As a kid,
Virginia Albanese’s competitiveness was evident early. She considered a career in education but didn't want to be a teacher. She wanted to be the school’s principal. Now, after 25 years with FedEx, Albanese is on top at the company’s Custom Critical division near Akron. As CEO, she’s very proud that if the company had to carry on without her, it would be fine. “I’m there to guide,” she says. “It’s other people who actually bring the revenue through the door.”
I am 100 percent English. But I’ve been in America since I was 9 years old, so I’m as American as the next one.
I’ve always been quite a competitive person, but one thing I’ve learned over time is that you need all types of people. Going crazy on the details would maybe drive me crazy, but I need those people. It’s about valuing what every single person brings to the table.
I like to keep active. So when my daughter became interested in taekwondo, I got roped into doing it with her. It was great, and a fun way to spend more time together. We went all the way through to the red-black level, and then she started to lose interest. I wanted, of course, to become the black belt because I’m so competitive, but we had to stop.
I’m very hot on the notion of leadership.
I believe in empowering people to perform, giving them freedom to perform and holding them accountable to it. I tell them, “You said you were going to do this, and you didn’t do it,” or I say, “Fantastic job, you’ve exceeded my expectations.”
People come here, they get a job, and they stay.
We’ve always had a culture of open communication.
People call it an “open-door policy.” Well, for a long time when I was a vice president, I didn’t even have a door on my office, and my walls didn’t go to the ceiling. It was kind of a big joke. But if people want to come and talk or have concerns they want to share, to me that comes down to leadership, and they can come in any time.
I’ve been here for 25 years, and no day is ever the same.
With that much experience at one place, in this day and age, I’m probably a little bit of an oddball.
I’ve seen things we’ve done wrong and things we’ve done really, really well. Of course, we try not to emulate the things we’ve done wrong. But I don’t like it when people say, “Oh we tried that before, and it doesn’t work.” Let’s try and figure out why it didn’t work.
My husband, Bill, is a stay-at-home dad who takes care of our two kids who are in sixth- and eighth-grade. Bill also worked for FedEx, but there was a point at which my career was moving up and my schedule became less dependable. So for about eight years, he’s been a stay-at-home dad. That has allowed me to really propel my career forward.
Bill’s sacrifice has certainly been good for our family. But it’s funny. I’ve been to my own kids’ birthday parties at which other kids say, “Is that your mom?” Because their friends only know their dad.
My kids are getting a very different experience than if a mom stays home, and it’s been good for them.
For me, the weekends are all about my family. Everybody knows that.
Here at FedEx Custom Critical, other people do all the work. I have a very cushy job.
I don’t have to drive around this country waiting for the next shipment. Without our drivers, nothing moves.
No truck breaks down, no snowstorm happens during the day. It’s always 2 in the morning. These people who work third shift for us, they’re very, very creative.
We’re very blessed to work here, and I think we owe it to our community to be good corporate citizens. We help the community a lot, and I believe we get back far more than we give out.
Our people are proud to work at FedEx, and they are proud that FedEx allows them to go out and work in the community. Community organizations might come to us and ask for money, and we say, “Well, we can give you money, but can we come out and help? Can we give you us?”