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[MUSIC] It's an absolute privilege to have you here with us.
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>> It's so good to be here.
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>> Welcome to Stanford and welcome back to the Bay Area.
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>> Yes, it's so good to be in the Bay Area.
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And it's actually good to be on Stanford's campus.
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I am a Berkeley grad but I wore red today.
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>> [LAUGH] >> So everybody I wore red today.
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[LAUGH] >> [APPLAUSE] >> We are so blessed here in the Bay Area to have just such fabulous, fabulous schools.
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So it's good to be here, it's good to be here.
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>> It's an honor, well, before we dive in, >> Okay.
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>> I believe we were able to find some pictures of yours from over the years. >> Lord, my goodness.
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>> And I'd love to share some of them with the audience, if that's all right.
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>> Okay, you go right ahead.
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>> [LAUGH] >> [LAUGH] So this is you- >> Lord. >> In college.
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>> [LAUGH] >> [APPLAUSE] >> My gosh.
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>> You're at Berkeley as you mentioned.
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You're part of the cheerleading squad. >> Yes.
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>> Do you remember this picture?
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>> Yeah, I think we won the big game that year. >> Okay.
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>> [LAUGH] >> Well, if you beat Stanford, we'll move right along.
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>> I do remember that picture.
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My goodness, I should bring that Afro back.
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>> [LAUGH] >> I have a picture.
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>> And this is you several decades later. >> My goodness, yes.
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>> You're now the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks. >> Yes.
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>> You're still cheering, and somehow it looks to me like you've got just as much energy- >> Yes. >> As when you were 19. >> Yeah, I do.
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>> [LAUGH] >> I do, I do, I have a lot of energy, just taking care of myself, enjoying life, having a passion about what I do every day.
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I mean, when you have a passion about what you do every day, you just get up with energy.
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>> I mean, a lot of times people will ask the question what keeps you up at night?
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I said no, to me the question is what gets you up in the morning.
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It's about truly doing something that gets you up in the morning and you just wake up with energy, you wake up with passion.
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And so I'm just fired up all the time.
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I mean, people ask my husband and my kids a lot, is she like that all the time?
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My sister tell you, yes, I'm like this all the time. >> [LAUGH] >> Yes, yes.
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>> Something for all of us to emulate for sure.
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>> That's right, think about what gets you up in the morning.
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>> [LAUGH] >> That's the question you want to be able to answer.
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>> You have an incredible story, and there's so much that's transpired in between these two pictures. >> Yes.
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>> But I'd love to start at the very beginning. >> Okay.
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>> You grew up in Easter Hill. >> Yes.
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>> Not too far from here in Richmond, California. >> That's right.
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>> And you grew up in what most people would describe to be very difficult circumstances.
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Your mother at the time said that it's not about where you live, but how you live. >> Yes.
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>> Tell us about Easter Hill and what did your mother mean by that?
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>> Okay, I love that question and you've probably heard me say before that despite some of the things that I happen because we all face adversity, I actually believe I had a good childhood.
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And I believe some of the things that I saw and experienced are just things that people see and experience in their childhood.
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And so my parents moved from Birmingham, Alabama.
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So if you know your civil rights history, which I hope you do, especially with this being Black History Month.
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There was a Church in Birmingham, Alabama, the 16th Street Baptist Church that was bombed, where four little girls lost their lives, actually two others lost their lives afterwards.
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And then there was also the Bethel Street Baptist Church where Reverend Shuttlesworth, his place there was bombed.
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Those churches are the churches that my mom grew up in, the churches that my mom attended.
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And so she left in March of 1960 when I was three months old, because I was the baby, and then Rose came after we came to, stand up Rose and wave at everybody, stand up and wave at everybody.
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>> [APPLAUSE] >> [LAUGH] So she was the first one born out here in California. >> Okay.
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>> And then I have a brother who was born after that.
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So six of us grew up in the Easter Hill Public Housing Projects.
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And my mother stressed education. >> Yeah.
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>> And that's when she would say, it's not where you live, it's how you live.
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Zip code doesn't matter, education does.
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And so my father stressed it as well, his line was get your lesson, get your lesson.
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Meaning take care of your educational business.
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And so we grew up knowing that that was important.
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But I also had some things that happened.
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When I was 11 years old I saw my father actually shoot a man in the head, and it was in self defense.
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Because this young man who we actually went to church with approached our house.
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And so we were all in the back room and my mother had us all in the back and I wanted to be nosy.
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Believe it or not, and Rob can attest to it, I was actually a fairly quiet kid. >> Yeah.
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>> We handled our business, but I was nosy.
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And so all this commotion was at the front door and I sneaked out because I want to know what was going on.
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And that's when my father in self defense, shot this man because the silver pistol was pointed down at me and my father was going to do whatever he had to do to defend his family.
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Fortunately, it wasn't fatal.
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But you can imagine the chaos that broke out in our family. >> Absolutely.
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>> And so we had to be sequestered in the house, but some of us said we gotta go to school.
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And I said I gotta go to school because I love school. >> Yeah.
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>> I loved it, and so my mother had a uniform police officer, Officer Darrell Prader to take me to school in the seventh grade.
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And he'd either get on the bus with me or he'd put me in his police car like he'd never put the siren or anything on, but he got me to school.
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And in fact, when I got this job, and they had all that detail, put all this detail on me, so you have to explain it to him, I had secret service when I was 11 years.
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>> [LAUGH] >> I know how this stuff works.
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And then four years later, my parents got a divorce. Ugly bloody divorce.
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My father broke my nose when I was 15 years old.
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And so I went back to school with a brace on my nose, and that's when three teachers and a principal found out what was going on.
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Really embraced me, knew that my mom had a desire for all of her kids to go to college.
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And so Rose and I decided we were going to be the first ones to graduate from a big four year school and make it happen.
