Posts Tagged ‘Colleen Abdoulah’

Our View on “The Deal”

In: Voices of WOW!

By: Cathy Kuo on Jan 28, 2011 at 1:00 am

If you follow news of the media and telecommunications industries, you know that the FCC and Department of Justice recently approved the merger of Comcast and NBCU. This deal marries together the nation’s largest cable provider and one of the major broadcasters. During this past year, several hearings were held by Congress as they sought to understand the potential impacts of the proposed merger upon consumers and competition. WOW! CEO, Colleen Abdoulah, testified before Congress representing the interests of smaller cable operators throughout the country. The Q&A below gives you some of her perspective on the process and why it was important to advocate on behalf of WOW!’s customers and employees.

Q: You spent a lot of time in D.C. in 2010, advocating that the Comcast-NBCU deal needed to have conditions attached to its approval. What kind of conditions were you looking for and were you successful?

I testified in Washington three times before Congress, once before the FCC at a field hearing in Chicago, and attended numerous meetings on the Hill in DC and at the FCC for one reason – fairness.  I knew that the Comcast-NBCU merger could create many harms and possibly hurt our company’s competitiveness, and that’s why I testified to ask the FCC and Washington to ensure that our company could continue to compete effectively in our markets.  I didn’t ask for special treatment, but just limited conditions that would prevent Comcast-NBCU from taking anti-competitive action against us.  Working with our Washington trade association, the American Cable Association (ACA), we sought conditions that would strengthen our company’s ability in the arbitration process to hold Comcast-NBCU accountable for its actions and that would help to keep programming prices down for regional sports, retransmission consent and national cable programming.  And after 13 months of effort, the FCC provided conditions that we believe will do just that.

Q: Were there any significant conditions we wanted but were unable to get?

There were many things that we and the ACA would have liked to obtain, but in reviewing a merger like Comcast-NBCU, the FCC does a very thorough job of ensuring that conditions address only those harms that specifically are caused by the merger.  No broad conditions were implemented that address industry-wide problems dealing with programming or retransmission consent.  For the most part, however, the FCC provided conditions that were on target with the merger-specific harms we and the ACA proved.  The FCC extended relief for the first time to cover national cable programming, as well as improved arbitration relief for regional sports and retransmission consent matters.  The FCC also increased the size limit for the definition of a smaller cable operator that fully covers WOW! and gives us access to special FCC relief if and when we have a irreconcilable issue.

Q: How will this merger impact WOW!? Will Comcast put WOW! out of business?

We are not at risk of Comcast putting WOW! out of business because of this merger. Yes, it gives them unprecedented size and market power for sure. But we will continue to apply our own, clear and focused strategies, conducting business as we have prior to the merger. Comcast has always invested in the future and now their resources to innovate just expanded. This is something we have always faced being the smaller operator. Yet with the resources we have and the consumer focus we are grounded in, WOW! has smart innovative ideas and plans for the near and long term that will allow us to continue to be competitive. Therefore, the direct and immediate impact this merger has will be fairly transparent until we have to negotiate for services they own/control. Then we shall see if they choose to negotiate in good faith or if we will need to resort to the improved arbitration relief granted.

Q: Now that you have a view of the inside, what do you think about our system of government? Was there anything that really took you by surprise?

Our system has a lot of flaws and can be horribly frustrating and discouraging to navigate through. That said, it is democracy at its best. We do have a voice. We have freedom of speech. We can work hard to try and make things better if we don’t like what we see and experience and that in itself is a gift. Our elected officials can get isolated from the ‘real world’ and it is important that constituents take an active role in their local, state and national issues. The politicians listen to their constituents because they want to be re-elected, in most cases. The surprises – well, it is the power of money and big industry. I always knew that money mattered and corporations have a huge impact on Washington. I guess I just didn’t realize how much. Along with money though a common denominator still exists which allows for small guys like us and the ACA to have a voice: relationships. After all, Washington is made up of people. People who know one another, respect and trust each other and build bonds with one another. The ACA and the agencies that support the ACA have built great relationships on the Hill and have earned the trust and respect of many influential people. It reinforces that money isn’t everything. Relationships and working with integrity matter as well. So I was pleasantly surprised that by being willing to testify and invest in the time to meet with various stakeholders, we were able to further develop relationships and in the end, be heard and taken seriously.

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Communication, Camaradarie and Celebration

In: Culture

By: Sherry Zachary on Sep 14, 2010 at 10:40 am

I just came from an All-Employee Meeting, or AEM as we sometimes call them.  This is something WOW! locations do at least twice a year.  At an AEM, we review our current company strategies and our progress against them from both performance and financial perspectives.  Usually it takes place offsite, around a meal (breakfast) and it involves major maneuvering of work quota and route planning for our technicians.  At this meeting we introduce any new or changing strategies and sometimes, like today, we have the opportunity to talk about new technology.  Our CEO, Colleen Abdoulah usually wraps up the meeting (yes, in all six locations!) with a personal message.  But FIRST, before we do any of that, we recognize and appreciate top performers and significant employee accomplishments.

