Condit going 'Point to Point'—again

BY MAUREEN JENKINS

It isn't every day that rank-and-file Boeing employees get a chance to meet and greet company Chairman and CEO Phil Condit.

And it isn't every day that Condit gets to talk to them.

That's why he's again hitting the roads and skies, embarking upon the second annual "Point to Point with Phil Condit" tour in May. But unlike last spring's two-week tour—which included visits to large sites like Seattle, St. Louis, and Wichita, Kan.—this year's tour will stop exclusively in Boeing U.S. locations with between 50 and 1,000 employees. The tour is scheduled to run May 5 to 9 and will take Condit to the Midwest, Midsouth and the East Coast.

Among those sites included on this year's list (although specific locations are subject to change) are Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Leesburg, Va., and Heath, Ohio.

The "Point to Point" tour's focus on smaller Boeing facilities will continue in 2004, as the company leader visits sites in other parts of the country.

Condit himself decided to repeat the tour, which allowed him to personally thank workers for their contributions and recognize the achievement of employee teams at each site. He says that he benefited as much from last year's two-week trek as did the employees he visited.

"I certainly learned things," said Condit. "I visited some places I hadn't been before, talked to people I had never talked to before. It clearly reinforced how important communication is."

Condit wants this "Point to Point" tour to show these 1,000-person-and-fewer sites "how important they are in the total scheme of the company."

"I get a chance to go to the bigger locations as part of business—Puget Sound, Southern California, Wichita, St. Louis," said Condit. "But unless you consciously do it, the chance you'll visit the smaller locations is pretty slight.

"At some of the smaller sites, these employees don't know you other than [as] a face on TV. And it's important that there be something more than a picture or a face—it's got to be a real person. They can say, 'Yep, I met him. I shook his hand; I talked to him about something.'"

And because Boeing World Headquarters is now located in Chicago, Condit realizes he must make a concerted effort to get out into the field.

"It really is a recognition of the change in the company," said Condit, "and a change in my responsibilities. In previous [Boeing] jobs, I could walk out the door and visit one of our facilities. The majority of my job today is taken up with dealing with issues in Washington, D.C., dealing with global issues, and so you've got to consciously set aside the time and say, 'This week is dedicated to seeing people at Boeing.'"

And he's looking forward to doing just that next month.

"It's a chance to really, really interact," said Condit. In the course of doing business, "I get [to see and hear] plenty of presentations. I know how the company is doing; it's quite a different thing to talk to people in different locations about what their needs are, what they're concerned about."

maureen.l.jenkins@boeing.com