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Others were doing their own thing but we had these big dreams about going to college, and so the rest is history.
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I ended up getting five full scholarships to the college of my choice. >> Yeah.
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>> And chose Berkeley because it was close to home.
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And normally what I say is, not because it's the number one public institution in the world, okay, so public, okay public, but it was close to home.
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And one of my scholarships came with the car and all that.
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And so I wanted to stay close to home with my younger brother and sisters and my mom. >> Yeah.
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>> And so I got a great, great education.
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My zip code didn't matter.
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And so that's my desire these days for in our country, the zip code should not matter.
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That everyone should be afforded the great education that I was able to get, that Rose was able to get, my other cousin Rose here. Stand up cousin Rose.
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[LAUGH] >> [APPLAUSE] >> It's so good to have these honeys.
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>> [APPLAUSE] >> It's so good to have them here because usually I'm kind of in and out of California, and so I never get to see them but somehow they caught me.
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>> [LAUGH] >> I'm so glad you're here.
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So anyway, but we were blessed to get a great education.
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And so that's what my mother, what she meant about it's not where you live, it's how you live.
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It's about handling your business, getting your education, having a set of values that you stand on.
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I mean, we had a set of values that we stood on. Faith was important. >> Yeah. >> Really important.
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I mean, she kept us in church, we were those kids on the front row, we were in the front pew, and you have to behave.
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My mother would look down for the choir stand and you just couldn't act up, okay?
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And so we were raised very disciplined and to be very respectful and to work hard.
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And that's what we saw even through adversity, we were taught that we had to kind of make it through it. >> Yeah.
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>> And so we did, and so all that is a part of my foundation and The values that I was raised on and that I have, are the values honestly that I bring into the workplace wherever I go.
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>> Yeah, and you mentioned the scholarships and getting to go to the college of your choice, >> Yes.
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>> Before you enrolled you had an interesting conversation with your boyfriend at the time. >> [LAUGH] Yes.
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>> What did you tell him?
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>> [LAUGH] Okay, so here's what I told him, okay, so during my first week in college, I mean, that was a big deal for me. >> Yeah.
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>> Going, stepping foot on Berkeley's campus, and I actually remember I started in the summer, and seeing everything big, the Seattle gate, I mean, just all that, and you know how it is when you step foot on a campus, I mean, we've all been there.
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It's just a whole different experience, right?
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And my first week in college, my boyfriend, I kind of had two, but my distant boyfriend.
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[LAUGH] My distant boyfriend [LAUGH] Hey, until you put a ring on it, okay?
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[LAUGH] So my distant boyfriend, he called and he says I changed schools, because he was in Fresno.
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So in Central Valley in Fresno in Clovis.
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And he says, I've changed schools, I'm at San Francisco State University now.
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So that I can be close to you.
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Now this is my first week in college, now that sounds sweet, right?
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He said, so, surprise, I'm across the bridge, I said, surprise boyfriend, I got news for you, I got a surprise for you.
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I will call you when I graduate, so I saw him once.
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After that, he'd actually go, my sister can attest to it, he'd go and see my mom and tell my mom he was going to marry me and all that.
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But I needed to handle my business.
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So I just didn't want to be bogged down.
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And so what I told him is I didn't have time for some smooth talking cutie he wanted to play when I needed to study.
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[LAUGH] I wanted to enjoy my experience, but also handle my business.
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And so the day I graduated from college, I called him.
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>> You did exactly what you said you were going to do.
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>> And so he couldn't appreciate that, though [LAUGH] I said hi, this is sin, I said Kenny, this is sin. He said sin who?
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I said wait a minute boy, don't act like you don't know me, okay?
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Because I know you have been keeping in contact with my mom and all that.
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I said don't act like you don't know me and I was fired up.
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I said I just graduated from college, and I'm so fired up, I got this job at the phone company who where he was actually working at the time and his dad actually retired from there.
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And I was just fired up about my future, my family's future, all that.
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And he said, who is this again?
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I said, don't act like you don't know who I am.
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My mom is having a party at 6 o'clock, she's still there at Easter Hill, but she's going to be getting now be at the party six o'clock.
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And he said he couldn't come to the party because he was engaged, that's the wrong answer, okay?
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And so he says, I haven't talked to you in almost four years and I said, well, I kept my end of the bargain.
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I told you I was going to call you when I graduated, I just graduated it 2 o'clock is 3 o'clock like you waited an hour, okay?
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So here's mine is four years in my mind it's an hour I did what I said I was going to do.
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Well anyway, on April the 30th of this year I will be married to that boy for 40 years.
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>> [APPLAUSE] >> So yeah >> [APPLAUSE] >> He came to the party so whenever we move our kids into college or one of our nieces or nephews after we move them all in I got my whole money routine where I decorate the dorm rooms and do all that and so right before we leave here He says, I think there's a phone call that you're supposed to make.
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This is where you take your boyfriend and girlfriend and put them on hold until you graduate.
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>> [LAUGH] I guess patience truly is a virtue. >> It really is.
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I tell him all the time he was that close to missing out on his blessing.
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I mean like that close, that close, but he didn't.
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>> So you graduate from Berkeley, I believe you had 13 job offers.
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>> You did your homework.
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You are good [LAUGH] >> [APPLAUSE] >> And out of all these options you chose AT&T where you started at age 21. >> Yes.
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>> And you stayed and reached some of the highest levels of the organization.
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At the very beginning though, what did you want from your career?
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What was most important to you?
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>> Okay, so when I was interviewing on campus I had two criteria like only two I said I want the job that paid me the most money, okay, and I wouldn't advise that but that's kind of where I was.
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At a long time ago I want the job that pays me the most money and back then they paid me $16,200 a year, okay, that was a really long time ago.
