John Donovan, AT&T Communications CEO

John Donovan (0:00)

So the analogy between sports, where you do so much work and business, they're identical because it's still about relationships and performance and everybody being their best self.

So if you're your best self, then you can help others be their best self, and then all of a sudden you get around an organization who are operating as their best selves, then there's the magic. It's, I'm happy, I love it here, and we're winning. We're doing extraordinary things. That's the goal, whether you're going to work this morning or whether you're going over to the field, it's the same thing.

Michael Gervais (0:46)

Welcome back or welcome to the Finding Mastery podcast. I'm Michael Gervais, and by trade and training, a sport and performance psychologist, as well as the co-founder of Compete to Create, I'm Michael Gervais.

My partner in that venture is head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, Pete Carroll. The whole idea behind this podcast is to learn from people who are on the path of mastery. That's it. It's like we want to find people who understand the nuances of their craft. What we're working to do is better understand what they're searching for, their psychological framework and how they see the world and themselves in it. We want to understand the mental skills that they use to build and refine their craft.

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Now this week's conversation is with John Donovan, CEO of AT&T Communications.

John's responsible for the bulk of AT&T's global telecommunications and video services business, including AT&T's business entertainment and technology and operations groups. He's got a massive workforce that he is serving in his words. And as you know, AT&T is a global leader in telecommunications with over 100 million US customer connections and millions, I mean, millions of businesses from the smallest companies to nearly all of the Fortune 1000 companies. We're on the sidelines for the Seattle Seahawks game and the Stadium, CenturyLink Stadium, holds about 68,000 people. And so we looked up and I said, how many stadiums like this do you fill for your workforce? And he did the math and he said, yeah, yeah, it's somewhere around four. And it's just next time you're at a NFL stadium or you're at a large stadium where there's like 60, 70, 80,000 people, just imagine what it's like to manage all of them, let alone four times that it's an outrageous idea. And what's the key to running an organization this large? And for John, it starts with knowing his values and knowing what he stands for. And that just jumps out of this conversation.

And it creates a certain space that allows him to be grounded and humble and more present more often. And in this conversation, John shares how he got just really clear on who he is. And there is no hesitation, there is no half-stepping, there is just clarity, deep clarity on who he is and what he's striving and working toward. Now, this doesn't just happen by chance. And it took time for him, difficult, lonely work to sort it out. And I hope that you're currently embracing that same process. And so with that, let's jump right into this conversation with John.

John, how are you?

John Donovan (5:03)

I'm doing great. Thanks, Michael.

Michael Gervais (5:05)

I got to just say that I've appreciated not only the conversations and the time we spent, but the way that you work.