By Joann S. Lublin
In Personal Board of Directors, top business leaders talk about
the people they turn to for advice, and how those people have
shaped their perspective and helped them succeed. Previous
installments from the series are here.
Tami Erwin, the highest ranked woman at Verizon Communications
Inc., keeps a lightbulb signed by a key mentor so she never forgets
that colleague's counsel.
Verizon executive Lowell McAdam gave her the bulb in 2006 after
he noticed a dark sign outside a store in her region. "She needed
to see how the details could make a difference," explains Mr.
McAdam, who went on to become chairman and chief executive of the
company.
"I look at that lightbulb almost every day," says Ms. Erwin, CEO
of Verizon Business Group, a unit with $31 billion of revenue in
2020. "I am reminded to seek problems and solve them." Her
division, based in Basking Ridge, N.J., provides wireless and
landline phone services, internet connectivity, security and other
technology solutions to businesses.
Ms. Erwin took charge of the global unit in 2019 -- more than
three decades after she joined the telecom industry as a wireless
customer-service representative making $20,000 a year. Her 2020
compensation totaled about $8.3 million.
The 56-year-old executive avoided laying off any of her roughly
26,000 staffers due to the pandemic. She also spearheaded Verizon's
acquisition in May 2020 of Blue Jeans Network Inc., a
videoconferencing company, to help the company capitalize on the
increase in remote work.
Ms. Erwin reached upper management after taming her fiercely
competitive style, moving her family four times and learning to
cope with disappointments on the job. Advisers suggested that she
dust herself off following a setback because "you don't get success
every time," the Verizon leader adds. However, "your hard work will
pay off."
The daughter of a family physician and a nurse, Ms. Erwin grew
up in the small, agricultural community of Sedro-Woolley, Wash. She
aspired to be a pediatrician until she encountered a lung cancer
patient during a summer stint in her father's medical office.
"I didn't want to carry the emotional weight of knowing I could
not change the outcome for someone who had been diagnosed with a
terminal disease," Ms. Erwin says. She decided to instead major in
business administration at Pacific Union College.
But she dropped out a year later to marry her high-school
sweetheart. She held various administrative jobs before U S West
hired her in 1987. Acquisitions eventually folded the Baby Bell
into Verizon, which was created in 2000.
At that time, Ms. Erwin already had advanced to an executive
spot. She gained profit-and-loss responsibilities in 2003, when she
got promoted to a regional presidency at Verizon Wireless, then a
joint venture with Vodafone Group PLC. That's also when her husband
gave up his accounting career to care for their two children.
Ms. Erwin counts Mr. McAdam among her four most valued
advisers:
Jacqueline Cabe
Chief financial officer of UW Medicine
Ms. Cabe and Ms. Erwin call each other "my chosen sister"
because they have been close friends since childhood. Their fathers
also grew up together before raising families on adjacent 20-acre
properties.
Ms. Cabe always encouraged her to do the right thing -- and gave
her confidence to persist despite difficult work situations,
according to Ms. Erwin. One such circumstance arose in 1997. The
32-year-old manager received negative feedback from her boss while
running a large call center.
"People view you as very competitive. They don't view you as a
team player," the supervisor told her. Though you're usually right
about a required action, the supervisor continued, "you need to let
others feel like it's their idea."
Stung by his comments, Ms. Erwin sought solace from her best
friend. "Put the mirror to your face," Ms. Cabe replied. "You know
you are competitive."
Ms. Erwin vowed to no longer be viewed as advocating "my way or
the highway." Even today, the Verizon executive still regularly
asks herself, "What is the impact I am having on others?"
Lowell McAdam
Former chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications Inc.
The boss who critiqued Ms. Erwin's managerial style introduced
Mr. McAdam to her in 1999. Mr. McAdam became an influential mentor
even though he never directly supervised her.
"He was an incredible role model," she remembers. "He used to
sweat the details" -- as evidenced by his frequent, unannounced
store visits.
His hands-on approach made her realize that she could lead
better. He also pushed her and her colleagues "to find the higher
gear."
While Verizon Wireless CEO in 2008, Mr. McAdam guided Ms. Erwin
as she began to command its poorest-performing operation, which
spanned 12 states.
"This (management) team believes that an excuse is as good as a
result, " Mr. McAdam cautioned. "Show them that results
matter."
Ms. Erwin says she changed nearly the entire top team and "set a
different culture." Eighteen months later, her operation became the
best performer.
Rose Fass
CEO and co-founder of FassForward Inc.
The leadership-development consultant met Ms. Erwin almost two
decades ago during training sessions that Ms. Fass conducted for
Verizon.
Her counsel proved critical in 2013 when Ms. Erwin cried in
front of a human-resources colleague because she disliked a
proposed promotion. Verizon wanted her to leave its rapidly
expanding wireless business and assume a senior spot at its
slower-growing wireline arm.
"I really felt like I had been benched," Ms. Erwin recalls
bitterly.
Ms. Fass insisted she could benefit from the dreaded new
assignment. But first, the consultant went on, "maybe you should
know what your value is outside of Verizon."
Ms. Erwin spent months drafting her first résumé before landing
attractive offers for high-level jobs. Ultimately, however, she
stayed put.
The reason? "Verizon no longer took me for granted," the
executive points out. Indeed, her boss agreed to help her pursue a
position that reported to its CEO. Her current assignment does.
Laurel Rossi
Chief partnerships officer of Organic, a digital marketing
agency owned by Omnicom Group Inc.
The veteran marketer long advised Ms. Erwin as a business client
before coaching her personally about becoming chief marketing
officer of Verizon Wireless.
"I was ill-qualified to do that job," Ms. Erwin recollects. She
appreciated learning "through the eyes of someone who was an
expert."
Ms. Rossi also recommended that she use her powerful corporate
platform to spur the advancement of other women. Ms. Erwin was
particularly troubled by Verizon's slim ranks of female store
managers and "the fact that women have been discriminated against"
historically in business.
She launched Women of Wireless, an employee-development program
involving thousands of female staffers in the U.S. Many have since
landed leadership roles. Two years ago, Verizon expanded Ms.
Erwin's initiative world-wide.
Write to Joann S. Lublin at joann.lublin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 10, 2021 00:14 ET (04:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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