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Our trips to The CEO Series have brought us to companies of all sizes and purposes, and for this episode, we went to one that is simply massive. Zebra Technologies is one of the most dynamic B2B technology companies in the world. They digitize and automate workflows for companies, have approximately 10,000 employees, and do about $5 billion in revenue. I had the opportunity to sit down with the CEO Bill Burns to find out how he runs such a large operation.
Below are some highlights of our in-depth conversation, which have been edited for length and clarity. Watch the full video above.
Global reach
“You see our company Zebra in everyday life. We are a provider of digital solutions that enable businesses to intelligently connect data, assets and people. You see us at a checkout at the point of sale in a supermarket, when a postal worker is delivering a package to your home and many other places. Companies use our mobile devices to scan the package, get signatures and things like that. All major retailers worldwide — 86 percent of Fortune 500 companies — are our customers today. We think of it as retail, transportation, logistics, manufacturing and warehousing, healthcare and government.”
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NFL Connection
“As a company, we support the NFL. We use the same types of tags that would be used in retail or shipping logistics to track parcels or inventory to track every cleat, every shoulder pad, every helmet worn by a player. The NFL's initial use case was for fan engagement and to improve broadcasting. And then the latest use cases are really about protecting the health and safety of players.”
The CEO's Journey
“I started my career in sales, in a large telecommunications sale at the likes of Verizon and others. And then I took a role leading Europe, the Middle East and Africa on the sales side and expanded into marketing and services and other areas. And. then I joined Zebra about nine years ago to lead the acquisition side. Zebra was a billion dollar specialty printing business. They bought Motorola's two and a half billion in revenue in the enterprise business and so overnight a $1 billion business became a $3.5 billion business.”
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Leadership responsibility
“There are three legs to the stool, right? That's how I see business: our customers, our employees and our investors. At the end of the day, we're in business to keep growing and making money. But you have to do as must. things first. You must be able to reward, attract and retain the best employees around the world. If you do this, then you will serve your customers best. If you serve your customers best well, you're going to grow your bottom line, your revenue, and your profitability, and your stock is going to grow, and you're going to take care of your investors.”
Leading in difficult times
“I think the demand for our services skyrocketed during COVID, and then in 2023, the demand was back to 2019 levels. So we put ourselves in a position where we had to do the normal things that most businesses would do . Look at your real estate and your travel costs and all those things inside. We also did things like voluntary retirement programs. We thought about creating new opportunities for people within the organization. It's worked great, but it's it's always hard to get smaller. It's always a lot more fun to get bigger. But you have to make those tough business decisions sometimes.”
Career advice for future leaders
“No one else cares about your career as much as you do, but also be patient because it doesn't happen overnight. And if you're at a great company and you have opportunities there, there's nowhere else you'll be more respected than within that company. They know you're ready, so be patient.”
See more profiles of innovative and influential leaders by visiting The CEO Series the archives.