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1、Fred Smith and FedEx: The vision that changed the world弗雷德史密斯与联邦快递：一个改变了世界的创想Every night several hundred planes bearing a purple, white, and orange design touch down at Memphis Airport, in Tennessee. What precedes this landing are package pickups from locations all over the United States earlier in
2、the day. Crews unload the planes cargo of more than half a million parcels and letters. The rectangular packages and envelopes are rapidly reshuffled and sorted according to address, then loaded onto other aircraft, and flown to their destinations to be dispersed by hand - many within 24 hours of le
3、aving their senders. This is the culmination of a dream of Frederick W. Smith, the founder, president, chief executive officer, and chairman of the board of the FedEx Corp. - known originally as Federal Express - the largest and most successful overnight delivery service in the world. Conceived when
4、 he was in college and now in its 28th year of operation, Smiths exquisite brainchild has become the standard for door-to-door package delivery.每天夜晚，在田纳西州的孟菲斯机场，都有几百架带着白、紫、桔色图案的飞机降落。而在每天此前的早些时候，这些飞机都在美国各地收集包裹。工作人员从飞机上卸下的包裹及信件数量超过五十万之巨。长方形的包裹和信封又在这里依据收件地址被迅速整理分拣，然后装载上其他飞机，飞往各自的目的地，在那儿再由人工投递到这时很多邮件离开寄
5、件人之手还不到 24 小时。这是弗雷德里克W史密斯的终极梦想，他就是联邦快递集团（最初为联邦快递）这一全球最大、最成功的隔夜送达服务企业的创始人、总裁、首席执行官及董事会主席。如今，史密斯这一源于大学时代的妙想已在现实中经营到了第 28 个年头，并已成为包裹快递入户行业的标杆。Recognized as an outstanding entrepreneur with an agreeable and winning personality, Smith is held in high regard by his competitors as well as his employees and
6、 stockholders. Fred Smith was just 27 when he founded FedEx. Now, so many years later, hes still the captain of the ship. He attributes the success the company simply to leadership, something he deduced from his years in the military, and from his family.史密斯被公认为是一位和蔼可亲、性格迷人的杰出企业家。无论是他的竞争者、员工，还是他公司股票
7、的持有人，都对他十分敬重。弗雷德史密斯创建“联邦快递”时只有 27 岁。现在多年过去了，他仍然坐在“掌门人”的位置上。他将公司的成功简单地归因于领导力，而这一推论则来自于他的军旅生涯及其家庭的影响。 Frederick Wallace Smith was born into a wealthy family clan on August 11, 1944 in Mississippi. His father died when he was just four years old. As a juvenile, Smith was an invalid, suffering from a di
8、sease that left him unable to walk normally. He was picked on by bullies, and he learned to defend himself by swinging at them with his alloy walking stick. Cured of the disease by the age of 10, he became a star athlete in high school, playing football, basketball, and baseball.弗雷德里克华莱士史密斯 1944 年 8
9、 月 11 日出生于密西西比州一个富裕的家族。他四岁时父亲就离世了。史密斯年少时被视为病残者，因为他得了一种病，使他无法正常行走。为此他常遭受坏孩子的侮辱捉弄，他学会了挥舞合金拐杖来保护自己。十岁时他的病治好了，到了高中他则成了学校里的体育明星，足球、篮球、棒球样样能行。Smiths passion was flying. At 15, he was operating a crop-duster over the skyline of the Mississippi Delta, a terrain so flat that there was little need for radar n
10、avigation. As a student at Yale University, he helped revive the Yale flying club; its alumni had populated naval aviation history, including the famous Millionaires Unit in World War I. Smith administrated the clubs business end and ran a small charter operation in New Haven.史密斯对飞行充满了激情。15 岁时，他就曾驾驶
11、一架作物喷粉飞机在密西西比三角洲的天际翱翔，三角洲的地形平坦开阔，甚至都不需要雷达导航。在耶鲁大学上学时，他参与重建了耶鲁飞行倶乐部，在美国海军航空史的每个时期都有这一俱乐部出来的校友的身影，包括一战时期著名的“百万富翁飞行队”。史密斯负责管理俱乐部的事务，同时还在纽黑文经营一项小规模的租赁业务。With his study time disrupted by flying, his academic performance suffered, but Smith never stopped looking for his own big idea. He thought he had fou
12、nd it when he wrote a term paper for an economics class. He drafted a prototype for a transportation company that would guarantee overnight delivery of small, time-sensitive goods, such as replacement parts and medical supplies, to major US regions. The professor wasnt impressed and told Smith he co
13、uldnt quantify the idea and clearly it wasnt feasible.由于飞行打乱了学习时间，他的学业受到了影响，但史密斯从未停止寻找自己的“伟大想法”。在撰写一门经济学课程的学期论文时，他认为自己已经找到了它。他设计了一份运输企业的经营草案，该运输企业可以确保连夜递送小型或时间紧迫的货品到达美国的主要地区，如替换零件、医药用品等等。教授对这篇论文未予重视，他告诉史密斯说，他无法量化他的想法，并说这一想法明显不切合实际。However, Smith was certain he was onto something, even though several
14、 more years elapsed before he could turn his idea into reality. In the interim, he graduated from Yale in 1966, just as Americas involvement in the Vietnam War was deepening. Since he was a patriot and had attended officers training classes, he joined the Marines.然而，史密斯确信自己已经发现了些什么，尽管又过了好几年他才得以把自己的想
15、法付诸实施。在此期间，他于 1966 年从耶鲁大学毕业，那时正值美国在越战中越陷越深，而他是个充满爱国热情的人，又参加过士官训练课程，所以他加入了美国海军陆战队。Smith completed two tours in Vietnam, eventually flying more than 200 missions. In the military, leadership means getting a group of people to subordinate their individual desires and ambitions for the achievement of or
16、ganizational goals, Smith says, fusing together his military and business experiences. And good leadership has very measurable effects on a companys bottom line.史密斯在越南战场上服役两期，完成了两百多次飞行任务。“在军队中，领导力意味着能使团队中所有成员将个人的期望与抱负置于从属地位，而以实现集体目标为重，”史密斯说道，这其中融合了他军旅生涯和经营管理的经验。“而优秀的领导力对控制一个公司的盈亏底线来说具有相当重要的作用。”Home from Vietnam, Smith became fascinated by the notion that if you connected all the points of a network through an intermediary hub, the str
