Verizon Untethered, Ivan Seidenberg
Verizon Untethered, Ivan Seidenberg
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Verizon Untethered
An Insider’s Story of Innovation and Disruption

Author: Ivan Seidenberg, others, Scott McMurray, Ram Charan

Narrator: Traber Burns

Unabridged: 10 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/01/2018


Synopsis

A history of the transformation of Verizon and the telecommunications industry told through the eyes of founding CEO Ivan Seidenberg and his leadership team, with highlights and commentary from bestselling global leadership guru Ram Charan The Verizon leadership team stands apart from most leadership teams today in their willingness repeatedly to put the enterprise before the individual. At first blush, this might look like a hopelessly old-fashioned notion in the age of the selfie. Yet I would argue this is a trait that future leaders and boards of directors across industries would do well to understand and embrace. Seidenberg not once but twice in the service of company shareholders and employees subordinated himself and put off taking sole leadership of the company to advance the enterprise's odds of success. And many others in this story exhibited the same trait to help build this industry-leading enterprise. They understood that the risk of not acting and thereby destroying value during a period of accelerating technological change and industry consolidation—a situation faced by leadership teams around the world today—was much greater than the risk of stepping in as number two or co-CEO. In my fifty years of experience, it is a rare leadership team that will subordinate itself for the benefit of the industry, customers, and the company. That principle—that the company comes first, the individual second—is what will define successful leadership teams of the future. Multiple leadership principles—some new, some timeless—emerge from this narrative and will be of great use to the next generation of leaders across industries and around the world. By taking a look at a company that successfully executed exponential transformation, we can take the strategies of Verizon leaders and apply them to our own experiences. —Ram Charan

About Ivan Seidenberg

Ivan Seidenberg is the former chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications. He was a key part of the leadership team that transformed Verizon into a premier global network. Seidenberg currently serves as a director for a number of organizations, including BlackRock and New York–Presbyterian Hospital. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the City University of New York’s Lehman College and a master’s from Pace University.

About Scott McMurray

Scott McMurray is vice president-editorial at the History Factory. He has conducted hundreds of oral histories with CEOs and other corporate, nonprofit, and government leaders and is an award-winning author of corporate history publications. McMurray has written for the Wall Street Journal, US News & World Report, and Institutional Investor.

About Ram Charan

Ram Charan is a distinguished business advisor, business strategy expert, and speaker. For over thirty-five years, he has worked with top executives at some of the world’s most successful companies, including GE, Verizon, Dupont, and Bank of America. He is the coauthor of What the CEO Wants You to Know and Confronting Reality, among others. His articles have appeared in publications such as Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, Director’s Monthly, and Strategy and Business. Charan has served on the Blue Ribbon Commission and was elected a distinguished fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources. Currently on the board of Austin Industries and Tyco Electronics, he resides in Dallas, Texas.

About Traber Burns

Traber Burns worked for thirty-five years in regional theater, including the New York, Oregon, and Alabama Shakespeare festivals. He also spent five years in Los Angeles appearing in many television productions and commercials, including Lost, Close to Home, Without a Trace, Boston Legal, Grey’s Anatomy, Cold Case, Gilmore Girls, and others.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bob on April 15, 2018

What did it take to get the U.S. stock market up and running just days after the 9/11 attacks? What was Steve Jobs like as a business partner? How does a company close a $130 billion transaction, or choose a new CEO, or disrupt a successful business to stay successful? “Verizon Untethered” provides a......more

Goodreads review by Alan on November 08, 2020

Having read this immediately following Matthew Stewart's The Management Myth, I was on the lookout for the many telltale signs of Bad Business Books. This didn't disappoint. Aphorisms, management advice from gurus, and common sense told with hushed reverence. There are some mildly interesting snippe......more

Goodreads review by Molly on February 12, 2019

I purchased this as a family member was part of the Verizon leadership team before retirement and is pictured in the book and mentioned in the acknowledgements. That being said, I enjoyed reading about the history of Verizon, how it has evolved with opportunities and technology and the vision of its......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on February 11, 2022

It started slow for me but then I really got in to it. If you're in the telecom world it's worth the read.......more

Goodreads review by Josephine on August 31, 2019

Very insightful and interesting to understand Verizon‘s path and important role in the history of telecommunication!......more