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>> Okay >> So I want the job that paid me the most money >> But also a job where I could be the boss at 21 years old.
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And it wasn't really about being the boss, it was about leading people and serving people, because I had had some leadership experience in life activities and all that.
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But I wanted a job where I could truly serve people.
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And so AT&T had a fast track management program and I started out supervising.
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And y'all don't know anything about this, I'm trying to look around at the ages in here back in the day when you would dial zero to actually, and that was not even cell phones, okay? To get your calls made.
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And so I supervised those operators in San Francisco. >> Okay.
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>> And so I worked a night shift because I was I like nightclasses and evening classes.
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I didn't like to get I'm not a morning person.
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And that's why the timing of this is perfect, like, if this is the breakfast, but this is perfect.
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And so I'm a night person, and so I supervised these operators, and it was great.
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To this day, those operators and the union employees, they taught me just about everything I know about my leadership philosophy to this day.
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They taught me how to truly serve, how to walk into a place when you really don't know anything. And I was very honest.
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I walked in, I said, okay, it's my first job I don't know anything and they're laughing like we know you don't know anything okay we already know that.
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But I told them I was willing to learn and that I knew my job was to serve them. >> Okay.
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>> And to make their lives better personally and professionally and so they put me through the paces they had a list of things that they had wanted to do and management wouldn't listen to them.
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So here they had this 21 year old and they would give me the list and say sit.
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Let's try this, let's try that and so I'm 21 years old.
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I'm like, okay, that sounds good.
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And then I would go to my boss and she'd say no, we can't do this.
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So this one project, this one policy in particular, I wanted to change and these operators had been working on it for years.
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And to me it was kind of like an inhumane policy where they had to sign up to go to bathroom all kinds of stuff because of course you don't you're trying to look at call volumes and traffic.
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And so they said, no, we want the company to trust us, okay, and here's how we want to how we want to do this.
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So they laid it all out, I said, okay and so I convinced my boss to let us try it. >> Wow.
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>> And she didn't want to try it, but we did.
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Our results went from the worst in the company, literally to the best in the company because we listened to the people who were closest to the work and they knew we trusted them.
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They held each other accountable and we changed the whole system for the company actually across the United States.
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>> So it's developing that trust while maintaining your commitment to service.
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>> Well, yeah, you have to serve them when you walk into a job, yes, you're the boss.
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But all that means is you are here to serve these people.
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And so I have a leadership philosophy that's based on three Ls and I believe as a leader if I wanted to truly be effective, I only need to do three things and that and I need to do them extremely well.
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Listen to the people, learn from the people, and love the people and truly love them as people not as employee is not as AT&T employees, not as the Mavs employ.
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Not where you people walk into a phone booth and then they put on a cape and have a big T or M on their chest that's not who I want.
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The person who gets up out of bed in the morning.
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The issues they have the problems they have the backgrounds they have, the dreams they have all of that is what I want to walk into my doors.
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And when that person walks into my doors I need to be able to meet them where they are and really serve them.
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And that means I need to really love them for who they are, not try to change them to be somebody else but accept that person.
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I need to listen to them.
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When I first got to the Mavs, I spent literally 90 days.
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I met with every single employee. >> Wow.
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>> In the organization, every single employee, and I will start off with the same question I'd say.
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Okay, not a question, a statement.
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, I said, tell me about yourself.
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Give me your whole life story.
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And undoubtedly they would start off and say, this is my fifth season at the Mavs, or this is my seventh season at the Mavs.
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I said, were you born here?
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>> [LAUGH] >> I want your life story.
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And the reason that's important is I want to know who's sitting in front of me.
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And then we talk about all kind of Mav stuff.
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And then I said, okay, tell me where you see yourself five years from now personally and professionally, because I really believe my job as a leader.
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And our job as an executive leadership team is to help you get there personally and professionally, we have to invest in you, but you don't know that if you don't listen to people and truly let them talk.
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And then you have to learn about their job, learn about what they do.
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When I was at AT&T, I went to pole climbing school, the installers were probably four levels below me, but I went to pole climbing school.
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Because I wanted to be able to preach appreciate what they were going through every day, so I could really serve them and give them what they needed.
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So you listen to the people, learn from the people, and really love them as people, not as employees. That's my secret.
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>> Yeah, and you use those leadership principles to really seek advancement at AT&T, but the process of advancement wasn't always easy.
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I think in your book you mentioned a conversation where you're up for promotion to the officer level at AT&T.
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And your boss is calling to congratulate you, but there's some conditions attached, and maybe even some problems with your name.
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>> Men, you really did to your homework, okay?
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>> [LAUGH] >> Yes, okay, so first of all, I turned down four promotions, >> Okay. >> In my career.
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Because there was one reason or another, and usually it was because there was something else I wanted to learn about the company.
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After my first job with these operators, I actually got a job offer, they wanted me to replace my boss.
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She was getting ready to retire and they wanted me to be the second level manager.
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I turned that down because here I am, 22, 23 years old.
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I plan to have a career with this company, I want to know more than just operator services.
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I mean, I'm working in a technical company, and so I ended up taking a job as a network engineer.
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Because I wanted to know about the company, so it was a lateral move.
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But then I had a boss tell me, he says, okay, you can't just keep accepting lateral moves, you got to start moving up, especially I was on this fast track management program.
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So, I never sought advancement, I knew I was supposed to get to director level within five years, my family was pulling for me, everybody kind of wanted it to happen.
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And so once that happened I was like, okay, I just want to enjoy my career.
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But positive things kept happening because I was actually delivering the goods, leading people and so good things were happening.
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So when I finally get this call, 25 years into it to be an officer, I just walked in the house, my boss called and she said congratulations, the company just named you, the board just elected you to be an officer of the corporation.
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And I said an officer of the corporation to me.
