City Buzz

• Above all else, what do you believe is one key characteristic that makes a successful leader? How do you apply this in your daily life as a leader in the workplace? Adaptive Leadership. Building partnerships based on trust and accountability in order to understand and empathize with the needs of all stakeholders enables our team to think expansively about context, and deliver, not just across the enterprise, but across the entire ecosystem, while focusing on optimizing results.
• How do you keep morale high and spark inspiration among your teams? Building personal relationships is critical. Everyone has heard "your team doesn't care how much you know until they know how much you care", and this seems to be more relevant today as we all adjust to the transformative changes of the last couple of years. For me, taking care of our team is critical, and ensuring each team member has what they need to be successful is always a focus. Building trust and ensuring each team member understands the specific role and impact they have on our success is important, and empowering each team member to create solutions is thankfully ingrained as part of our FedEx culture.
• Tell me about a mentor who shaped your leadership? My dad has been the greatest influence and mentor for me. I was fortunate to have a great relationship with my dad, and to this day consider him one of my best friends. Retired now, he had a diverse business career, served in many leadership roles at our church, and has been an incredible example to his 7 grandchildren. It's been awesome to witness his adaptive approach and growth mindset over the years.
• What values are most important to you as a leader? Integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do. These are the core values of the Air Force that we're instilled in me early on, and I carry these with me in all that we do.
• What is a leadership lesson that you’ve discovered throughout your career that you wish you could have learned sooner? Not everyone will share your passion for the mission. Sharing personal information in order to build relationships is important, and appreciating and applying different styles is required for success.
• If you could tell your 20-year-old-self one thing, what would it be? Well, I was at the Air Force Academy when I was 20, and that wasn't always a pleasant experience. I would tell myself: "stick with it, and know that it will be worth it."
• What advice would you give to professionals who are stepping into the leadership space? Stay curious, be confident, and focus on people.
• Why do you choose to lead in Memphis? I always tell people I've had the fortune of living in a lot of different cities, and to me the native Memphians who’ve never really left the bubble are the ones who are the most negative about Memphis. Memphis is fantastic because of the low cost of living, no traffic, connections you can make with people whatever area of interest you’re in. People are so welcoming and friendly; we just have a lot to offer. I just love the city. I love the people. It’s everything you can ever want. I tell people all the time that whatever your area of interest you can get engaged and make an impact.
• Share with us your biggest takeaway from your LDI experience and how would you convince another leader to take part in the program? My biggest takeaway was the 360 review and the personal coach. I was incredibly impressed and frankly amazed at the ability of my coach to know me and give me specific insight when I'd never met the guy. He just studied whatever the responses were and that was really powerful and helpful. New Memphis does such a great job selecting diverse candidates for their programs, so there's enormous benefit in just expanding your personal network, the relationships, and the connections.

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Pat Hopper is a Vice President of Enterprise Agility at FedEx Services with direct leadership and execution responsibilities for FedEx's enterprise technology modernization strategy, global third-party technology resource providers, and strategy realization through business agility. Pat has 21 years of diverse FedEx experience in strategic planning, and execution across all FedEx operating companies and regions. Prior to joining FedEx, Pat served as a Captain in the United States Air Force responsible for the acquisition of GPS satellites and classified space systems. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and earned a Master of Science from the Air Force Institute of Technology. He became a FedEx Quality Driven Management Expert in 2019 and is a three-time FedEx Five Star Award recipient. Pat and his wife Angie have two daughters in college, and enjoy traveling to visit friends and family. In his spare time, Pat enjoys serving as a youth leader at Germantown United Methodist Church, exercising, and attending sporting events. Pat also serves on the board for Alturas, a mission for impoverished children and women in San Jose, Costa Rica.