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George Washington University Graduate School of Business

Thank you for the kind introduction. I want to acknowledge the leadership of the School of Business and Public Management, the Executive MBA program and the faculty and staff of GWU. And a good morning to all of you GW business school folks, and your guests. It's a real pleasure to be here today.

I'm really flattered to be invited back here to GW, since as you know from the "intro," I received my doctorate in Business Administration here in 1971. (Business School Alumni Award 1986; GWU Distinguished Alumni Award 1996; served six years on Business School Dean's Advisory Council, 1993-1999). So I've been where you are today, and can appreciate all that you have learned, experienced and been through in this program so far. As the last day of classes, this is a great day for all of you, I'm sure, a major milestone on the path to achieving your goals.

I'd like to start off by telling you a little about my company and myself. CACI, which is headquartered in Arlington, VA, is a major IT solutions provider in the areas of defense, intelligence and homeland security. We have some 6000 employees working in some 100 offices in the U.S. and Europe.

Right now, CACI is proudly supporting our fighting men and women as they strive to bring democracy to Iraq. In the Middle East, we are providing in-country support with communications centers and network operations. Here at home, we are delivering logistics, training and operations support to many groups in the Defense Department as they mobilize and deploy our forces. Our revenues for FY2003 will be over $800M and growing. We've set a goal of being a $1B a year company by 2005 and, I'm delighted to say, we're running ahead of schedule... and should do it next year.

As for me... in all the time I spent working on my doctorate here at GW I still hadn't entered the business world - I was a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. And, although I didn't imagine that someday I'd be CEO of a company traded on the New York Stock Exchange, I did know I wanted to be a leader. I wanted to be running a big and important operation.

Leading a company... building a business... watching your vision become reality... to me, is one of the most gratifying experiences in the world. It's far more than the financial rewards - it's knowing that your personal efforts and your leadership drive have created something tangible, something of value. You've helped create wealth for shareholders, provided employment for thousands of people and created products and services that help people work and organizations run.

But leadership doesn't come without its obligations, and that's what I want to talk about this morning. One of the most fundamental aspects of leadership is accountability. Webster's dictionary defines accountable as "subject to having to report, explain or justify; responsible; answerable." Of course, accountability is something you are familiar with already. It's a part of everyone's life.

And accountability will be one of the first challenges you'll encounter as you work your way up the corporate ladder. One of the early milestones for a young professional is your first position in management. You go from essentially one role - producing a product or service - to satisfying multiple competing demands. Suddenly, you must keep an entire team on track and answer directly to a client. You're stretched in several directions at once. It's a whole new ball game. By the time you become an executive - defined as someone who "manages through managers" - your accountability has increased exponentially. And so, by the time you're a CEO of a corporation, you are accountable to a broad constituency: your shareholders, your customers, your employees and the public at large.

Let's start with shareholders. They are the owners of the company that you manage and operate. As the CEO you have a never ending responsibility, a duty, to enhance shareholder value and create shareholder wealth. At CACI one of the accomplishments I'm most proud of took place last August, when we moved our trading venue to the New York Stock Exchange after more than 20 years on the NASDAQ. We felt this change gave our shareholders - and the public - an important message about CACI. We believed that the market quality of the NYSE would add cachet to the CACI name and provide better trading patterns. Moreover, meeting the rigorous listing requirements for NYSE membership would enhance shareholder and investor confidence in the value of our company.

However, at the same time that you are responsible for creating shareholder value, you are also responsible for keeping shareholders' expectations realistic. This can be difficult, especially when your news is not positive. Unfortunately, delivering bad news is as important to the CEO's job as delivering good news. Your job is to tell it like it is.

How many executives in the past few years have gotten themselves on the front page of the newspaper by inflating their earnings forecasts, then lying about the outcome? These were executives at some of America's top companies. But they are now in disgrace, some even under indictment on charges of fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Names like Enron, Anderson, Tyco, WorldCom and Adelphia have become almost household words because of the corruption that prevailed at those companies. And the lies their leaders told have ruined the lives, finances and retirement dreams of countless employees and shareholders.

But, along with the greed and corruption, there is another part of this story. These men never seemed to tell the truth. Once things started to spiral out of control they told lie after lie to keep the operation going. Ladies and gentlemen... simply put, they were cowards! They didn't want to give their shareholders any bad news. So they started to cook the books, reported future revenues as current profits and kept insisting that the numbers were still soaring. No one wants to admit that things aren't perfect. The market often shows no mercy and is often very unforgiving. But if you run your company on lies, it will destroy you and your company!