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I knew what it was, I was already in a big VP job at my San Francisco office down on New Montgomery Street.
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And so I was already doing great.
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Delivering a lot of good policy for the company, and just doing some great things.
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And so it actually caught me off guard, because I wasn't trying to do it.
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And so my husband is in the background and he's smiling, and I said, okay, and she says, okay, so let me give you some advice.
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Let me tell you some things that I want.
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And she said I just left a magazine on your desk, so when you get back to work you'll see a magazine.
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I think it was a Black Enterprise magazine.
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She said there are all these black people on the cover, they're wearing white, and the ladies have short hair.
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So I think you would look great in white.
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And I think you would look great in a short haircut, and she starts describing this haircut.
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And I'm thinking what does this have to do with the job?
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But she in her mind was coaching me and giving me some ideas on how to step into this officer role.
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Then she said, you're going to have to change your name.
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You can't be Cynth, no Cynth.
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You have to be Cindy or Cynthia, because nobody knows what a Cynth is, nobody ever heard of that. >> Wow.
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>> Well I heard of it, I'd been Cynth my whole life.
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>> [LAUGH] >> And most of the people that I grew up with.
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Black people named Cynthia with the exception of my sister had a friend named Cindy Holloway, that's only black Cindy I knew, okay?
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So I knew people are Cynth, but she didn't, so she wanted me to change my name.
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And so then she said people are in your office all the time because that's the place where people just want to come.
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They feel like they can talk to you and all that.
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You're going to have to stop talking to all these people.
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And then, of course, what she wanted me to wear.
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So she literally just started giving me this whole picture that was not me.
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Now, coaching is one thing, because we all need to be coached.
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Because sometimes you're in environments that are new, the culture is new, all that.
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You need to know how to show up.
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But then, when you start talking like this, it's getting kind of crazy.
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But here's where it kind of went over the edge.
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She says, and you have to stop using the word blessed.
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You have to use the word lucky.
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I said, what if I don't think I'm lucky?
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And she says well, I mean yeah, so what if I don't think I'm lucky, that I think I'm blessed?
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She was no no no, churchy kind of words.
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You can't do any of that, and that's when I said, okay, so here's what we're going to do.
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I said I need you help me figure out how to tell the company no, that I'm not going to accept this officer promotion, because my sense is you are fundamentally trying to change who I am. And you know what?
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Well, my first week in the company I had a boss who made me get rid of my red shoes and my braids, and I came home and had to stay up all night with my family taking down my braids and here it is some 19, 20 years later, and this is still going on.
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But the difference is I'm a different person, and so I'm not going to accept this.
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And so she helped me come up with the words, because my biggest concern is I don't want to lose my current job.
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I got a big job, and I'm doing great, I'm taking care of my family.
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So I don't want to lose my current job, but I'm not going to accept this, because you're asking me to be somebody else.
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So she came up with the words.
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And so she said, okay, I agree with you, because I guess I wasn't sophisticated enough for something I don't know.
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And so but pretty much, I mean, that's what she was saying.
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And so that's where I left it.
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And then a few minutes later, her boss called me and then the chairman of AT&T, Ed Whitacre called me.
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And he started off he said, Cynth.
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>> [LAUGH] >> And he put the emphasis on the T.
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And he said, girl, let's start this all over again. I heard what happened.
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And he went and described me to a T.
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And he said, that is the person who we just promoted to be an officer.
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That is the person who we want to walk in the doors tomorrow.
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You don't need to change a thing.
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He said will you accept the offer to be an officer of this corporation? And I said absolutely.
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And it was funny because my husband was in the background hearing this whole thing.
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And when she was telling me to change my hair and all this, and he's like, I got a barber, don't worry about it.
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>> [LAUGH] >> I mean so, he's in the background trying to make it happen.
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>> [LAUGH] >> He's like, whatever they are asking you to do, you need to do it And at some point, you have to draw a line.
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You have to know who you are, what you stand for. And I just said no. So he didn't like that.
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But of course, it ended up being great.
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And it was the point in my career where words matter.
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When you are a leader, words matter.
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And his words actually made me finally say I can be who I am, I can tell stories that normally I wouldn't tell, I can open up and be exactly who I am and that actually has served me well since then.
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>> That's an incredible story and so heartening to hear.
23:58
That you can maintain your authenticity while still achieving your career goals, just truly inspirational.
24:04
>> Well, you have to because, and this is how I am with my employees.
24:08
The people who are delivering all those results, and the people who are making it happen, and because people deliver results they just don't like happen.
24:16
So the people who are doing that, those are the people that you're promoting, and those are the people who you want to continue to give to your organization.
24:26
So why try to change them?
24:27
And that's what diversity is all about.
24:29
You want all of those differences around the table.
24:32
You're not trying to create all these people who look alike, who are aware and white, with short hair, say I'm lucky.
24:38
And then I try to do that.
24:41
>> So you're able to stick to your conviction and your principles, you're thriving in your career- >> Yes.
24:46
>> You become President of AT&T in North Carolina.
24:49
Then comes a day in 2010, I believe the day before New Year's Eve, and you have a lot of detail in your book.
24:57
>> [LAUGH] >> [LAUGH] >> Yeah, you're kind of scaring me, okay?
25:01
>> [LAUGH] >> You are kind of scaring me.
25:05
Where are you getting all this from? Who are you talking to?
25:08
>> [LAUGH] >> You see, now I'm wondering what in the world, and at some point he's going to say something that I think nobody knows.
25:14
[LAUGH] >> [LAUGH] >> [LAUGH] I'll just say- >> This is the fact to be really like a big revelation to the world.
25:20
>> You got an incredible book and I had the opportunity to read it.
25:23
[LAUGH] >> Thank you for doing that. Thank you.
25:25
[LAUGH] >> It's a date for New Year's Eve.
