What CEOs And Presidential Candidates Can Learn From Ancient Greek Philosophers | Forbes

Dan was interviewed for The Books That Changed My Life: Reflections by 100 Authors, Actors, Musicians and Other Remarkable People in April 2016. In the excerpt that follows, Robert Reiss of The CEO Show and Forbes learns more about Dan's selection as the most influential book on the subject of business leadership.

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Robert Reiss: Dan, I know you’re a student of business leadership. What book have you found the most influential on the subject of business leadership?

Dan Hesse: Interesting you should ask. I was recently interviewed for The Books That Changed My Life: Reflections by 100 Authors, Actors, Musicians and Other Remarkable People. I didn’t choose a book about business or a business leader (I noticed that Tommy Hilfiger chose Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson), but chose the first book I can remember reading which shaped my views on leadership, The Republic, by Plato, which I read as a college undergraduate.

Plato’s observations were impactful in many ways. The Republic is largely Plato’s account of discussions between Socrates and other learned Greeks. Up to this point in my life, my rationale to be good or kind were based on our family’s religious beliefs, a means to an end (going to Heaven vs. Hell).

The men who Socrates was talking to also viewed being just or good as a means to an end, arguing that the only reason just people act so is out of fear of being caught or punished, that they would be better off materially if they could be unjust and get away with it. Or, people act justly because of the benefits to honor or reputation.

Socrates uses logic (the famous “Socratic Method”) to explain why justice, and the search for truth and “the Good” are worthwhile for their own sake, not for gains on earth or in an afterlife. He explains how only the just person can be truly happy.

...Click for full interview.

Quality Shifts From Measurement To Driver Of Innovation, Say Top CEOs | Forbes

Forbes spoke with three leading business leaders, including Dan Hesse about success and how they view quality. Published June 2016. 

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Reiss: What is a key to your organization’s success?

Dan Hesse: There are two big levers that can lead to success. When I came to Sprint, the company was struggling primarily because service quality had deteriorated, so customers were leaving. Service quality and customer satisfaction go hand-in-hand. We pulled two major levers to turn things around, compensation and agenda. First we linked everyone’s pay to the number of customer calls to care; second, customer service was the first thing on the agenda of every senior team meeting. We were able to reduce our annual care expenditure by 55%, saving over $2 billion in cost per year, while Sprint went from last place in The American Customer Satisfaction Index to first place in our industry, and Sprint was the most improved U.S. company across all 43 industries they study.

...Click for full article.

What CEOs Can Learn From The Royals | Forbes

Dan spoke with Robert Reiss of The CEO Show and Forbes on the keys to the Royal's success in the 2015. The elements of leadership ultimately guided the club to the World Series championship. Published November 2015. 

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Most Mets fans, and America as a whole, were initially stunned as the Royals displayed unprecedented grit, focus and character – exemplified by becoming the first world series team ever to actually come back to win three of the games when behind after the 8th inning. What I discovered about this remarkable Royals team is that everything was actually part of a 10-year plan to transform the sport – built on the concept of a new baseball post steroid model.

Robert Reiss: The Royals had something very special going on. What makes this Royals team unique?

Dan Hesse: The Royals, the ones you see and the ones you don’t see, are a true team in every sense of the word. It’s said there’s no “I” in team. This team is a special combination on the field, where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. To compare the Royals with other businesses, I think of owner David Glass as the non-executive Chair, GM Dayton Moore as the CEO, Manager Ned Yost as the COO, the players as the front-line employees, and the rest of the Royals organization as the behind-the-scenes staff support.

The off-the-field support and culture played as important a role as the talent on the field. What struck me was the way that seemingly, in every interview, the players began by talking about the team’s leadership — Dayton Moore, David Glass and Ned Yost, then mentioned their teammates.

The respect the players have for the leadership, the front office and the coaching staff is palpable. When the leadership is asked about the team’s success, they talk about the players, then about others throughout the organization. Humility pervades. Every element of the organization had a contributing role in the collective success of the Royals, and perhaps uniquely, every part of the organization appreciated and valued the contributions that those in different roles played in the team’s success.

...Click for full interview.

Is a Digitally Connected World a Better Place? | Vital Speeches

Dan comments on the the plusses and minuses of a digitally connected world in this address, originally appearing in Vital Speeches. Published June 2015.

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We are living at a time when technology is changing the world at a pace never before experienced in human history. Of all technological advances, in my view, the one that is changing the life we share on this planet the most, whether one lives in a G8 country or in the developing world, is the mobile Internet.

These dramatic changes bring with them many plusses, but also some negatives and risks. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s quote, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed
ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function” is perhaps a good theme for this talk.