Why does this kick off the meeting?  Because employees at WOW! are so passionate about our business, so accountable for their role in it, and so dedicated to servanthood, the managers who design these meetings feel compelled to start out by recognizing the front line employees who make us successful. 

Today, while our 300 employees arrived, assembled and ate breakfast before the meeting started, we ran a loop of selected WOW! Moments with pictures of the employees who created them.  Year-to-date, this region’s employees have generated 2,780 customer compliments!  When the formal meeting started, we applauded 88 employees who received perfect attendance bonuses (that’s 43% of the total eligible); we cheered for 31 STAR Performance technicians, we whooped it up for a dozen sales reps (almost 25% of the team) who have exceeded quota every month this year, and we clapped for the 11 employees who topped the region in Just Ask Service Protection Sales – over 400 transactions just from this group!   Last but not least, we honored the 19 employees who were promoted so far, in 2010.

Only then did we go through performance numbers and progress this year, and at the half way point, we played a quick table game – designed to emphasize the power of teamwork.  There was lots of chatter and camradarie as the game progressed because there were prizes for the top 3 performing tables.  The second half of the meeting was dedicated to future strategies and a new technology that will set us apart from our competition, followed by the personal message from our CEO.  And guess what?  After Colleen delivered the ‘meat’ of her message, she ended by…  appreciating and recognizing all the front line employees who literally drive our success.

Hmmm.  I think there might be a message in there somewhere.

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A Word from Our CEO

In: Culture

By: Sherry Zachary on Aug 31, 2010 at 8:00 am

This week, WOW!’s CEO Colleen Abdoulah posted an article on our employee blog.  It tells the story of what makes WOW! unique and I thought I would share pieces of it with our community visitors.  As a Company, we speak about our core values – Respect, Integrity, Accountability and Servanthood.  We talk about Leading with Courage, Serving with Heart and Celebrating with Grace.  We try to influence, but really have no control the attitudes or the ‘mindset’ of an employee. 

Colleen starts her article this way:   “As you know, mindset simply refers to a person’s outlook – their attitude, approach, or way of thinking. During these times, we know there are many people and companies of all sizes who are struggling. This past quarter, another 500,000 people became unemployed. It is no wonder we may experience people whose mindset is negative, defeated, desperate, anxious and maybe even bitter.”

The year 2009 was a tough one, but WOW! managed to meet its budget plan and financial commitments.  The first half of 2010 so far not much easier, but our performance is still meeting expectations and our owners and investors have not lost confidence in us.  Why is this?  How is it possible?

Says Colleen, “It is not because we are the low price provider. It is not because our cost structure is less than our competitors. It is not because we have an easy budget and low expectations from our owners and lenders. It is not because we have technology and products that no one else has. So why and how do we continue to create value, sustain our market position, provide growth opportunities that allow us to build new plant – all during times that are tight and difficult for so many? Is it because we have it easy with all the resources in the world to just coast along on our past successes?  Of course not.  For me, how and why we are able to achieve these things is anchored in our MINDSET.”

“Yes, technology matters. Systems integration is critical. Processes and procedures that help us learn and do things faster and better are essential. Our products and services need to keep pace with ever-changing consumer expectations.  But choosing to serve one another instead of competing or blaming opens the way for ideation and innovation.  And at the foundation of it all is each and every team member’s chosen outlook – how we choose to approach our day and the obstacles and opportunities that are presented. The attitude we each project to one another and our customers is unique. With all the uncertainty in life, each of us has control over how we choose to respond. And what a mindset we have at WOW!.”  It is not our products and services that are differentiators – it is each of US that makes WOW! unique.

At the end of her article, Colleen invited comments from employees, asking what and who had influence over their mindsets every day.  I wish the community readers could see employee responses – tThey are numerous, genuine and inspirational.  What I’ve learned over nine years with WOW! is that this positive mindset, this can-do attitude, this ‘how can I help approach’ is a self-fulfilling prophecy.   As Colleen says, a strong business plan and sound technology are critical to our business, but it is our spirit and our attitudes that set us apart from our competitors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Humble, Happy, Hugged at WOW!

In: Culture

By: Sherry Zachary on Jun 01, 2010 at 8:00 am

‘The Three Hs.’  Never heard of ‘em?  Oh, come on now.  Humble, Happy, Hugged?   Ok, I confess I made it up.  When I sat down today to write another article for the Culture space on the WOW! Buzz, I was stumped for a few minutes.  I’ve been away from work for five days now and therefore not in a WOW! environment to be unexpectedly inspired.  “What will I write about?” I wondered.