I'm happy to report that action has been taken to avoid future abuses of this type. When President Bush signed into law the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 last July, he noted that the Act, "adopts tough new provisions to deter and punish corporate and accounting fraud and corruption, ensure justice for wrongdoers and protect the interests of workers and shareholders." I firmly believe that the wrongdoing that made the headlines is the work of just a few individuals. The majority of American executives are playing by the rules, and running their companies with integrity. But this new legislation should ensure that the few bad apples don't manage to get away with it again.

One executive who was always accountable, and whom I've always admired, is Lee Iacocca. He was a giant of American free enterprise who presided over the auto industry wars of the 1980s. In fact, if you're looking for a good read, try his autobiography, "Iacocca." In his book Lee Iacocca says, "If I had to sum up in one word the qualities that make a good manager, I'd say that it all comes down to decisiveness. You can use the fanciest computers, gather all the charts and numbers, but in the end, you have to bring your information together, set up a timetable and act." Of course, as CEO, you don't just make the decisions - you have to stand by them and deal with the consequences. Harry Truman, our 33^rd president, made the excruciating decision to drop the atomic bomb to hasten the end of World War II. One of his most famous sayings was, "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen."

In today's business world one hot area is the issue of mergers and acquisitions. At CACI we have just completed our 21^st acquisition in 10 years. Our acquisitions are a major strategic component of our growth strategy, and they now account for five to eight percent of our annual projected growth goals. So far, our acquisitions program has proven to be an outstanding success, but there's always an element of risk. And if things go wrong I will be the one in the hot seat!

One way I try to anticipate problems is by giving careful attention to what I call "maximum downside risk." Before embarking on any major venture we weigh the probability of success against the cost of the action. We ask ourselves, if we undertake this venture, what is the likely outcome? What is the worst that could happen? What is our "maximum downside risk"? Then we give it our best shot - and we are prepared to live with the result. Because, as Truman also said, "The buck stops here."

It's clear there are a lot of tough challenges to being a CEO. But there are a few easy ones, too. One of them is to be constantly visible. When you appear at public events or in the media, you are selling your company. Being out there shows that you believe in your company, its people and its products. Since the beginning of 2002 I've made more than 18 major customer and field office visits. I've been to Bahrain, London, Scotland, Germany and a host of U.S. locations. These visits show my employees that I care about their work... that I'm interested in what they do and how they're doing. I want customers to know that I value their business. I want to know what's on their minds, and how we can serve them even better.

So, as CEO, you're accountable for the things that are within your control. But you're also accountable for the things you don't expect. As the captain of the corporate ship, you may know the charts, and you may even be an expert in navigation, but there are always hidden shoals. Ultimately, it's up to you to guide the ship through those dangerous waters and unexpected storms.

Since I became CEO of CACI in 1984 we've had to adjust to a lot of changes. We went from a sole-source sales organization to all out competitive bidding. We saw the end of the Cold War and the end of the old defense era. We've gone from mainframes and glass houses to the fiber of a networked world. Along the way, we survived heated proxy battles, lawsuits and recessions. Most recently, we were thrust into the era of Homeland Security by the horrifying events of September 11. Each time a new challenge has arisen we've stepped up to the plate. We've retooled and set aggressive new goals. We've streamlined operations. We've changed our niche in the marketplace, our strategies and our business tactics. And we've stayed on our feet.

And it's been quite a journey... so in closing, I'd like to share something that has been instrumental in CACI's success all these years. One of my most satisfying accomplishments as CEO has been to articulate our corporate culture. We have developed a Company Credo and Operational Philosophy that lay out in detail "the rules we live by" and "the way we get things done" at CACI. You can get a feel for our company by listening to the six simple components of our Operational Philosophy: For every person in the CACI family

1. Our clients are number one.
2. Our quality is top-notch.
3. Our people are the best.
4. We are fully accountable for what we do.
5. Our productivity is the highest.
6. Our value is made on the bottom line.

For more than 40 years CACI employees have been living by these principles - and they have never let us down. Today, our service to the federal government is more important than ever, and our people continue to deliver the highest quality support for our national defense and the protection of our homeland.

Some of you in this room will be CEOs some day; undoubtedly, all of you will be in positions of leadership. This message is for all of you: Above all, remember that your integrity is your reputation while you are in charge... and it is your legacy once you have left. When you are a leader people look to your character. People invest in your company, or work for your company because they believe in you. They trust you. And that trust is the glue that holds the whole enterprise together. Lee Iacocca liked to talk about "fire in the belly." CEOs just don't get to this place - or stay here - without it. It's what stokes our furnaces and keeps us steaming full speed ahead.

I want to wish all of you, the business leaders of the future, outstanding success in your careers. I've enjoyed my own ride immensely, and I hope each of you will have one just as exciting. The opportunity is in front of you - you just have to grasp it. Carpe Diem!... Seize the Day!

Thank you.