Q: I recently read an interesting truism in business, “that people never quit a company. They quit their boss. People never really join a company. They join a boss.” And, the underlying reason is because they’re excited to work for that boss. That said, what makes you an exciting boss to work for?

A: “Well, that is a pretty big assumption, and I’d like to think you talked to my people first and that they are excited to work for me. That said, what I try hard to do – to make it exciting for my leaders – is:

1. Set High Expectations - I fundamentally believe people have a desire to be the absolute best they can be. Some people are self starters, some work themselves crazy. But not everyone’s wired that way. I believe people perform to a level of expectation. High expectations bestow a level of confidence that says, ‘I believe in you so much, that I expect you to be the best in your area, or the best in your company.’

2. Show That I Care I - meet with my direct reports for quarterly developmental feedback – for two-way dialog where I communicate how they’re performing, and they provide feedback on how I can help them. By devoting time to their development, I believe this excites people.

3. Understand Their Hopes and Dreams - When I start a working relationship, I want to know ‘What Are Your Hopes and Dreams - from a career perspective and personal standpoint?’ And then, what is my role in helping you achieve that?

4. Team Meetings - I hold a lot of team meetings. For example, in January I took my Top 100 leaders to Arizona for a kick off meeting. I’m starting a road show with my Division, visiting every region. While some of my team might complain about too many meetings, ultimately, we all want to be part of something. Those with their own business, or individual contributors would probably say the one thing they truly miss is team work. When you create a sense of team, it excites people.”

Q: These are challenging economic times, and a lot has changed in the business world and our industry over the last couple of years. From your perspective, what is the biggest change? What impact has that change had on you and your leadership style at Comcast?

A: “The biggest impacts are 1) the level of change, and 2) communication. In the old days, industry competition consisted of smaller regional players, such as overbuilders. Now, our industry faces large-scale, aggressive competitors – well-funded companies like AT&T, Verizon and Apple. As a leader, I need to spend more time communicating ‘Where are we today, where are we trying to go, and why are we trying to go that way,’ and keeping a continuous feedback loop so employees know what’s happening. I need to ensure I create a sense of team. Many years ago, that entailed sitting at a desk and sending out commands. Now, it has to be interactive, and from the bottom up.”

Q: If someone has aspirations to become a President at Comcast – say, to be the next Steve White – what’s your advice? How does he/she get there? What leadership skills are needed?

A: “Well, there are a couple of things:

1. Individual Effort
The only thing you have control over is your effort. If you talk to people about me, I think they’d say ‘No one works as hard as that guy.’ This can mean long hours, being patient through change, and sometimes that can mean moving your family. That doesn’t mean you can’t have it all – a family, support your church, do charity work. You can have all that, but it requires effort.

2. People
Now that Houston is part of the West Division, we have almost 25,000 employees, and to create alignment on this scale is a challenge. How you get there is through people - creating compelling vision for employees, communicating that vision, and building alignment around it. Of course, you need core leadership skills, but establishing alignment across people is critical.”

Q: One of my favorite quotes is by William L. McKnight – former chairman and CEO of 3M – who said many years ago, “If you put fences around people you get sheep. Give people the room they need.” How do you give the employees around you the room they need?

A: “That’s a good question. I’m a ferocious goal setter, and manage by objectives. I believe in establishing clear, upfront expectations - at the beginning and through the year. What do I expect from you in 2011? Then, we agree and commit to those expectations, and check in quarterly on how we’re doing. This creates a tremendous level of freedom. If I’m not clear on my objectives through the year, that causes frustration, and now we’re reaching for straws.”

Q: What is the toughest business decision you ever had to make?

A: “Unfortunately, there’s not just one. But, whenever I have to meet with men and women who have given everything – they’ve worked hard, represented the company well for 5, 10, 15+ years, been good team players – sit with them and explain that to create a healthy company for everyone, to centralize part of the company and become more efficient, a small number of us have to make a sacrifice, and that means exiting the company, that’s hard. How do you do that? These employees are “owners,” they are not “renters.” There’s nothing they did. They’re unfortunately in a tough situation, and I’m there with them. You never get over that. It always bothers you. One of the reasons I work so hard is I want to create a healthy company so our employees can grow, send their kids to college, buy a new house, retire carefully. That’s a strong motivator for me, and comes from the fact that my mother was a high school janitor for 35 years, and her livelihood was based on the quality of leadership and decisions made by the company. I’ve had to make those tough decisions in California when I was there, and it’s never easy.”

Q: Describe a typical working “day in the life” of Steve White.

A: “Well, a typical day when I’m not travelling is very long. I sleep four hours a night, and try to work out. I get in the office very early – by 5:30 am – and devote two hours to my daily responsibilities before my meetings start. This allows me to have an open door and be available for my people. I may have meetings all day - interviewing people about joining Comcast, spending time with teams on initiatives – but I’m moving the business forward. I leave one hour at the end of the day to wrap everything up, and try to be home around 7:00pm to have dinner and time with my wife and family, which is sacred.”

Q: What’s your biggest weakness?

A: “That’s a difficult question. Probably the area I’m working on the most is just to become a better listener. As a leader, when you have responsibility for a lot of employees, it’s very important to simply ‘shut up and listen.’ And not just listen for words, but for the unspoken words, the actions.”

Q: WICT NorCal’s programs culminate each year with the December holiday event and its theme of mentoring and excellence. What do mentoring and excellence mean to you?

A: “It means role models. There’s great power in learning what not to do, just as much as learning what to do. Mentoring to me is not a formal relationship where we sit down and talk about our challenges. It’s about observing men and women doing it the right way, the wrong way. I have tons of mentors, and most of them don’t know it. I approach mentoring like a buffet and pick a little bit of everything to help shape how I operate as a leader, interact with people, and run a business.”

Q: How have mentors played an important part in your life?

A: “I’ve had many mentors, career mentors, and my pastor in Atlanta is very important to me. But probably my mother and wife have been the most significant. My mother made sacrifices as a single mom, raising four boys. Someone who puts the need to raise four healthy young men before her needs is the ultimate team player. That sticks with you and drives you. And, for my wife, it’s about understanding - the commitment she has placed in the marriage has been really important. Sacrifice and commitment are mentoring cornerstones for me.”

Q: What makes a great mentor?

A: “Someone who sees greatness and talent in you that you don’t see in yourself. And it’s not false pretense. You may not see or talk to them very often but, when you do, they recognize that talent, and they’re not surprised by your success.”

Q: Tell me one question you hoped I would ask you (but didn’t) during this interview. And, what is your response to this question?

A: “One question that comes to mind is ‘Steve, you’re busy, you have people lined up outside your door as we speak. Why take time out of your day to do this interview?’ And the answer is simply I believe in helping and giving back. If somehow, this benefits someone, particularly WICT’s members, or other employees in our industry, I will take every opportunity to do that.”

On behalf of WICT NorCal members, thank you Steve. We really appreciate your support for WICT NorCal, and for sharing your valuable insight on leadership and mentoring!