BNSF celebrates 10th anniversary of merger: this year marks the 10th anniversary of the merger between Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Pacific, which created today's Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway

International Railway Journal, July, 2005 by Matthew Rose

BNSF couldn't have achieved its 2004 successes and those of the past 10 years without the commitment and hard work of every member of our great team of 38,000 employees. It is through their daily efforts that they are securing the future of BNSF and, in turn, securing their future and their retirement.

BNSF Leadership Model

SET a vision and strategy for the future and inspire others to follow your vision. Show a passion for the vision. Build enthusiasm, optimism and ownership for both the journey and the destination. Motivate people to be pioneers and achieve the vision in spite of obstacles.

Build trust through competence, openness and integrity. Always show respect for others. See work as an adventure and enjoy the journey. Accept individual differences and find ways to build on them.

* Leadership is situational. Rely more on coaching, teaching and enabling. Be directive in select situations and normally empowering, Know how things work. Tell people not only what needs to be done, but tell them why. Encourage leadership and innovation at all levels of your organisation. Build strong teams and coach them to challenge the status quo, initiate solutions and act with a sense of urgency.

* Listen and involve. Set high standards for performance and clearly communicate responsibilities and expectations to your team. Assess performance and provide candid, constructive feedback. Recognise and celebrate successes frequently.

* Develop the talents of your people. You are accountable for the success of your team. When people fail, we fail as leaders. Embrace and inspire lifelong development.

BNSF Vision And Values

OUR vision is to realise the tremendous potential of BNSF by providing transport services that consistently meet our customers' expectations.

Shared values are first to listen to customers and doing what it takes to meet their expectations, then empower one another, show concern for our colleagues' well-being and respect for their talents and achievements and continuously improve by striving to do the right thing safely and efficiently. We also want to celebrate our rich heritage and build on our success as we shape our promising future.

We know we are meeting our values when our customers find it easy to do business with us, receive 100% on-time damage-free service, accurate and timely information regarding their shipment, and the best transport value. For our staff, it is important that they work in a safe and secure environment, are focused on continuous improvement, share in the opportunity for personal and professional growth available to all team members, and take pride in their association with BNSF.

For our owners, we want to ensure they earn financial returns that exceed other railways and the general market as a result of BNSF's superior revenue growth, an operating ratio in the low 70s, and a return on invested capital that is greater than our cost of capital.

And for the communities we serve, we want them to benefit from our sensitivity to their interests and to the environment in general, our adherence to the highest legal and ethical standards, and the participation of our company and our employees in community activities.