25:28
You received a call from a doctor at this point. >> Yes.
25:31
>> What's your first reaction?
25:33
>> I just couldn't believe it.
25:35
I was diagnosed with Stage III colon cancer, one lymph node before Stage IV.
25:41
And it was actually as a result of being in a corporate athlete program in May of that year. >> Okay.
25:48
>> And it was an assessment of your physical, mental, emotional, health, what I actually refer to as PMS, physical, mental, spiritual health.
25:56
And we need to pay attention to all of it, all the time, but I wasn't.
26:00
And so, in this assessment, they asked you to pick one thing that you would do, that would help you have better results.
26:09
And so mine was the physical category, because the mental category was great, spiritual category was great.
26:13
I had some work to do on physical.
26:15
I didn't think I had as much work to do as I thought because I had already stopped eating my fried chicken.
26:19
I had already stopped eating my ding dongs.
26:21
I mean, I just said, I wanted to get healthy, right?
26:24
And I was an athlete growing up, I ran track and all that.
26:27
And so I just wanted to be healthy. So I focused on that.
26:29
So the one thing that I picked that I would do, is respond to a referral slip that had been given to me the previous year.
26:37
My doctor had given me a referral slip to get a colonoscopy.
26:41
And I took that referral slip, and I put it on my nightstand.
26:46
And honestly, I could admit, I never planned on doing anything with it.
26:50
Because I'm feeling pretty good, I'm healthy. At that time I was 49.
26:55
I said, I don't really need to do anything with this. And so I didn't.
26:58
So the one thing I committed to as a result of this class and this assessment, because they're all pressing us, is all the officers right there pressing us to do one thing.
27:06
And I said, okay, I will go and get the colonoscopy.
27:08
So I'll take that referral slip off my nightstand and I'll do that.
27:12
They gave us these accountability buddies.
27:13
So I had this one, Frank Jules, one of my buddies out of New Jersey.
27:16
He called me every morning, and for some reason he'd always catch me going through the Starbucks line.
27:21
And he'd call and say, hey, girl, you get that thing done.
27:24
And I said, no, stop calling me, I haven't yet.
27:26
So finally, I scheduled my colonoscopy.
27:29
And I ended up having it the day before my 51st birthday.
27:33
So technically I was in compliance. I was 50 years old.
27:36
It was my last date of being 50.
27:38
But I had that referral slip.
27:39
I had received it quite a few months before then.
27:42
And it came back basically saying, my doctor said get to a surgeon.
27:48
And so I went to a surgeon, he told me, I had this mass and he said it didn't look like cancer, so don't worry about it.
27:54
We were coming back home to California for the holidays.
27:57
He said, don't cancel your trip.
27:59
But you know what, you have to follow your instincts, and nobody's going to advocate for your health the way you can.
28:05
And I told him, I said, well, just looking at this, honestly, I feel like this tumor is growing by the second. I need surgery.
28:12
And I sat in his office on a Friday afternoon.
28:16
And I sat there for an hour and a half because he said he could not do surgery. It wasn't urgent.
28:22
And this was just his professional opinion.
28:23
I mean, he's a fabulous surgeon. >> Yeah.
28:25
>> But in his professional opinion, we could wait.
28:28
And I just said, I don't feel like I can wait.
28:30
And so he asked my husband and he says, is she going to live here?
28:33
Take a nod for an answer he goes, my husband said, no, you're going to have to find somewhere to have surgery.
28:40
So they found somewhere that Monday morning.
28:43
I ended up having surgery.
28:44
And before I left the hospital, he actually said, don't worry about the pathology report.
28:50
And I said, okay, when is it coming out?
28:53
And so he finally ended up calling me, and I had to track him down for five days.
28:57
He finally ended up calling me literally the day before New Year's Eve.
29:03
And he said, are you sitting down?
29:05
I have news, it's bad and it's significant.
29:09
I mean, I remember those words like it was yesterday.
29:12
And he told me that I had cancer, and that I didn't have a day to spare, and that I needed to get to an oncologist.
29:22
And I just couldn't believe it.
29:25
It was the only time in my life, and I've gone through a lot in terms of miscarriages, the death of my daughter, my husband was brain damaged.
29:33
I mean, I've gone through some things.
29:35
This was an out of body experience.
29:38
I really didn't think he was talking to me.
29:40
And so, my husband came over, I cried and all that, but then I called my mother.
29:45
because that's just what you do. >> Yeah.
29:47
>> I called my mother, and so she's here in the Bay Area, and I told her I had cancer.
29:51
And she said, okay, she said, this is for his glory.
29:55
God will get the glory out of this, you have a high profile job, you're not going to die.
29:59
Everybody's going to be able to see that you've come through this.
30:01
It's going to be used for a positive story, and you will tell this story one day.
30:06
I didn't want to hear any of that because I was trying to have a pity party.
30:10
Because I had just been told that I had cancer, and the prognosis was not a good one.
30:15
But she wouldn't go there.
30:17
And pretty much told me that I had been chosen for this.
30:20
And so I ended up going through chemotherapy, everybody kind of rallied around me, my family, my work family, and did what we needed to do. It was brutal.
30:30
I named my chemo, prom Winston from the movie her boyfriend was Winston.
30:37
So I named mine prom Winston because that's my [LAUGH]- >> [LAUGH] >> Gotta give me my glue back.
30:40
But I had a positive attitude and decided I would focus on the can in cancer.
30:45
And it was great because my work family from all across AT&T showed up for me.
30:51
I was in North Carolina, but of course had spent 25 years and grew up here.
30:55
Just people everywhere showed up, my church family, my family.
31:01
It was an experience that really proved to me why my theme song in life is so important.
31:07
My theme song in life is, Ain't No Mountain High Enough.
31:10
Y'all kind of young, but have y'all ever heard that song? >> Yeah.
