CEO forum highlights Alumni Merit Award winners

Southeast Missouri State University business students got an inside glimpse of what it would be like to run a multibillion-dollar company Friday, from two high-powered CEOs who also happen to share the same alma mater.

Southeast sponsored a CEO Forum, featuring two of its own graduates -- Denny Payne, president and CEO of SBC Directory Services Inc.; and C. John Wilder, president and CEO of energy company TXU Corp. Both are recipients of this year's Alumni Merit Award.

The two participated in a 1-1/2-hour discussion at Glenn Auditorium of Robert A. Dempster Hall, which was moderated by Rust Communications co-president Rex Rust.

They covered a lot of ground, with topics ranging from "deselecting" someone who doesn't pull his weight, the ins and outs of brokering a complicated deal and building the right company culture.

Payne graduated from Southeast in 1974 with a degree in business administration and received his master's degree from St. Louis University in 1984. He has been the president and CEO of SBC's Directory Operations since 2001, making him responsible for all functions of the 13-state, $3.7 billion business, which is the largest print and online yellow pages operation in the world .

Payne said after he graduated from Southeast, he thought the quickest way to success was to start selling. He got a job with SBC's yellow pages, taking a position in Kansas City.

"I didn't have any money to have fun, so all I could do was work," he said to the nearly full auditorium. "But it's a lot of hard work. The one thing you've got to do is work harder and smarter. You can't wait too long to distinguish yourselves and that takes work."

Wilder graduated from Southeast in 1980 with a degree in business administration before receiving his master's at the University of Texas. After an 18-year career with Shell and six years at Entergy Corp., he is now chairman and CEO of the Texas-based TXU Corp, a Fortune 100 company in the energy industry.

In his 25-year-career, Wilder has achieved two of the most successful financial and operational turnarounds in the energy industry. Wilder currently is leading a dramatic transformation of TXU following the company's severe crisis in 2002. TXU's stock price has jumped 300 percent, the dividend has increased 350 percent and two of the company's three businesses have become industry leaders.

Wilder said it's all about taking risks.

"You have to learn to trust your gut and intuition," he said. "You're going to have to take risks if you want to break out of the pack. ... If you expect big rewards without risks, it just isn't going to happen."

The two men also emphasized hiring the right people, committing yourself and, in some cases, knowing when you have the wrong people as part of your team.

"Getting the right people is probably the biggest part of the job," Wilder said. "And the truth is some people don't cut it. If they don't, you've got to show them to the door."

But once you get the right people, it makes it a more profitable -- and enjoyable -- workplace for everyone, the men said.

"You want everybody to pitch in and solve the problem," Payne said. "It's an evolutionary process."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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