President of Air Operations, Fedex
Search every verified Lisa Lisson interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Lisa Lisson, President of Air Operations at FedEx, has spoken publicly about her personal and professional journey, including the sudden death of her husband Patrick in 2009 after he suffered a heart attack. In a 2018 speech, she described the experience of finding him unresponsive and performing CPR, and recounted that doctors initially advised her to let him go, a decision she made two years later. She stated that she was later appointed president of FedEx Canada, becoming the first woman to run a division of FedEx globally. Lisson has discussed the concept of resilience, which she described as "suppleness or flexibility" rather than simply grit, and emphasized the role of attitude in navigating adversity. She also noted that she serves on the board of SickKids and its human resources and compensation committee. In a 2017 interview, Lisson said she adopted a practice of living in "24-hour increments" after her husband's illness, and encouraged gratitude and finding reasons to smile even in difficult circumstances. She advised carving out "white space" in one's schedule for personal time and cautioned against lending doubts credence, stating that "the most important conversation you have in life is with yourself." Lisson also remarked on a confidence gap she observed among women in the workplace, noting that men may pursue promotions when 60% ready while women often wait until they feel perfectly prepared.
“Resilience is not just about grit or toughness or self-control — it's actually about suppleness or flexibility. Can you bend in the wind like a Georgian Bay pine tree in order to survive, adjust and reframe, adopt and move forward when life smashes your best laid plans?”
“I woke up to a very loud thump... I raced over to him and quickly realized that he was not breathing and we had no pulse, so of course adrenaline was rushing through me — I immediately phoned 911 and the dispatcher walked me through doing CPR as I was screaming at my husband, please don't die on me.”
“A team of doctors pulled me aside and said, 'Lisa, we don't think he's capable of having a meaningful life and we suggest that you let him go.' I told them I was not prepared to let him go and asked, do miracles happen in this hospital?”
“There is power in knowing when to stop hanging on to someone or something you cherish — letting Patrick go allowed the doctors to remove his feeding tube and ease him into his death; it was the most painful decision I've ever had to make.”
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