RALPH PETTA SPENT 36 YEARS MAKING SURE ELFA DELIVERED VALUE TO EVERY MEMBER IT SERVED
When Ralph Petta joined the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association in 1987, he was a Capitol Hill policy hand who knew little about leasing. He spent his first year holed up in his office reading everything he could find on the industry. “I think people must have thought that I was this kind of introverted, private ne’er-do-well,” he says.
Thirty-six years later, the last eight as president and CEO of the ELFA, Petta retired having worked in every department of the association. Along the way, he served as the association’s point person when the FASB and IASB moved to put leases on the balance sheet, a change many feared would erase a core benefit of lease financing. “It was a big deal, and it turned out that it was fine, and it was really a success for the industry,” he says.
His guiding philosophy came from his mentor, longtime association head Mike Fleming, who chided a young Petta for obsessing over the features of an industry survey rather than what the data could do for members. Petta never forgot it.
He also charted a different course from Fleming’s outsized, board-facing style, bringing senior staff into board meetings and strategic decisions. Building consensus among a board of accomplished executives with sometimes competing interests “would keep you up at night,” he says. “Leaders come in all stripes and sizes and shapes and types.”
Petta credits his rise to listening more than talking. “I’m sort of introverted anyway, but I thought I would get it right by listening,” he says. Asked what he misses, he answers immediately. Not the travel, but the staff. “They were rock stars,” he says.
Now 74 and splitting his time between Florida and Northern Virginia, Petta plays golf and tennis several times a week, is working his way through the classics — “1984” is his favorite so far; “Moby-Dick” defeated him. He also travels with his wife, most recently to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands.
His advice to industry newcomers: “Immerse yourself in all aspects of the enterprise. If you’re a credit person, know about sales. If you’re a salesperson, know about accounting.”
Although he is thoroughly enjoying his retirement, he says a golf partner recently got an earful about the “wonderful” trillion-dollar business Petta spent his career championing. Some habits, it seems, don’t retire.
“IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MEMBERS. YOU HAVE DIFFERENT STYLES IN DELIVERING PROGRAMS AND SERVICES TO HELP MEMBERS SUCCEED, BUT IT’S ABOUT THE VALUE. THEY’RE PAYING DUES, AND WE’VE GOT TO BE SURE WE’RE GIVING THEM A RETURN ON THEIR INVESTMENT.”
– RALPH PETTA | Retired President & CEO | EQUIPMENT LEASING & FINANCE ASSOCIATION
