Dear Embarq colleagues,
It is with very mixed emotions that I have decided to accept the position of Sprint Nextel CEO. This was a very difficult decision for me to make. Both situations are great opportunities.
Sprint and Embarq enjoy a special relationship. We were Sprint employees just last year. Sprint is our largest customer and our largest supplier. Many of you have Sprint shares you want to see go up. We have many friends there. We are doing very well now at Embarq, but I feel our friends at Sprint can use my help.
I look back on my two and a half years as your leader at Sprint LTD and at Embarq with more fondness than you can imagine. We have come a long way, baby! We have had great success and a lot of fun since launching our new company in May of 2006. Not only have we accomplished much financially as we have consistently exceeded our performance targets, our culture does not resemble that of LTD. We are now innovative, feisty, nimble, externally-focused an! d confi dent in our future. We’ve driven out bureaucracy, reduced the number of internal meetings and the size of the "decks," we wear jeans on Fridays and green is always in style, we know our "elevator speeches," we improve our communities, we care for the environment, our people come first, and we embrace the "non-negotiables."
Tom Gerke will be your new CEO. Tom is an outstanding leader. I have been impressed by his grasp of issues, his interpersonal skills, his ability to consistently produce great results, and his drive and initiative (he is the embodiment of the Nike motto “just do it!â€ÂÂ). But most of all, I have been impressed with his integrity.
With the support of a truly outstanding Embarq senior leadership team and board of directors, Tom will lead you very well. He is his own person, and Tom will put his stamp on this company. Tom and I will be great partners, important for both of our companies given the tremendous interdependencies between Embarq and Sprint.
I have made many life-long friends here. My memories of Embarq will always be very happy ones (given a wardrobe now dominated by green, it will be hard to forget you)! It has been an amazing, fulfilling two and a half years. They couldn’t have been better. But, Embarq is in great shape, with a clear strategy, and it will be in great hands. I feel called to help a new team achieve the happiness and the fulfillment our people enjoy at Embarq. These fine people are struggling, and I think I can help to make Sprint a great, iconic brand once again.
I have always been, and I remain, very optimistic about Embarq’s future. Please enjoy my best wishes during the holiday season.
Your friend and supporter always,
Dan Hesse