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Jeremy kohm

As a university classics student in Newfoundland, Moya Greene learned all about Herculean tasks. Now, at 56, she is living that life as the new president and CEO of the venerable but embattled Royal Mail in Britain. It means leaving the top job at Canada Post, where, for over five years, she embarked on a change agenda-and ruffled a few internal feathers in the process. We caught up with her just as she was preparing to move to London this summer.

Do you have time for a break between jobs? Not really. I've had to look for a place to live, and I want to get it set up. I don't really want to come home and be floundering around looking for the salt shaker. But I am also anxious to get my running shoes on and start drinking from that firehose, which is what the first few months are going to be like.

Aren't you moving from the frying pan into the fire? I don't think so. Many of the challenges that the Royal Mail faces are the same challenges that Canada Post is facing. It is a matter of how acute they are-the challenge to modernize and to stay relevant; the challenge to help a large organization confront and deal with change; the challenge to be competitive when the advantages and freedoms of your competitors are greater than yours.

Why are you taking this new job? The money? Money is never irrelevant, but it's never been the No. 1 thing for me. First, it is such an honour to be asked to lead the Royal Mail, which is really where [modern postal systems]all started 350 years ago. It's a brilliant organization in many ways, and it already has global operations, so it is a lot larger than Canada Post. The challenges are pretty broadly understood, and there is a recognition that deep change is needed. And it's just a great, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. How could I say no?

What are the most important qualities for a job like this? You have to be resilient, to be able to roll with the punches. There are tough moments in these jobs. People have entrenched views. Sometimes, there are political agendas that are not supportive of where the organization needs to go. It is not unusual for those agendas to take a personal cast. And you have to listen. At the end of the day, your people are going to be your best ambassadors for change. They have the biggest stake in your success. If you're not successful, their job security, their retirement income security, is in jeopardy, and 95% of the people get that. Don't ever think it's going to be smooth. I've been [at Canada Post]five years, and I can't see a single quarter when I would say, "Okay, I can see that runway in the next quarter and it is smooth sailing."

Do you have to have a thick skin? It helps not to have a thin one, that's for sure.

How do you deal with the abuse on union and employee blogs? You have to realize that is a tiny, tiny minuscule percentage of the people. You should see the notes and e-mails of well-wishes I have gotten from our people. You sometimes think that in a large organization with 71,000 people, you can't do anything that will let them see you as a person and touch their lives. That is so not true. You have to be out there using every single bit of modern communications apparatus available. You have to have an executive team at all levels that is available to speak to people. If you are all on the same message and you agree on the things that are important, you can touch people's lives in a very direct way.

Who in the classics would you identify with? Sisyphus? No, no, I certainly don't. The rock doesn't keep falling down on me. Of course, you sometimes have to roll a rock up a hill, but do you know what I notice? That I've got a lot of shoulders with me to push that rock. And all the rocks we pushed up the hill got there. Instead, I probably identify with people of straight, clear speech, like Cicero.

Why is that important? You only have the luxury of being in somebody's private time for a few minutes. Our people work pretty hard; they want to go home; they want to get the mail out. So if you're going to delay them for 15 minutes, you'd better have something worth listening to.

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