A Man Who Makes It All Add Up

S ome people find a profession they like and follow it like a main highway their whole career. Others spend years searching for the road to employment happiness. But Eula Adams is different - he headed directly toward success in accounting but then used those skills to branch off into an interesting career path of twists and turns.

Born in Tifton, Ga., Adams grew up in Jacksonville, Fla., with three brothers and two working parents. He was fortunate enough to get a college football scholarship but knew he didn't have a future in pro ball - in his own estimation, he was too small, too slow and not gifted enough to advance beyond the collegiate level.

Finding numbers an easier field to tackle, Adams received a degree in accounting from Morris Brown College in 1972. He then looked to Harvard Business School, inspired in part by his wife, Janet. "She had a vision in the middle of the night that I was in Harvard Business School," he said.

In the midst of deciding what to do, Adams applied to a number of institutions while considering entering the work force as an alternative to a master's degree. Harvard made Adams an offer in the form of a deferred admission.

At that time, it was rare for Harvard to accept graduate students for its MBA program without some work experience. Adams appreciated the opportunity to gain practical insight into solving problems and worked for two years at the respected Atlanta accounting firm of Touche Ross while attending Harvard's rigorous MBA program.

He eventually did receive his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1976, secured his CPA certification shortly thereafter and continued at Touche Ross, which a decade later morphed into Deloitte & Touche.

Adam's career path appeared right on track. "I was interesting in becoming a partner in a large accounting firm," says Adams. "My expectation was getting a partnership within 12 years. I was fortunate to get there in nine."

That was in 1983. Adams soon realized he wasn't satisfied with just attaining a partnership. "I've always been a person to set reasonable goals, so I get to that goal and say, 'Now what?' I quickly learned there was much more to being a partner and contributor than I had known. I recalibrated my goals and set my sights on being a manager or leader in the accounting profession."

In 1988, Adams was selected as Partner-in-Charge of Audit Group. His responsibilities included managing a staff of 100 people and overseeing all firm audits at Touche. The merger with Deloitte a year later changed the dynamics of the firm, and Adams became an Executive Committee member of the Atlanta Deloitte & Touche office until his resignation from the firm in 1991. The reason for his resignation? He was given an opportunity to join American Express Information Services Corp., the predecessor of First Data Corp.

Adams assumed the title of Executive Vice President with First Data and at the time was wearing two hats - CFO and CAO for its integrated payments division. For Adams, it was a dynamic yet difficult opportunity. Having spent 18 years in a familiar industry, he now had to learn an entirely new business environment with unfamiliar policies and procedures. Nevertheless, Adams embraced it.

"The best thing I could have done was to leave accounting and accept a challenge to learn a new culture, a whole host of new things," says Adams. "In accounting, I just didn't have to work as hard at it. When I came into American Express ISC, I was called upon to learn more deeply than I was ever called upon to learn clients' businesses. The complexity of activities and transactions in real-time - it was as if I had to learn how to operate at a totally different pace."

His re-education also altered his approach. "From a growth perspective, it was terrific," says Adams. "Today my attitude is, 'Change is good.' Change gives you an opportunity to get recharged and re-energized."

While his attitude may have changed, Adam's business philosophies have remained constant throughout his career. "Always treat people with respect and dignity," Adams says. "Just because you're the senior-most person doesn't mean you have to always be right. Always look for and appreciate superior talent. Line up and always be recruiting. Existing customers are like gold. New customers are precious silver."

And no company has benefited more from his business acumen than First Data. Its decision to bring him aboard in 1991 as a bench player to learn the business and grow into his role was brilliant. When FDC went public in 1992, Adams' responsibilities expanded to teleconferencing, cable billing, outbound telemarketing and the rapidly grown First Data Resources division.

In 1995, Adams was asked to assume the role of President of First Data's teleservices company, his first real entry into the finance arena. Responsible for the day-to-day operations of the teleservices division and its 4,000 employees, Adams stayed in that role for three years. His next post was Chief Operating Officer for the merchant acquiring division - namely, First Data Merchant Services. Six months later, Adams became its President. Then, in February 2000, the call came for Adams to bring his leadership expertise to Omaha for First Data Resources on a global basis. Sharing the stage with fellow senior exec David Bailey, Adams took over sales, marketing and client services while Bailey handled back-office services. By the end of 2000, First Data had asked Adams to assume full responsibility for the entire unit of worldwide card-issuing operations.

How has Adams achieved such professional success? And what of his personal challenges in such a public arena?

"I'm always challenged with an inherent conflict of objectives - trying to create long, sustained growth while achieving a high level of return for investors and ensuring employee and customer satisfaction throughout it all," says Adams. "I want to work in a place where the employees really want to wake up and come into work and be the best they can. I want them to know they're working for people who recognize them while at the same time I want customers who will recommend us to others because they feel we are the best value they can get. I want our shareholders to want to invest and hold our stock."

Adams admits this sometimes challenges what he believes in.

"There are always opportunities to optimize, at the expense of others," Adams says. "Short-term strategies are sometimes not long-term viable. The real skill is giving appropriate weight to all initiatives, whether it's employee, customer or shareholder. For each one of those, I want to be able to easily perform as a leader."

Adams reflects on a passage he recently read in Jack Welch's book, "Straight From the Gut:"

" ... Not sacrificing your principles is directly related to the team you line up."

This may very well be Adams' mantra. His team is everything to him.

"We always start with passion, a desire to execute and get things done," says Adams. "We incorporate confidence, respect for other people and a high level of motivation."

Adams derives his motivation from his corporate family. "People have always given me things to do," says Adams. "They haven't allowed me the luxury of standing still. They've forced me to grow, and I've been lucky to work for people who set high expectations and give me recognition."

Paramount to Adam's team philosophy is that the rewards have to be there as well. "I like to see people highly rewarded," says Adams. "Some rewards are financial, others are outward recognition in front of others. A simple 'thank you' letting others know they've done a good job is just as powerful as money."

With such a positive position, has Adams ever made a negative choice? "If I had to pick one thing, it would be that I wished I had gotten out of the accounting profession sooner," says Adams. "I stayed at the party a little too long. We all have to be careful not to sit in any one position too long."

Where does he see the payment-processing industry sitting?

"I think we have done pretty well in 30 years with credit cards as a means to pay," says Adams. "I'm impressed with switching capabilities of funding and settlement. I'm very proud of our ability to move large monies.

"However, I think the industry still has to find a way to continue to be creative with payment solutions. I think the challenge for us is to look at how people conduct business worldwide. It's amazing to see cash and checks still used to a significant degree outside of the U.S. There's great opportunity for people to use alternative means to conduct electronic commerce."

\Another area of opportunity in this space is the runaway train of mergers and acquisitions. What is Adams' take on all the buying and selling?

"I call them consolidations," Adams says. "It's inevitable that those companies that are larger will continue to get larger. I don't think it's surprising. As a financial services product, the credit card is a most successful innovation, an enormous contributor, so it's not surprising that we see portfolios moved."

Does the community suffer or enjoy success with those "consolidations?"

Adams responds, "I assume ours is still a competitive world and sources of new merchant relationships are still viable. We are thrilled to be in a highly competitive arena. We deliver value to our clients, and if you do that consistently, the competition takes care of itself."