I’m not claiming to have a first rate mind, but I have learned a bit about telecommunications during a 37-year career in the industry. Will Rogers said it well, “Everybody is ignorant, only
in different subjects,” and perhaps this could apply here as this is one of the few subjects I don’t feel ignorant about.

....Click for full article.

'The Mobile Internet Changes Everything' | Forbes

In this excerpt, Dan talks to the Robert Reiss of The CEO Show and Forbes about the ubiquitous impact of the mobile internet. Published July 2015.  

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Robert Reiss: How important is understanding the evolving internet to CEO’s and their boards?

Dan Hesse: Mobile communications is arguably the most important technological development in the history of the planet.  Cell phone users grew from zero to six billion in 25 years, the most rapidly-adopted technology ever.  But the emerging “internet of things,” where wireless chips will be put into almost every object produced — vehicles, home appliances, clothing, health monitors, wearables and even into the human body, may be even more transformative.  Cisco estimates 50 billion such connected devices will be in use by 2020.

The ubiquitous internet (sometimes referred to as the wireless or the mobile internet) changes everything!  This mobile, always-on internet is transforming economies, education, language, health care, music, safety, privacy and the quality of life for the elderly and those with disabilities. CEOs and boards should understand these implications on the marketplace in which their companies operate.  Imagine a world where a company, its products and its customers are connected 24/7.  The customer relationship, the value proposition and the business model of every company and industry will likely be transformed.  The winners and losers will likely be determined by who innovates most effectively to address this always-connected world.

...Click to read full article.

Best Turnaround CEOs of All Time - Dan Hesse | Fierce Wireless

The following excerpt was included in a review of "turnaround CEOs". Dan Hesse was listed alongside Steve Jobs. Published October 2011. 

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Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) CEO Dan Hesse arrived at the company in late 2007 as it was in freefall, reeling from the tenure of Gary Forsee. One of the first and most prescient things Hesse did was simplify Sprint's rate plans by offering the company's "Simply Everything" plan in early 2008. Since then, simplicity has become one of the key brand values and identifiers for Sprint, which right now stands alone as the only Tier 1 wireless carrier still offering unlimited smartphone data plans to new customers.

Turning the company around proved extremely difficult, and Sprint lost 5.1 million subscribers in 2008, as wireless revenue fell by $3.1 billion, or 32 percent, as compared to 2007. Still, the company was making improvements, most notably in customer service, which had been one of Sprint's key weak points under Forsee.

In early 2009 Sprint's Boost Mobile brand shook up the industry and sparked a price war with its $50 monthly unlimited plan on Sprint's iDEN network. After acquiring Virgin Mobile USA in late 2009, the company re-tooled its prepaid offerings and launched a multi-brand strategy in May 2010 aimed at segmenting the market. Hesse effectively doubled-down (or quadrupled, if you want to think of it that way) on prepaid with the re-launch of Virgin Mobile as well as the launch of Assurance Wireless for low-income customers and Common Cents Mobile pay-per-minute brands. Prepaid remains one of Sprint's strongest growth engines. Sprint also launched its attractive "Any Mobile, Anytime" service, offering unlimited calling to any mobile number, regardless of carrier.

Slowly but surely, Sprint's subscriber losses began to slow down, starting in the fourth quarter of 2009 and continuing in first quarter of 2010. By the second quarter, Sprint had returned to positive subscriber growth for the first time in three years, largely on the strength of its prepaid offerings, though postpaid subscriber losses were decreasing. Sprint added the most net wireless subscribers in a quarter since 2006 in the third quarter of 2010, but still lost postpaid customers. The turnaround continued in the fourth quarter and Sprint added 1.1 million total net subscribers, including net postpaid additions of 58,000 subscribers--the carrier's first net postpaid additions since the second quarter of 2007. 

Around this time Sprint selected Alcatel-Lucent (NASDAQ:ALU), Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and Samsung for its network modernization project, called Network Vision, the latest evolution of Sprint's network (the company inked a $5 billion deal with  Ericsson in 2009 to outsource the management of its network). Network Vision is centered around multi-mode base stations that Sprint will use to deploy multiple radio technologies, and the plan will allow Sprint to shut down the iDEN network starting in 2013.

In 2011, continued postpaid subscriber losses have leavened overall subscriber gains, but Hesse's biggest coup was finally getting Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone for the Now Network. The company's Network Vision plans, which will allow Sprint to deploy LTE by mid-2012, and move away from 4G dependence on WiMAX provider Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR), still need to be ironed out.

...Click for the full recap.

