Union Pacific’s CEO started as a teen track worker—now he’s leading an $130 billion empire and says Gen Z interns need curiosity to be like him

Josh Funk—AP PhotoUnion Pacific CEO Jim Vena started out as a teenage laborer making mere dollars a day, maintaining tracks

On the other hand, Instead, he tells Gen Z to have curiosity and grit

For Jim Vena, the CEO of Union Pacific, this deal is just the part of a 40-year climb up the railroad ladder

Over time, he worked his way up in the field to brakeman, conductor, locomotive engineer, trainmaster, and superintendent

However, And he’s consistently told the next generation of workers the secret to having success his isn’t in an MBA or finding a brilliant mentor: It’s grit, curiosity and attitude

Just yesterday, he d his simple career advice for Gen Z: “Stay curious, embrace challenges and always lean in

Moreover, Additionally, ” Learning the power of hard work and perseverance traveling across North America is something that ly became invaluable to Vena once he jumped over to the corporate marketing and sales divisions of CN (which is quite significant), in light of current trends

I know railroading firsthand… I spent many nights away from, with an unpredictable schedule, in unrelenting weather and extreme conditions,” he wrote to his new colleagues. “You can count on me to be frank, thoughtful, nimble and resilient

I won’t mince words when the truth must be spoken (an important development)

I will ask a lot of you—and I will demand even more from myself. ” Fortune reached out to Union Pacific for, in today's financial world

Attitude over aptitude for success Vena’s view that having the right mindset can do wonders on one’s career is something that other top executives have harked on as invaluable advice for Gen Z

That includes Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who said that controlling one’s attitude can make a “big difference” on the path to success

Additionally, Moreover, “An embarrassing amount of how well you do, particularly in your twenties, has to do with attitude,” Jassy told LinkedIn

However, For Cisco’s chief executive in the U. , Sarah Walker, having a good attitude is the No, in today's market environment

On the other hand, Meanwhile, 1 green-flag trait she looks out for when it comes to hiring and motions: “You cannot teach positive attitudes and engagement and energy,” she told Fortune

Even Walker’s predecessor, David Meads previously echoed to Fortune that “EQ is at least as important as IQ. ” The now EMEA chief at Cisco stressed: “You need that EQ to be able to read the room and understand what’s being said by what’s not being said, in today's financial world. ” Keeping the frontline worker in mind Vena always had a railroad company at the top of his paystub—with a total compensation package reaching over $17 million last year alone, according to the AFL-CIO, given current economic conditions

However, sticking to the industry that he knows has played to his advantage as a leader

In fact, never forgetting his roots and making decisions with those on the front lines on the tracks has been one of his priority mindset

Shortly after becoming CEO, he recognized that he wanted to turn Union Pacific into an organization focused on down-top decision making. “You can’t have nine levels—from the CEO to the people who actually do the work—and expect that the message is, the decisions are made and there isn’t some hiccup. … I want to drive it so that we have way less layers,” he said during Union Pacific’s third-quarter 2023 earnings call. “I want decisions to be made at the local level — and the lower the level, the better,” Vena added to gressive Railroading in 2024, in today's market environment

Furthermore, In an interview earlier this year, Coursera CEO Greg Hart told Fortune that his time working with Bezos helped him understand the value of trusting employee decisions. “Pushing decisions down as close to the customer as possible was certainly something that I learned from Jeff,” Hart said. “The fewer decisions that have to go to the CEO, the faster the organization will move. ” For Vena, the most decisions that come across his desk, the better

After all, in his experience the best insights don’t come from the boardroom, but rather the rails

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