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FranklinCovey On Leadership

Carol Tomé: Leading UPS With Head, Heart, and Hands

FranklinCovey On Leadership

FranklinCovey

Business, Management

4.6215 Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2026

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

UPS CEO Carol Tomé believes leadership comes down to three things: head, heart, and hands. In this On Leadership conversation with Jennifer Colosimo, Tomé shares how she guided UPS through the disruption of 2020 while transforming the company into a customer-first, innovation-driven logistics leader. She explains the strategic shift toward “better, not bigger,” the expansion into complex healthcare logistics, and how AI and automation are reshaping supply chains without losing the human connection customers value most. Tomé also discusses the leadership traits she looks for in senior executives—including curiosity, empathy, and future-focused thinking—and why developing talent is one of a leader’s most important responsibilities. From operational excellence to culture and purpose, this episode offers a practical look at leading large-scale transformation while keeping people at the center. FranklinCovey’s world-class learning solutions—delivered Live-Online, On Demand, or Live In-Person—are designed to build exceptional leadership skills and enrich your culture at every level of your organization. To learn more, email us at info@franklincovey.com, visit franklincovey.com, or call us at: 1-888-868-1776

Transcript

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0:00.0

Well, our leadership model is very simple.

0:03.0

It's head, heart, and hands.

0:06.0

Head is future focused, heart is empathy, and hands is due.

0:10.0

We are a leave it with me, consider it done culture.

0:13.0

So doing is a very important part of leadership here.

0:17.0

It's a very important part.

0:19.0

But equally important is the ability to look ahead, to look around corners, to think about where the industry is going, how we're going to lean into those trends, you know, letting go to the edge of the pool, taking some risks where as a company we're pretty risk adverse, you know, leaning into robotics in ways that we

0:38.4

never have done before, et cetera, which is kind of uncharted territory for us. So I look for

0:43.1

that, the ability to look ahead, you know, future focused, anticipate what's coming. And I also look for

0:48.3

empathy. You know, people have gone through a lot. We've all gone through a lot around the world

0:52.2

over the fact six years. And it seems like it's just kind of a crazy place these days.

0:57.0

And so I really want people to be very empathetic in their leadership and to walk in the shoes of others.

1:04.0

And so I look for people who are willing to do that, who are willing to actually go on car and deliver packages.

1:10.0

I'm looking for people who are willing to sort go on car and deliver packages. I'm looking for people who are

1:11.5

willing to sort packages, unload trailers and load trailers, you know, spend time with folks

1:16.5

who are out there making it happen, who really matter. The corporate office, we don't matter

1:20.4

so much as the people who are front facing or making it happen.

1:30.6

Welcome to Franklin Covey's On Leadership.

1:33.6

I'm your host, Jennifer Colisemo.

1:39.4

On Leadership provides insight to our listeners through discussions with senior leaders,

1:46.1

thought leaders, practitioners with earned experience, all focused on the human side of strategy and transformation.

1:48.0

Joining us today is Carol Tomay, the chief executive officer of UPS since 2020 and a member

...

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