Corporate Social Responsibility Difference Maker of the Year Awarded by Urban League of KC | KCTV5

Article recapping the Corporate Social Social Responsibility Difference Maker of the Year Award appearrf on KCTV5.com. Published December 2011.

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The Urban League of Kansas City honored KCTV's news director, an H&R Block founder and Sprint's chief executive officer Thursday with the organization's highest honor.

Under Hesse's leadership, Sprint employees work tirelessly to give to the community and promote green efforts.

Hesse said he and other Sprint executives take seriously their role as community leaders.

...Click for full article.

A CEO Worth Emulating

This article, reviewing Dan Hesse's corporate leadership, originally appeared on Talent Zoo's Digital Pivot blog. Published January 2013. 

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As someone who grew up watching a parent run a business, I’ve always paid attention to CEOs who rise to the forefront of media attention. Many of them, like the revolving door of those unfortunate souls in charge of RIM, incur nothing but a growing disappointment in heads of major corporations and a concern for the future of our country.

However, Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint, long ago earned a place in my heart. Although Sprint may not be the chief carrier in the nation, his manner of running a business is an inspiration to any current or aspiring entrepreneurs.

While other major cell-phone carriers remain faceless corporations, whose customers continually have nothing but ill to speak of them, Sprint has featured Dan Hesse in its commercials for years, a move that gives consumers a name and a face to associate with their cellular provider. This decision alone stands head and shoulders above the choices of other major carriers, who hide in the shadow of their brand and never emerge to address or appreciate their customer base.

Hesse has even, at times, invited customers with complaints about their cellular service to email him directly. Prior to that, when it became apparent that Sprint customers were increasingly dissatisfied, Hesse took steps to ensure that Sprint rose from having one of the worst customer service departments in America with whom to deal to having the absolute best.

Coming from a very technology-proficient family, and being a person who can occasionally be hard on mobile devices, I have personally been a thorn in Sprint’s customer service department at times, but have always had my issues resolved quickly and in the best way possible for all parties. If more CEOs truly took the time to listen, sincerely, to customer complaints, it would surely do wonders for the economy.

...Click for full article. 

The Business Impact Of An Outside-In Perspective At Sprint | Forrester

This article, chronicling Dan's customer service efforts at Sprint originally appeared on the blog of Forrester magazine. Published May 2012. 

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Sometimes a CEO takes the reins at a company that’s in such great shape, I can’t help thinking, “Wow, it must be great to be that guy!”

And then there’s Dan Hesse, CEO at Sprint. Given the shape that Sprint was in when he got the top job in 2008, I was thinking more along the lines of, “Wow, he must be working off a karmic burden!” That’s because back then, the company had the lowest customer satisfaction ratings of any of the major wireless carriers. As a result, it was bleeding cash from high customer care costs and lost subscribers.

Faced with this mess, Dan decided to focus on systematically improving the quality of Sprint’s customer experience as a way of improving Sprint’s bottom line. We were so impressed by his efforts that we included a case study about Dan in Chapter 2 of our upcoming book, Outside In: The Power Of Putting Customers At The Center Of Your Business.

The book won’t be out until August 28th, but you don’t have to wait until then to get a sense of how effective Dan’s efforts have been. That’s because on May 15th, Hesse gave an address at Sprint’s shareholder meeting, and he had this news:

• Sprint now has the highest overall customer satisfaction rating among all major US wireless carriers. Yeah, that’s right — it went from distant last to first, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

• As a result of eliminating the customer experience problems that fueled ridiculous amounts of contact center traffic, Sprint took its customer care costs down from $3.7 billion per year in 2008 to $2 billion per year today. That’s a savings of $1.7 billion per year from improving customer experience.

• Improved customer experience paid off in terms of customer acquisition and retention as well as cost savings: Sprint has now had six consecutive quarters of adding 1 million net new subscribers per quarter.

...Click for full article.

IBM, HP, Sprint retain top spots in Newsweek Green Rankings | GreenBiz.com

This article documenting the eco-friendly efforts of Sprint eco-friendly efforts of Sprint under Dan Hesse's leadership originally appeared in GreenBiz.com. Published October 2012.

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In the race to become the world’s greenest company, Team Finance and Team Technology have taken the lead.

So say the results of Newsweek’s fourth-annual Green Rankings released this morning, which ranked IBM as the top environmental performer out of the 500 largest publicly traded U.S. companies for the second year in a row, and fourth-best company globally.

Hewlett-Packard and Sprint Nextel maintained their #2 and #3 rankings, respectively, as compared to the 2011 results.

...Click for full article.