the great attributes of a leader/mentor and the importance of having the right people to guide you in your journey.

Greg's definition of empathy - "It's the glue that holds relationships together. When I think about empathy, it is the ability to detect others' emotions and understand the perspective. And when people feel accepted and valued, it really builds trust."

If his perspective on empathy changed over the years - "It has definitely changed. As you take on more responsibility, your ability to have empathy or your need to have empathy increases dramatically. I believe it's one of the most important skills or attributes for leaders today."

On servant leadership as one of his core values - "When your corporate values align with your personal values, it makes for a very enjoyable and harmonized career. And that's really what I had. I think my colleagues if they were to define me in one word, I think they would use the word and the term servant leader. From day one and over the years, regardless of my title or responsibility, I stayed very connected to the frontline employees."

Attributes of a good mentor - "Mentoring is really important to me. I told my team and have always taught my leaders that your number one responsibility is developing and preparing leaders to take your place and finding and developing those who are smarter and ready to take on those responsibilities. I was serious about that because I think it's very important that you help develop others to give back. It's really a way of giving back as a leader."

Key ingredients in life - "Opportunities are often disguised as hard work. And that's why many people miss out on them because they're not willing to work hard. The second part was being nice. The rest of the universe was literally taught to be nice to people. You just got to get out there and take care of them. Work hard and be nice. To me, those are the two most important key ingredients; very simple terms, but very important."

In this week’s episode of the Eccles Business Buzz, we are honored to have Crystal Maggelet, current CEO and Chairman of the Board at FJ Management Inc. She is a former Eccles School Advisory Board member, current Board of Higher Education for Utah board member, and one of our generous donors.

Crystal shares a little bit of her background growing up in a family-owned business, pursuing an education, and eventually venturing into entrepreneurship herself. She talks about her experience quickly moving from a stay-at-home mom to becoming the CEO of FJ Management for the past 12 years. She also narrates how the pandemic impacted their businesses and how they learned to navigate this new normal while supporting both employees and customers with empathy.

Crystal shares her definition of empathy, why she is passionate about education, and why women shouldn’t feel intimidated in their careers, even if they are the only woman in the room!

On being a mother and a CEO - "It was a very different transition. So, as a mom, it was really hard when I had my mom hat on. As an executive or as an individual, it was very stimulating intellectually. I was always trying to do the best I could. In general, I found the situation extremely intellectually challenging, and it made me realize that really, for me, working was a part of who I was, and having a career would always likely need to be a part of what I do."

On having an entrepreneurial spirit - "I view an entrepreneur as someone who can come up with an idea and execute it. I have never really had to do that. I've had to execute on someone else's idea. If I am given something and I need to make decisions and I've given facts around that, I can do quite a good job usually of collaborating people in ideas and making decisions, whether that's entrepreneurial or not."

On investing in employees and their families - "I believe that if you treat people right, they will have your back. I do take pride in treating our employees with respect. And usually, I get it back. The three guiding principles of our overall company are integrity, mutual respect, and excellence. And even though they're basic and many companies could say that, I try to live by those things and have our employees live by those things. I think that they're key to being successful and longevity for business."

On coping up with a global pandemic - "I believe that if we could all come together, we would get through anything. Even an economic downturn would not be as bad if people would work together to get through all of what's going on."

Her definition of empathy - "I have felt so blessed my entire life since when I was a small child. I have looked around the world, and I have seen the opportunities that have come my way, and I took them. I could have made a choice not to take them, but I had them; they came my way. And I think for me, I feel because I've had those opportunities, it is my obligation to have empathy for others to do the best I can to have their lives be as good as mine or create opportunities for them like I've had."

"I want all people to be in good places and to be happy. I hope to be able to impact not the masses, but I hope to impact several people along the way. And I think my contribution will be, and that all comes really from my empathy about just how fortunate I've been and that not everybody is as fortunate. How can I take optimistic and hardworking people and help them a little bit along the way? And to me, that's my definition of empathy."

Why education stands out for her - "In general, I feel like there are a lot of people out there who don't get cut a break, and if they can get an education, they can help the rest of their family with the other basic needs. And if I can find those out there who have worked hard in school and help them get to a better place, to be making a better living for their future generations and families, I think that multiplies more than other things that I could do. I think that can make a big difference over a long period."

Her advice to women to avoid feeling intimidated - "Believe in yourself, and don't let people intimidate you. Be yourself. People always respect people who are confident and who are honest and have integrity. You can't get through life without confidence. You've got to be who you are, and you've got to admit when you make mistakes. You've got to learn from those mistakes. You can't be perfect in life. You've got to be confident enough to pick yourself up and move on to your next battle."

• LinkedIn
• FJ Management

In this pilot episode of Eccles Business Buzz, we are pleased to have our beloved Dean Taylor Randall. He has led The University of Utah David Eccles School of Business since 2009. Since then he has elevated the school’s national reputation as a place of innovation, garnering top 10 entrepreneurship rankings for both undergraduate and graduate programs in addition to numerous other accolades.

Dean Randall talks about being the most enthusiastic Utah fan, growing up and around the university as a student here before becoming a faculty member and, eventually, the dean.

He shares his experiences as Dean of the Eccles School, working within our community, navigating difficult discussions, and how the school has transformed him into a leader.

We discuss the notion of empathy, how our Eccles Alumni rise up to take the message of being an empathetic global citizen to heart, and his future hopes for the community.

The lesson he learned from leading the Eccles school - "You learn a lot about how you have to rely on good people in your organization. You can't do it all as a leader; you have to pick where you think you can have the most impact and then find individuals that can help you manage through that. I learned to rely on others to give them the freedom they need to operate and to also create a shared vision with them."

Empathetic Global Citizenship as one of the key strategic pillars of the school - "As we reflected further on the notion of empathy, we realized that empathy was probably a key. We thought that empathy would be the key to opening up an individual's understanding of different cultures and viewpoints on the same problems. The hope was that would be an enduring quality that our students would need to have. I think that's the beauty of a characteristic or a virtue that's enduring. When a new circumstance arises, you can see how it can be applied and how those same traits can be useful to navigate difficult circumstances."

On the changes he hopes to see within the Eccles community - "We are on our rapid path of acts of increasing excellence. And as we become a better school on all metrics, I hope we continue to realize the obligation we have to serve our community and serve the businesses in our community. We want to impact our world because we see great Utahns making a big difference in what they do in their community."

• LinkedIn
• School Profile
• Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella
• Taylor Talks
• U Giving Day

Eccles Business Buzz is a podcast that is created by Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. This podcast features alumni and tackles different topics and issues around the globe and within our community. Stay connected with both the school and other alumni through updates on what's happening at Eccles and what's going on in the world of business.