“It’s not about whether a dime on the ground is worth your effort,” says ‘Fast’ Jacques Leijssenaar, newly minted vice president Cargo Sales EMEIA for United Cargo, “it’s about whether you are willing to pick it up and make something out of it.
     “If you sit in the office all day waiting for the phone to ring, pretty soon you’ll be out of business!”
     You might think that Mr. Leijssenaar is coming out of the chute at a full gallop for United Cargo, and you would be right.
     At KLM Cargo and with global responsibility for Alitalia, Jacques was stationed in Milan, Italy, where he was quite successful in business and also in life (it’s where he met his Italian lady friend and current partner).
     But it is a new day at United Cargo, and now Jacques is back home in his native Netherlands, where he is central to the action, building business in the entire EMEIA region, near his elderly Dad, with his lady, and in general grabbing the business bull by the horns.
     When you think a bit further back to when KLM and Alitalia were thought to be a good fit together, before the AF/KL/MP combo, one possible reason why KL/AZ did not tie the knot and merge could have been because folks in the Mediterranean and their counterparts in Northern Europe—both who have been very successful and know how to do business—keep such different hours and simply found it too tough to find agreeable times to take meetings together.
     It’s called culture difference, and it is what makes the world go around.
     But one gets the feeling when talking to Jacques that anytime is soon enough as he goes about his mission of building United Cargo.

A New Day

     Jacques Leijssenaar joined United on January 1, 2015, after 18 years in air cargo at KLM.
     He says of his last days as part of AF/KL:
     “I am a builder, so matching poor results with laying off people is not natural to me.
     “When we had to match sub-standard performance (no matter the reason) with cutting staff, I didn’t like it,” Jacques says, his voice trailing off.
     But if the past is prologue, after visiting Chicago (where of course he knew Jan Krems) Jacques says, “it only took a couple of conversations with other United people to know that this was a brilliant, exciting situation.
     “I met Jan’s boss, United’s Chief Operating Officer Greg Hart, and really appreciated his down-to-earth approach and his obvious enthusiasm and support for cargo.
     “I thought I’d like to work here. I also knew it would be good working with Jan.”
     Looking at photos of Jacques Leijssenaar and Jan Krems, one might wonder if they might have been separated at birth.
     Even the hair looks similar.
     The quick smile, confident moves, bubbling enthusiasm, and easy laughter generated by both men is simply irresistible.

Customers

     “It’s always the customer and then it’s the customer, and of course the customer,” Jacques says, and he speaks those words with the reverence of the masses singing “God Bless America” during the seventh inning of every U.S. baseball game.
     “You just have to listen to what they say, hear it, and work to fill the need.
     “Don’t be afraid of mistakes, either,” says Jacques.
     “Just keep everyone in the loop and deliver the news, good or bad, before someone else does.
     “Pick up the phone, pay a visit, and be up front at all times—that must be the baseline policy.
     “Also, when things work be sure and give credit where credit is due.”

The United Proposition
     
     “United is a great opportunity.
     “We have such a huge network and legions of great people who are very good at what they do.
     “Often answers are within our network waiting to be discovered.
     “Now we are connecting all these forces into the best cargo resource on the planet.
     “Interestingly when I talk, everybody—generally speaking—is willing to listen.”
     So the Jacques Leijssenaar formula is to be very pro-active in the marketplace, very visible to the customer, and—although he has opened an office in Amsterdam to bring even greater visibility to United Cargo—the odds-on bet is that he is not spending much more time than needed inside it.

The Fisherman

     “I am Dutch,” Jacques says, not so much as a revelation but more as a tool to confirm what many folks have already said about Netherlanders.
     “I like to fish, but I know if there is nothing to be caught at one spot, it is quickly time to go fish somewhere else.
     “So business is much the same.
     “You must listen, connect with others, and do your best, and others will get into that and help you.”

Heroes

     I asked Jacques whom he admires and without pause he mentions a 1970s footballer, Johan Cruyff, “Number 14,” an international hero and one of the best players in the world, and today a critic of the sport—or at least the way it has been played recently in Netherlands.
     “He was such a great star, but maybe what he did later was even greater, using his fame and fortune to better the lot of others—both as a symbol of how a great hero should live and conduct himself, and also by giving back and building soccer pitches to inspire youngsters in neighborhoods all over Holland.
     “I am a team player.
     “If I am alone in the office it does not work. But if everybody is going at something together that is when things get interesting and we make progress.”
     There is something very down to earth about Jacques Leijssenaar; it is tremendously appealing. It speaks volumes about the man himself when he says:
     “I love entrepreneurs and encourage that feeling.
     “I would never block someone moving up even if they are better than me.
     “We are a team and we can all share in someone’s success; it makes us all better.
     “Right now United has experienced a first quarter with good results.
     “Not because of me specifically, although we are moving in the right direction, but markets—for all the well- discussed reasons—have been good,” Jacques said.
     So as this most optimistic air cargo executive, who brims with ideas, hopes, dreams, and above all unbridled ambition, awaits a new day to continue his United journey, he says simply:
     “Do what you promise and never forget to honor loyalty amongst your employees and customers.
     “Letting everyone know what to expect is critical.
     “Telling the customer ‘We will put it on the first available flight’ is like saying nothing.
     “‘It will ride in two days, I know you don’t like that, but I have no other option,’ may sound like grin-and-bear-it words, but the up-front truth is always the best option,” assures ‘Fast’ Jacques.
Geoffrey