Six Essential Leadership Lessons for Women in Telecom from the Woman who Runs WOW!

Discover Teresa Elder’s secrets for success as a female telecom leader.

Teresa Elder leads WOW! as CEO with more than 20 years of experience in telecom. But this article isn’t about touting Teresa’s impressive résumé—it’s about her and the leadership lessons that brought her where she is today.

Lesson #1: Find a mentor, be a mentor

Teresa knows that nobody is self-made—we all stand on the shoulders of others. She credits her entry into business to one of her college professors. Initially interested in sociology, Teresa ultimately switched majors. This professor explained that business could be the faster, more scalable route to making the positive impact on society she envisioned. Over the course of her career, she’s been fortunate to have many mentors and has made a point to seek out feedback—whether it’s hard and blunt or nice and easy—and to listen to it and learn from it. She also gives regular feedback to those on her team and those that she mentors. Sometimes the right feedback at the right time can make a difference in someone’s career.

As Teresa grew into a leader, she’s made it a point to mentor others, especially women. She says, “I feel a big responsibility to mentor other women and pave a path for them, especially if they didn’t have the support I did.” She extends that mentorship into advocacy for women and people of color in the boardroom and the C-suite. “There are plenty of qualified candidates; we just need to recommend them and make sure they are considered for key roles.?We make sure our high-potential leaders have exposure to senior executives and the board so that decision-makers know them when opportunities arise versus meeting them for the first time when a position becomes available.”

Lesson #2: Strong ties bind

For a few years, Teresa stepped away from being a corporate leader to focus on her son’s health and raising funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which ultimately helped develop the life-changing treatment for her son’s condition. Even when she wasn’t part of the industry, she kept in touch with her colleagues through genuine, personal relationships. She also kept up on cutting-edge business topics through her board work with the Stanford Graduate School of Business and other boards. She also stayed up to date on industry news and developments. She kept thinking about ways she could solve challenges of companies and customers. Keeping her fingers on the pulse and her social connections going enabled her to come back when she was ready. “I’ve been really lucky,” she says, reflecting on the many women who must often take a backward step in their careers when they re-enter the workforce.

Lesson #3: Determine your own criteria for success

Teresa defines success today much differently than she did at the start of her career. In the beginning, learning new things and striving for the next milestone drove her. Today, she looks for opportunities that present a challenge, that offer her the chance to make a unique impact and that are fun. She now considers who she’ll be working with as much as she considers the kind of work she’ll do.

Lesson #4: Give people the why along with the what

To truly transform a company, Teresa says you need to give your people the why in addition to the what. “The key is trying to make sure you bring the whole organization with you,” she says. Clearly and properly communicate to the point it may feel like you are overcommunicating. Give that additional context. Continue to loop back. “When you give the context for what’s happening then people can put it in perspective,” Teresa says. She also recommends that people follow the advice given to her by a mentor when they are presenting to senior executives: “Be bright, be brief and be gone.”?

Lesson #5: Get a little messy

Volunteer to work on areas that are important to the business. Teresa did just that when she worked in tech right out of college. She started out designing a computer system and quickly discovered that how people adapt to change is as important as the systems they use. She relished the messiness of the dramatic changes in our industry. She aims to discover those hot-topic issues and find solutions that make a real difference. She has seen the evolution of broadband and mobile impact our industry and society throughout her 25+ years in the industry. Getting into the thick of things is also why she loves data and the process of letting the data speak. All who work with her also know that one of her favorite phrases and philosophies is Glennon Doyle’s quote, “We can do hard things.” This helps rally everyone to take on the most important, most challenging issues.

Lesson #6: Don’t try to do everything at once

One of Teresa’s mentors told her, “We can do it all, just maybe not all at once.” It’s a lesson she first learned at her first job bussing tables at a restaurant. She learned how to prioritize, to work as part of a team and to rebound. She took these lessons with her through her corporate career and as she raised a family. This pragmatic approach has helped her balance responsibilities and keep things in perspective so she could focus on what matters when it matters most.

More Work to Do

Women continue to make strides in telecom leadership but there’s still work to be done. At WOW!, we’re committed to doing our part to bolster the next generation of women leaders at both the executive and board levels in telecom. We’re working to close the gender pay gap and support a hybrid, in-person/remote work-life balance that can benefit working mothers. We ask you, on International Women’s Day and every day, will you join us in supporting working women?