Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/62203
As a CEO of one of the country's largest privately held companies, I feel I have a responsibility to give back to organizations that make our communities better. Your family recently contributed $25 million to Washington University for scholarships for African American and financially disadvantaged students. You and your family also have given a $40 million challenge grant to the St. Louis Symphony and a $30 million grant to the Missouri Botanical Garden. You've served as the chair of the board of directors for the United Way of Greater St. Louis. What drove these decisions, and what impact do you hope to have? What would you say are the social responsibilities of CEOs with regard to the welfare of others? As a CEO of one of the country's largest privately held companies, I feel I have a responsibility to give back to organizations that make our communities better and to set an example for our employees. We've had a long and suc- cessful relationship with the United Way and appreciate the way the organization works in local communities to make a difference. I believe in the mission of the organization and am happy to lend my time to help our local United Way chapter succeed. We support many worthwhile community initiatives, but United Way is at the core of our charitable giving. Our family and our business have been fortunate, and it is our belief that one of the best gifts of success is to be able to give back. But giving back to your community is not just a nice thing to do; it also makes good business sense. We know that when a business builds vision and values into its cul- ture—as we've done by focusing on customers, supporting worthwhile causes, and articulating our core values—it develops a recipe for sustained growth and success. At Enterprise, one of our founding values is that "we strengthen our communities, one neighborhood at a time." We understand that we owe our success to the support and goodwill of the people who live in our communities and who do business with us. In return, we're committed to involving ourselves in the support of worthwhile endeavors in the hometowns and cities where we operate our business. What do you consider to be the greatest challenge of leading? The leader of any organization must always uphold that organization's mission. It is my responsibility to ensure that our company never strays from its mission of putting cus- tomers and employees first. My goal is to create an environ- ment that supports our employees' development, provides opportunities for their growth, compensates them for their achievements, and always stresses the importance of going the extra mile to deliver exceptional customer service. In 20 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2003 addition, it is my responsibility to live our company's values and to make sure all of our employees do the same. Twenty years from now, when you are lying on a Florida beach and the sun is setting, what would you like people to say about your term at Enterprise? My dad tells our employees that when he founded Enterprise in 1957, he had a simple goal. He wanted people to leave our rental and leasing offices and say, "That was a really nice place to do business, and those were really nice people." My hope is that we are able to continue to make our customers happy, that we are able to continue to create opportunities that provide our employees with successful careers, and that we are able to make a difference in the communities where we operate. It will be very satisfying if people say that, no matter how big our company got, we always stayed true to our goals of putting people first and always doing the right thing. ■ z Jonathan Schlereth is a free-lance writer based in St. Louis.