(The Hug)   I spent a few minutes thinking about all the many things that make WOW! such a unique place to work.  For some reason the picture that kept popping up in my mind’s eye was one of our CEO Colleen Abdoulah giving a hug to a brand new employee.   I thought about how many times I’ve mentioned this to new hires before they meet her for the first time.  It’s truly something you don’t expect in a work environment.  But it isn’t suggestive, it isn’t invasive, and it isn’t forward.  It is simply this:  ‘I’m really glad you’ve joined our company.  If you’re here, you must be someone special.  Since you are someone special, I look forward to working with you and I’m really happy to welcome you to our team!’  

(The Humble)  Another thing I thought about is how being humble is such a prevalent personality characteristic at WOW!.  I guess it’s natural because it goes along with one of our core values, Servanthood:  ‘Embrace the attitude and honor of serving others rather than being served.’  Everyone at WOW! understands what it means to serve others and everyone knows we are one big team.   There are countless examples of this over the years at WOW!   With every little success and every big success there are always fingers pointing in other directions – pointing at all the other people at WOW! who helped to make it possible.

(The Happy)  Finally I thought about how happy I am to be part of this company.  This is not an original thought – I’ve probably had this thought 1,347, 983 times over the 8+ years I’ve worked at WOW!.   And guess what?  It’s not just me.  More than once I’ve had an employee tell me that this is the first job they’ve had where they are happy to come to work every day.  (A couple of times it was the employee’s spouse who told me this!)  If you’re ever in a WOW! office first thing in the morning the happiness is a palpable thing.  People are greeting each other, people have smiles on their faces, there is energy in the air and a sense of urgency and purpose.  Every employee at WOW! knows what it is about what they do to make a difference in our success.  Everyone adds value.  It’s a beautiful thing.

Ok, so I had my thoughts together for a culture article - The Three Hs – but then I thought ‘Uh oh.  Which comes first?  Isn’t there probably a natural order for The Three Hs?’  I think there is and I challenge you to find it.  Here’s your hint:  it’s not the order in which I wrote about them in this article.  So just think about it for a minute.  Got it?  Good for you!  Yes, it’s the order shown in the title.

(1) Humble people truly appreciate all the good things that happen to them so they are (2) happy more of the time.  (2) Happy people are more likely to want to share how they feel, so they are more generous with their hugs (3).  Too simple for you?  Ok then, answer this:  When was the last time you were hugged by an egotistical grumpy person? 

Have a great week… and hug someone!   Blog hug

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HOPE – I found it at WOW!

In: Blog, Culture

By: Terri Retter on Apr 27, 2010 at 8:00 am

‘HOPE’ for what?, you ask.  HOPE that we hit the lottery and can drop out of the everyday workforce?  Not likely.  But what we should really ask ourselves is “How do I define HOPE?”  As a mature adult I define “HOPE” differently than I may have 20 years ago; I define it as “HOPE of our culture” and HOPE that we will continue to teach our young society the values that make our lives rich. Sometimes it takes some inner searching and control to have HOPE and know that there is HOPE.

At WOW! I believe I recognized HOPE almost immediately upon joining the company.  In the crunch of the economy I decided to make a career change and accept a challenging and newly created position.  I was guided through the standard WOW! company orientation and introduced to the Company’s Core Values, which drive the WOW! culture.  These core values were evident not long after I joined the Company: Back in early 2009, iIt was in the middle of a typical work day and we were called into the conference rooms in groups where we listened to an important message from Colleen Abdoulah, CEO/President. It was a message that was delivered like none other I’ve witnessed from any CEO during my 30-year work career.  It spoke volumes to the company’s core values while she relayed the company’s performance status and the steps that she was putting in place to ensure jobs would not be cut.  The heartfelt manner in which she delivered this message and the fact that I was a little skeptical was quickly diminished when the lights came on and the General Manager opened up the floor for any questions.  (Most employees at WOW! have much tenure and that speaks for itself in today’s workforce.)  There really weren’t any questions – what I heard over and over again was more in the form of this comment: “I feel fortunate that I am here and jobs will not be lost.”  It quickly was proven to me and displayed that the employees at WOW! will sustain the culture.  As a new member to the WOW! team I would be one of the first to possibly re-enter the job market if job cuts were made, so it was with great appreciation of WOW! culture that I felt secure and already part of the team.  It was so apparent that no matter how long any of the team members had been employed, everyone in the room was sending the same message that day…  they did not want anyone’s job to be lost.

So when I see the daily news and I think that I have lost all HOPE for today’s culture, I take a moment of reflection and ask myself, “How do I contribute to the HOPE of today’s culture?”  Now I know at least one way that I do – by working at WOW!.  It was through the honesty of the message delivered from Colleen Abdoulah, the sacrifice that she requested of all employees, the HOPE she communicated in her message, and her encouragement to sustain WOW!’s core values that spoke volumes about this company’s HOPE for today’s culture.  It was through this message that WOW! employees did manage to thrive through 2009 and we will continue to thrive and contribute in a world where sometimes we ask ourselves “Is there HOPE?”.

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