31:12
>> And mine is the upbeat Tammi Terrell, Marvin Gaye version.
31:16
I like the Michael McDonald version too because of diversity and inclusion, so I like the white man's version too.
31:20
>> [LAUGH] >> Okay, so I like the black version, I like the white version, okay?
31:25
The Diana Ross version comes slow for me.
31:27
So that's my theme song, Ain't a Mountain High Enough, because of the words okay?
31:31
And it basically says, whatever it is, you can call me, and we need to be there for each other.
31:38
And so I sing it all the time because that's the story of my life.
31:41
We always show up for each other.
31:43
There's nothing we can't accomplish, no mountain is too high for us.
31:47
But this time in my life when I got cancer, that's when that song really became life to me. It really became life.
31:55
>> You mentioned being chosen for this journey in that conversation with your mother. >> Yes.
31:59
>> And perhaps because you were chosen He also felt a sense of responsibility towards others. >> Yes.
32:05
>> I think that sense of responsibility really shines through in some letters that you wrote to your employees that's in your book as well [LAUGH] >> Yes.
32:14
>> With your permission, I'd love to read a few lines from one of the letters. >> That'd be wonderful.
32:19
This is the best interview.
32:21
>> [LAUGH] >> You prepared, I loved this.
32:24
>> [LAUGH] >> You are ready to do even bigger, bigger things in life.
32:28
>> [LAUGH] >> We'll have to talk because I'm always hiring. >> There's nothing.
32:31
[LAUGH] >> [APPLAUSE] >> And you are from Dallas? >> That's right.
32:39
>> They'd love to have you back home.
32:41
>> [LAUGH] >> My parents love to have me back home. And you're from Dallas.
32:43
All the Dallas [CROSSTALK] back home.
32:44
>> We have some Texans in the audience.
32:46
[LAUGH] We have some Texans in the audience. >> Stand up Texans.
32:49
>> [LAUGH] >> Stand up Texans.
32:51
>> [APPLAUSE] >> Yes, yes, yes.
32:54
>> [LAUGH] >> Everybody come back home, we need help.
32:56
>> [LAUGH] So you have this this letter that you're sending to all of your employees just one week after your cancer diagnosis.
33:06
You say, some of you have probably heard by now that I was diagnosed last week with colon cancer.
33:14
I will definitely beat this.
33:16
I'm uniquely equipped for this battle.
33:19
I have faith, good common sense, a detail-oriented skill set, aggressiveness, a great employer and health plan, wonderful family and friends, and that includes all of you.
33:30
I will have just one more awesome testimony when this is all over.
33:36
And my three teenagers and husband will have a lot more faith in God.
33:41
Thanks in advance for your love, prayer and support.
33:44
This will indeed be a Happy New Year.
33:47
>> Yes, indeed, and I'm cancer free. Yes, indeed. >> Wow.
33:51
>> [APPLAUSE] >> Yes, indeed, yes.
33:56
>> [APPLAUSE] >> This just strikes me every time I read it. This is so striking.
34:02
And what shines through is not only your incredible optimism, but also your leadership at a very difficult time.
34:09
Where do you get this optimism from and how do you use it to inspire other people?
34:14
>> I think it's naturally in my spirit. I saw it with my mother.
34:20
I saw her go through a lot but always having hope and being optimistic.
34:25
My sister would just tell you, it's just who we are.
34:28
I think it's rooted honestly in scripture.
34:31
I try to live my life by Jeremiah 29:11.
34:33
That says, for I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
34:40
So I just truly believe there is a wonderful, wonderful plan for my life.
34:47
I believe there's a wonderful plan for your life, and that it's all goodness and greatness that we need to focus on.
34:55
And yes, we will have bad things happen.
34:57
I often say sometimes, the light at the end of the tunnel is a train.
35:03
Bad things do happen to good people.
35:05
Sometime that light that you see is a train coming to roll you over.
35:10
But I believe there's always a hand that is going to get you back up because sometimes you can't get by yourself.
35:17
So I just look for that hand to get up and I look for that light that is coming at me like a train but then I know there's another one coming, and it's usually attached to somebody who's going to help me.
35:31
And then I often think about I need to be that light for somebody.
35:35
I need to be the one to make sure that they get up.
35:38
And so I'm wired that way.
35:41
I am just wired to think that the glass is not just half full, but it is overflowing.
35:47
And so my husband is wired just the opposite.
35:50
He's like, the glass is half empty. I'm like, boy, please.
35:53
>> [LAUGH] >> Okay, the glass is half full.
35:56
In fact, it's overflowing and you gotta go and get it.
36:01
And so that has worked for me for 63 years and I don't think I'm going to change.
36:05
>> I absolutely love that and you apply these same principles to the workplace as well. >> Yes, yes.
36:11
>> You're able to advance to the senior vice president level at AT&T.
36:15
You become Chief Diversity Officer.
36:17
You become an expert really in organizational culture. >> Yes.
36:21
>> What makes you so passionate about Culture Scent, and for all the future leaders in the audience, how should we be thinking about building the right culture?
36:29
>> It's all about people.
36:30
It is truly about people and culture is just very simple.
36:35
In fact, I read something last night.
36:38
That basically said, you know what kind of culture you have by how your employees are feeling on Sunday night when they think about getting ready to go back to work on Monday morning.
36:49
I literally just read that.
36:53
And so when I got to the Mavs, it was a bad situation.
36:58
When I got that call from Mark Cuban who I did not know, by the way, when he called me.
37:02
My husband had to make me call him back because I mean.
37:05
>> [LAUGH] >> People laugh, I didn't know him, he didn't know me, okay?
37:08
But he had gotten my name, he had a situation where he needed to really change his organization.
37:15
And so somehow, I had built that reputation from helping AT&T.
