November 02, 2009

NAPA -- At eBay, Meg Whitman led with determination and courage.

Amid even the most challenging of circumstances, she believed that strong teamwork and a focused agenda would ensure success.

It's an approach Meg wants to bring to state government, she told nearly 150 members of the California Chamber of Commerce Public Affairs Council on Oct. 30 in Napa. It's the way that she, as governor, would accomplish her three key goals: Creating jobs, cutting government spending and fixing the state's public education system.

As governor, Meg told the Council she would ensure that creating and keeping jobs in California comes first. Her plan includes implementing targeted tax cuts, reducing regulations so that small businesses -- the backbone of the state’s economy -- can be given room to grow and expand, and rewarding business that innovate and hire Californians.

“If we don’t create a fundamental change in the business climate in California, there’s no way out of this,” Meg said.

Meg shares leadership lessons learned at eBay
In addition to laying out her plan for California, Meg offered the group a glimpse into her leadership style, telling stories from her early days at eBay when the small start-up’s future was uncertain and challenges arose daily.  

“It was a raw start-up and we did what you do in business -- we laid out a strategy, we executed against that strategy, we hired the very best people we could find,” Meg said. “There were moments of real challenge where it tested every leadership skill I had ... but I just led by example.”

Meg noted the site’s outage in June 1999, when eBay went down for 22 hours. No buying or selling could take place, threatening the company’s future. Meg was not an experienced technology executive, she said, but she knew she “had to get in there and lead.”

So she asked for cots, sleeping bags, pillows and toiletries, and she moved in for the rest of the summer. And she brought in the best minds who could work together to solve the problem.

“It was, I think, a very formative moment in eBay’s life -- that ability to forge through really incredible difficulties,” Meg said. “It probably was one of the most significant leadership challenges I’ve ever had.”

Gillian Zucker, chair of the Public Affairs Council, said California has serious problems and needs someone serious to lead its solutions. The event Friday was an important opportunity for chamber members to hear from a gubernatorial candidate and understand state government's impact on businesses, she said.

“I think people were particularly impressed at (Meg's) understanding of business -- and small business in particular -- and how vital it is to the state of California,” Zucker said. “I think what she left the room with was a very pragmatic approach to how she would go about achieving the goals that she set forth, and she has had some experience in doing it effectively.”

In 10 years under Meg, eBay grew from about 30 employees to more than 15,000. Revenues grew from $4.7 million to nearly $8 billion.

It’s the type of growth Meg wants to see for California. She says she’s seen first-hand the power of small businesses -- and too often how government can interfere, through taxation, bureaucracy and regulation.

California can change its course, she said. But it begins with a focused agenda and bringing the brightest minds together to solve the problems.