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Walking the Talk:
An Interview With Chris Richardson
As we wrap up this quarter’s discussion
of ethics and values in American organizations,
News for a Change felt it would be appropriate to
share the wisdom of a business leader who had
strong opinions on the topic. So we invited Chris
Richardson, president and CEO of Square D and
Schneider Electric—North American Division,
to share his views. Richardson started his career
as a supervisor at the company’s Cedar Rapids
plant and moved up the ladder, serving in various
leadership positions before receiving his current
assignment. He’s had the opportunity to see
the company’s ethics and values applied on a
day-to-day basis under a wide variety of
circumstances.
NFC: How does all the news coverage and
growing unrest over corporate scandals influence your
views toward corporate accountability?
 Richardson: I
can’t imagine any CEO who isn’t troubled
by what we’re reading all too often these days,
because it casts suspicion on anyone who leads a
company today. But I’m more concerned about the
growing and understandable skepticism among American
workers and investors who feel that their trust has
been violated. It’s clear that too many
companies today have placed results—and not the
basis of results—ahead of and at the expense of
anything else. Results are clearly part of the
equation but they’re not the whole equation.
Companies have to be accountable for more than
profits.
Can you explain how your personal values
influence your management style?
Richardson: Earning and demonstrating trust
has always been very important to me, and it’s
something we’ve long emphasized at this
company. After all, trust has been central to the
100-year success of our Square D brand. Trust is the
root of ethical behavior. It’s about honesty,
and it’s never misleading. Trust should guide
the way one deals with colleagues, customers,
communities, everyone. We also emphasize fundamentals
like commitment to individuals, focus on customers,
teamwork, and risk-taking. Then and only then do we
evaluate results. They stem from our other core
fundamental values. What we’re reading about
corporate wrongdoing and violations of trust only
reaffirms our commitment to these
fundamentals.
What do you do to earn trust and help employees
embrace your fundamentals?
Richardson: We’re an open
organization, and I’d like to think we
communicate as well as or better than any other
company. Communication is essential to building
trust. We also devote great energy to ensure that our
entire 17,000-person work force in North America
understands why we make the decisions we do to create
opportunities and sustain a leadership position in
our industry.
Hopefully, the silver lining in all the recent
corporate scandals will be improvements in
corporate governance, improved oversight, and better
safeguards for employee retirement plans. But even
more important than new laws and regulations is the
willingness of a company to communicate openly and
honestly at all times and to make good on its
commitments. That’s what trust is all
about.
What makes this company unique?
Richardson: I can’t tell you how
proud I am to be part of an organization that puts
ethical business practices highest on its priority
list. We’re hardly the only company that can
make this claim, but it makes me very proud to be
part of a management team that puts a strong balance
sheet ahead of short-term results. We’re
conservative in our accounting processes in order to
have a strong balance sheet that will allow present,
past, and future employees, as well as customers and
investors, to benefit from it. This enables us to
invest in our business.
Many employees have worked here for their
entire career. What does that say about the
company?
Richardson: I think it’s a wonderful
compliment to our culture. Our people come here to do
the best work of their lives, and we provide them
with the tools to learn and to grow. Their average
length of tenure is a rarity in today’s world.
I’m celebrating my 35th year here, and we have
a great number of people who have been with us for
more than 20 years. Most of us have come up through
the ranks.
Our industry also has a unique and special
culture. Whether it’s the distributor or
contractor, or even our competitors, there’s a
sense of decency and fair conduct that seems somewhat
rare in today’s business world. There’s a
great sense of purpose and mission because our
products and technologies and services are so
mission-critical. There’s an understated but
distinct sense of pride that runs deeply throughout
this industry.
 How would you describe
your style and approach to leadership?
Richardson: I believe that leadership is
about setting direction and creating a climate where
people are engaged and motivated. It’s about
lifting the organization to a higher level,
demonstrating a willingness to take on the tough
jobs, and being accountable for results.
Leadership also requires maintaining a proper
perspective on work in relation to everything else
that is important in the lives of employees. I think
that people need to achieve balance in their lives
between those things we need to do in our family life
and those things we do at work. People need to focus
on what really matters to them and their families and
to not be overly distracted by things that are
totally out of their control. Typically, there are
few things in business that are truly life-and-death.
We have to be careful to not take work so seriously
that it jeopardizes the other equally important parts
of life.
I recently stood on the beaches of Normandy and
got a sense of what those soldiers were facing. Now
that was life-and-death. I had my time in Vietnam,
and I sometimes think about that. When I look at
leadership from the perspective of a corporation
versus the perspective of stepping out of a landing
boat on a Normandy beach, the two don’t quite
compare. But the truth is, everyone ultimately has an
opportunity to be a leader, and you need to prepare
yourself for that moment.
Is leadership more difficult in tough
times?
Richardson: Absolutely. Leadership requires
the ability to solve the hard problems that every
company encounters. Naturally, this is especially
difficult in challenging economic climates because
unpopular decisions have to be made. This requires
going places where you have to go instead of where
you want to go.
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