37:18
Literally, I led the effort to get us to get AT&T and the Fortune's Great Place to Work list.
37:24
100 Best Plces to Work list for the first time ever.
37:27
And it was about pulling people togethera, giving them a vision.
37:31
So that's what I did at the Mavs.
37:33
When I got there, the first thing I did, I gave them a vision that said we would set the global standard for diversity, equity and inclusion.
37:39
And I went there because I truly believe if you have an inclusive culture and a diverse group of employees, you can get anything done. I mean, it really is.
37:49
McKinsey gives the business case. Others give it as well. I've lived it.
37:53
There's a bottom line impact to having diversity and having equity in your organization and an inclusive culture.
38:02
And then I laid out a set of values, because culture too is about having a foundation.
38:08
Having a common set of values that embrace people and they give us kind of a focus on where we want to go, how we want to do business.
38:16
And our values at the Mavs spell crafts.
38:19
Character, respect, authenticity, fairness, teamwork, and safety, both physical and emotional safety.
38:27
And then we laid out our 100-day plan and made it real clear that we are going to be a place of zero tolerance for inappropriate behavior, misconduct, false allegations, and all that.
38:37
But we were going to have an express agenda for women.
38:41
Because when I got to the Mavs, there were zero women in permanent leadership positions and zero people of color.
38:48
I don't know how you run an organization like that, and you don't tap into the richness of the diversity that's there.
38:54
So within 90 days, we were 50% women around my table and 50% people of color. >> Wow.
38:59
>> I'm like, let's just go ahead and get this thing laid out so we can be successful.
39:04
But I want to drive a message around an inclusive culture.
39:08
And it's all about making sure that every voice matters and everybody belongs and that is our workplace promise. Is down there. She's on our team.
39:17
Stand she's absolutely amazing.
39:20
>> [APPLAUSE] >> And so we work together.
39:25
We work together to make sure that we deliver on that leadership promise of every voice matters and everybody belongs.
39:31
But the tone is set at the top.
39:34
You can't ask all your employee resource groups and your people at the lower levels to literally set that tone.
39:41
You have to set the tone and then everybody embraces that.
39:44
And then we're all responsible for the culture of the organization.
39:47
But you have to make it real clear and you have to demonstrate it, you have to role model it and that's what I try to do.
39:52
I don't get it perfect every day, but that's what I tried to do.
39:55
>> So you were brought into the Mavs to really drive change. >> Yes.
39:59
>> But change often comes with resistance. >> Yes.
40:02
So tell us about some of the challenges you faced when you were trying to drive change as a new CEO.
40:07
>> Well, after we laid out this a 100 day plan and the 100 day plan had 200 initiatives.
40:12
And so we wanted everybody to kind of rally around them.
40:14
Obviously I knew I would have to make some leadership changes, diversify the team.
40:20
Exit some people who have engaged in misconduct or just didn't fit anymore, etc.
40:25
So I thought I had done all that.
40:27
And then all of a sudden I realized there was one group in particular, they weren't responding to our initiatives and they weren't in the meetings.
40:34
I mean, everybody's fired up about the things we needed to do.
40:37
And so then they ended up telling me that their boss had told them not to engage, not to listen to me that I was just a PR stunt and I would be gone in 90 days. >> Wow.
40:50
>> I'd be five years at the end of this month and he was gone in 90 days.
40:54
Because you can't have people around that absolutely are fighting against the culture.
41:02
Now it's one thing you gotta bring people along and sometimes they come along slowly.
41:07
But when you have somebody who's totally resistant and who thinks bad behavior is okay, and then they want to keep people down so their people can't flourish, you're doing a disservice to everybody else.
41:21
Now when I have to let somebody go that is the hardest thing.
41:24
I mean, it's the hardest thing because you're thinking about their livelihood, if they have kids, and all that.
41:29
But in my 40, I guess two years now of being a professional I have never fired anyone. They opt out.
41:38
They decide that they don't want to work in a certain place.
41:40
They decide that they don't want the culture.
41:43
And so we had some people who made a decision that they didn't want it.
41:46
And for the sake of everybody else there, you're talking about loving the people.
41:50
I have to ask myself, do I love them enough to put them out of their misery because they want to engage but they got to respond to this guy.
41:58
And so we had to let him go.
42:00
And so we had a few items like that, but for the most part we had people who wanted to come along.
42:06
They wanted to work in a whole different kind of environment and so that's what we're doing, so it's been good.
42:11
>> That's incredible and your ability to bring people along while also setting the vision really stands out.
42:18
You've had an incredible career, you've been able to drive impact in so many different roles.
42:23
What's one thing you really want to be remembered for?
42:27
>> I often tell my kids, if we go to a funeral or something, I tell them, I only want one thing written about me and said about me when I leave.
42:37
And I plan on being here until I'm 102.
42:39
>> [LAUGH] >> Because I said I got cancer at 51 so that was my midlife crisis.
42:44
So I plan on being here until 102.
42:46
But when I'm 102 and I'm laid out, I want them to write, she left it better than she found it.
42:52
That's all I want to do, is walk into a place and know that there are people who literally their lives have changed, that they are better because they met me.
43:04
That they are better because I did something in their life.
43:07
I actually got a letter from an employee at our American Airlines Center the other day.
43:13
And it actually caught me off guard.
43:14
I got this and I'm thinking, okay, I don't know if this is a complaint, I don't know what this is.
43:18
I'm actually walking through my house after our game went off television.
43:21
And I had to just stand there and catch myself for about ten minutes because this woman had read my book.
43:27
And she goes through a full page of all these horrible things, horrible things that had gone on in her life and how she had given up.
43:37
And then she said, I read your book.
43:40
And that day my life changed.
43:44
I'm going to live and then she starts describing all this great stuff that's happening.
43:48
And her had mindset changed.
