Dan Hesse was CEO of a company he liked -- Embarq -- working with a strong team he enjoyed, and he had the support of his board, not something every CEO can say even in the best of times. His life was, as he says, was "hitting on all cylinders."
But despite the fact that he was even getting more time to be with his kids, he left Embarq for Sprint, an iconic company that was struggling. Why?
"It was that opportunity to make a difference in the lives of a lot of people and I knew a lot of people at Sprint. I knew they were in pain. I knew the customers were in pain and so it was an opportunity to make a difference and that's fundamentally why I took it," says Hesse.
For more:
- See this Q&A [1] at Conde Nast's Portfolio.com
Related articles:
Embarq loses Hesse to Sprint. Embarq report [2]
Hesse tops CEO pay heap. Hesse report [3]
Links:
[1] http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/the-tech-observer/2008/08/14/hesse-sprint-and-the-anatomy-of-taking-a-ceo-job?addComment=true
[2] http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/embarq-loses-hesse-sprint-top-job/2007-12-18
[3] http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/spotlight-hesse-tops-ceo-pay-heap/2008-06-30