Lead Bigger: Anne Chow’s 7 C’s to Transform Your Team and Culture
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For today’s leaders and managers, the challenge isn't just about strategy or technology—it's about people. If you're committed to growing as a leader and building exceptional teams, look no further than the insights of Anne Chow, the transformative business leader and former CEO of AT&T Business.
Chow’s philosophy is a beacon for the modern workplace: leadership is a choice, and a human-centric approach is the ultimate key to sustainable success. She distills her decades of experience into foundational beliefs and a powerful framework—the 7 C's of Transformational Leadership—that every manager can apply today.
💡 Meet Anne Chow: A Life-Long Student of Leadership
Who is Anne Chow?
Anne Chow is a widely-recognized, pioneering business leader whose trailblazing corporate career spanned over three decades in the technology and business sectors. A lifelong learner, she culminated her corporate journey as the first woman of color CEO in AT&T’s over 140-year history, leading AT&T Business, a $35 billion global unit comprised of 35,000 people.
What Makes Her Amazing?
Chow's amazing legacy is rooted in her inclusive leadership and ability to drive success at the critical intersection of people, culture, and technology. She held 17 different roles during her time at AT&T, from a network engineer to CEO, giving her a uniquely broad and deep perspective on what makes large-scale organizations thrive. She successfully guided her massive team through unprecedented market upheaval, including the COVID-19 pandemic, all while prioritizing the human connection and fostering a culture of trust. She is an author, a board director for major companies like 3M, and a Senior Fellow/Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management—truly embodying the "lifelong student" ethos.
What Can We Learn from Her Today?
We learn that the most impactful leadership is courageous, authentic, and service-oriented. Chow's core lesson is that successful business is built on an unwavering focus on people. Her mantra, "Every business is a people business,"reminds us that strategy is executed by people, technology is developed and sold by people, and ultimately, people drive the business.
The Foundation: Chow’s Core Leadership Beliefs
Anne Chow’s leadership is built on three pillars that redefine how leaders should view their roles:
Every Business is a People Business (We are in business to serve others): Regardless of your industry, the long-term success of your organization ultimately hinges on your people and your customers. We are in business to serve others, and when you empower your people, they, in turn, drive performance.
Leadership is a Choice: A leader is not just a title on an organizational chart. It is an intentional choice made every day to step up, lead with integrity, and positively influence those around you.
Culture is Your Ultimate Competitive Advantage: For Chow, culture is the only sustainable competitive advantage. It's the engine that drives your business, operating at the powerful intersection of your People, Leadership, and Culture. A culture of trust and communication beats any strategy, every time.
The 7 C’s: Transformational Leadership in Action
To translate this foundational philosophy into tangible actions, Chow offers the 7 C's—essential competencies for any leader looking to build better, high-performing teams:
As leaders, this framework teaches us that our responsibility is to care for three main things:
The Work: Focusing on results, performance, and excellence.
The Workplace: Creating an environment of trust, safety, and inclusion.
The Workforce: Investing in the growth and well-being of the people who make it all happen.
Everything is based on people and performance.
3 Actionable Things You Can Do Today
Ready to start Leading Bigger? Here are three ways you can apply Anne Chow’s lessons in your leadership practice immediately:
Choose to Lead with Clarity and Empathy: Before your next meeting, intentionally define your desired outcome (Clarity) and commit to listening to one team member's perspective without interruption (Empathy). This small shift in Communication builds trust.
Model the Behavior for a Culture of Courage: Identify a recent decision or challenge where your team avoided a difficult conversation. As the leader, use a high-visibility opportunity to proactively share a professional challenge you recently faced, highlighting the Courage it took to navigate it. This models vulnerability and creates a safe space.
Audit Your 'Caring' for the Workforce: Pick one person on your team and dedicate five minutes to asking them about their professional development goals—outside of their immediate project work. This intentional focus on their growth reinforces the Caring and Character you have for their long-term journey.
What is the next choice you will make to become the leader your team deserves?
Chow’s amazing legacy is rooted in her inclusive leadership and ability to drive success at the critical intersection of people, culture, and technology. She held 17 different roles during her time at AT&T, from a network engineer to CEO. Crucially, her leadership helped steer the company through periods of explosive market growth, where the company saw massive gains, including adding more postpaid phone subscribers in 2021 than in the previous decade combined, proving that a human-centric approach is the engine for market-leading performance.
NUMBERS MAKE IT REAL -
Metric Number / Fact Contextual Impact
AT&T Annual Revenue (2010)~ $124.3 Billion
Represents the massive scale of the company mid-career.
AT&T Annual Revenue (2019) ~ $181.2 Billion
The near-peak annual revenue before the 2020 divestitures and pandemic hit, showing significant scale and growth over the decade leading up to her CEO role.
Subscriber Growth (2021) 3.2 Million postpaid phone net adds A key metric where the company added more subscribers in 2021 than in the previous decade combined, demonstrating explosive growth in their core mobile business after a strategic shift.
Fiber Customer Base Ended 2021 with 6 Million AT&T Fiber® customers
Shows the company's successful investment and growth in next-generation broadband infrastructure.
HBO/HBO Max Subscribers Added more U.S. subscribers in 2020 than in the previous 10 years combined
Highlights the rapid success of major new business ventures (like streaming) under her extended leadership period, driven by strategy and, critically, by the people executing that strategy.
******* Started working in 1990 - Appointed as CEO in September 2019 and served until 2022
Lead with Choice, Achieve Greatness
Anne Chow’s legacy confirms that the most sustainable competitive advantage isn't found in a spreadsheet—it’s found in the mirror. It starts with the choice you make every day to lead with Character, Caring, and Courage. By embracing her 7 C’s, you aren't just managing teams; you are investing in the human connection that fuels high performance and cultural excellence. Ready to make the choice to push for greatness in your own leadership journey?
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