43:50
She said, I want you to notice because I read your book.
43:54
You literally just saved my life.
43:56
I said, wow, I wrote the book to touch one person, that was the person.
44:01
And so that's all I want to do is just leave it better.
44:05
I don't care about being famous and all that I'm kind of famous now.
44:09
>> [LAUGH] >> But I don't really like care about all that.
44:13
Sally will tell you even when I get requests and it was said earlier, I could probably do this every day.
44:21
But I try to pick the things that truly would have impact.
44:24
That's why this invitation was so special to me.
44:26
I mean, to be able to come in to the Stanford Graduate School of Business where I actually when I was a recruiter at AT&T this was one of my schools. >> Okay.
44:34
>> It was my top school that I've come and recruited at.
44:36
And to be able to touch the lives of people who are already accomplished, but who are here so you can learn even more so you can make an even bigger difference in the world.
44:48
To be able to just say something whether it's the three L's or just something to help you on your journey, that's why I said yes to this.
44:56
That's all I want to do, is leave it better than I found it.
44:58
>> Well, we're delighted you accepted your leadership, authenticity, and just optimism really, really, really shines through for all of us. >> Thank you.
45:07
>> Should we take a few questions in the audience? >> I would love that.
45:10
Y'all got questions for me? I would love that.
45:12
>> Maybe we have one question over here.
45:22
>> Hi, and thank you for being here.
45:23
My name is Kareem, and I'm a second year MBA student. >> Awesome. >> Thanks.
45:27
>> [LAUGH] >> That's awesome.
45:29
You're about to get out of here? >> It gets better. I'm a huge Mavs fan. >> Go Mavs! >> Go Mavs.
45:36
>> [APPLAUSE] >> I played basketball professionally before business school, tried to develop a fadeaway shot like Dirk's, never really managed to do that. He's really good.
45:46
My question for you is also about people.
45:48
I truly admire what you did for the organization and hope that you can lead us to a championship soon.
45:54
I'm just very curious to hear about your approach to building consensus, especially when you work in a space where you have to deal with very special, unique, and strong personalities. >> I love that question. >> Thank you.
46:06
>> And thank you for your loyalty to the Mavs.
46:10
We're in Sacramento tonight and tomorrow night, so if you want to come you just let me know, I got connections. >> There you go. >> I got it like that.
46:17
>> [APPLAUSE] >> Yes, yes, yes.
46:22
The way I try to build consensus is to, first of all, you need true clarity around what is the problem?
46:31
What's the issue you're trying to solve?
46:32
So often the things are muddy.
46:36
And so you're talking about one thing, I'm talking about something else, you're talking about something else.
46:40
So I like to get my team in a room and say, okay, what is the issue?
46:45
Where are we trying to go?
46:46
What are we truly trying to solve?
46:48
And why are we trying to solve this? I'm a big why person.
46:51
I will ask why ten times.
46:53
Why are we trying to solve this?
46:54
Because sometimes you're addressing something that actually doesn't even matter.
46:58
And we don't have time for that, we have to set priorities.
47:00
We're not going to be fighting over something that doesn't even matter, something we should even be talking about.
47:04
So once we get through all that and realize it is important, and we have real clear direction of where we're trying to get to, then I get everybody's opinion.
47:13
And I'm not one of these people where I'm about just the group talk or the loudest voice.
47:18
My team will tell you, or Sally will tell you.
47:21
I go around the table because I noticed who's quiet.
47:24
And so I'll go around the table and say, okay, so let me hear from you. Let me hear from you. Let me hear from you.
47:30
And you say, Cynt, I don't really have an opinion, yes, you do.
47:32
>> [LAUGH] >> You work here, everybody has an opinion.
47:35
I don't want you to take it home.
47:36
I don't want you to give it to anybody else.
47:38
I need you to give it to us.
47:40
And so we'll go around and it's not even about process of elimination, is not about majority rules.
47:47
And then we bounce everything up.
47:49
We'll have some solutions, right?
47:51
And then we bounce them up against our values.
47:54
Every decision we make we bounce it up against crafts.
47:58
What does it mean from a character standpoint?
48:00
Does it respect the people involved?
48:02
Does it allow them to be themselves? Is it fair?
48:06
Like equality and equity, fairness is not sameness. Sameness is equality.
48:11
Fairness is about equity.
48:13
Are we meeting people where they are?
48:15
So we take them through that whole thing, Teamworks, we do all that, and then we make a decision.
48:20
What's best for the organization, not for any particular individual, what is best for the organization.
48:26
Sometimes I lose, I'll lose it or I will have an aha moment.
48:31
And when I have my aha moment I make sure my team members know that.
48:35
I say, okay, well, it sounds like Syd was wrong on that one.
48:38
And then I'll go to whoever kind of like put the issue out there that gave me the aha moment.
48:44
And I'll say thanks for sharing that because I didn't see it that way.
48:48
I mean, I really thought, whatever, whatever, whatever.
48:50
And then other people will start to do the same.
48:52
So then by everybody still talking about it because you have to even talk, you are taught not to talk past the sell.
48:59
When you're trying to build consensus sometimes you do need to keep talking because you need to get by.
49:05
People need to understand kind of how you got there.
49:09
And then I have a rule, especially in my leadership team, we all walk out, we walk out together.
49:14
You don't walk out and say, well, I still don't buy into your party's leadership team.
49:19
We talked it out and we think we made the best decision for the organization.
49:23
That's how we drive consensus.
49:24
A lot of why, and we test it against our values, and we talk about it even when we've decided to make sure we get ownership. Does that help?
49:32
>> Well, thank you for sharing your perspective with us today. >> Thank you.
49:35
>> It's been a true honor, Cynt Marshall.
49:37
>> Thank you very much for your time.
49:37
>> You're amazing, thank you, thank you. [MUSIC]