CHICAGO -- Jim Hendry, who has guided the Cubs to the postseason three times during his six full seasons as general manager, has been given a four-year contract extension through the 2012 season.

Cubs chairman Crane Kenney announced the new deal at the start of the team's organizational meetings in Arizona on Monday.

"Jim is the face of our organization on the baseball side," Kenney said. "Everyone knows what job we have left to do, and I wouldn't trust it to anyone other than Jim, going forward."

Hendry has been the general manager since July 5, 2002, and is the third-longest-tenured GM in franchise history, trailing only John Holland (1957-1975) and James Gallagher (1940-49). The Cubs have posted a 537-513 (.511) record under Hendry, including four winning records in his six full seasons.

Following a last-place, 96-loss season in 2006, Hendry helped orchestrate a 31-win turnaround the last two years as the team won 85 games in '07 and 97 this year.

The Cubs were five outs away from reaching the World Series in 2003, and won the National League Central in back-to-back seasons in 2007 and '08. They posted the best record in the NL this year, but were ousted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series.

Hendry, 53, and the team had returned to Chicago after getting swept in the NLDS, and he was back in the office the next day. There is some unfinished business.

"Emotionally, from the day I arrived here and was fortunate to be given this job, I've had no desire to go elsehwere," Hendry said. "We have a terrific fan base and following. It's a great city to live in. ... There's no other place I'd rather be. There is a lot of emotion involved, and certainly, we'll do whatever we can to kick that door in to win a world championship. That remains our goal, and none of us will rest until that's accomplished.

"We had as good a team as there was in the National League, had the best record," Hendry said. "We just played bad baseball for three days. We stunk last year against the Diamondbacks [in the NLDS]. We're going to put our heads together and see ways to improve the club."

One of the key reasons to keep Hendry is the continuity he's developed in the front office, including people like player development director Oneri Fleita, scouting director Tim Wilken and assistant general manager Randy Bush.

"Jim Hendry has helped build a sense of urgency and create a winning environment throughout our organization," Kenney said. "Jim's aggressive nature and tireless dedication to improving our club are well-known, but equally important is his assembly of one of the most talented baseball operations departments in the industry.

"Jim's leadership and the continuity of our baseball operations department are critical to finishing the job we began six years ago," Kenney said. "We fell well short of our goal this year, and that will fuel our work this offseason."

Hendry's contract was up at the end of the year, and the extension removes any lame duck status he might have had because of the pending sale of the Cubs, which was not expected to be resolved by year's end. Hendry has maintained it's business as usual, and Kenney emphasized that the goal is to make good long-term decisions for the organization.

"We assume the new owner will appreciate those things and not have any difficulty with them," Kenney said.

Tribune Co. chairman Sam Zell was in agreement with keeping Hendry at the helm, Kenney said.

"From Sam's perspective, this was an easy one to make," Kenney said.

Hendry got a head start. On Oct. 8, the team picked up pitcher Rich Harden's option for 2009, and the Cubs also picked up manager Lou Piniella's option for the '10 season.

"Our mission now is to move forward, take the next steps that need to be taken and do it with the team that's gotten us to this point," Kenney said.