Executive Profile - January 2000

Marsha Lindsey

Listening, communicating key throughout Nevada Bell executive’s career

by Diane Glazman

When Marsha Lindsey took the reins of Nevada Bell in November, it was only the latest step up the ladder for this soft-spo­ken woman. Twenty-four years ago, she started with SBC Communications, Inc., Nevada Bell’s parent company, as an information assistant writing articles for an internal employee news­letter, making use of a degree in journalism she earned from the University of Oklahoma. That was the beginning of a path that would take her from working on internal communications for employees to external affairs with customers to the top slot at Nevada Bell. Along the way, she honed her skills of listening to people and learn­ing what was important to them, and then figur­ing out a way to provide what they needed.

Lindsey says she started out looking for a career in mathematics. In the early 1970s, the only job opportu­nity for a woman in that field was teaching, something that did not appeal to her. Recog­nizing her passions lay in business, Lindsey switched her major to journalism and took many business classes as electives. “My love and my hobby had always been jour­nalism, and I knew I wanted to get into the corporate envi­ronment,” she recalled.

Following her graduation from the University of Okla­homa, she took a job as an in­formation assistant, dealing with the internal affairs of SBC Communications. She says the position gave her the opportunity to work with a number of people now leaders in the telecommu­nications field, experience she values a great deal. She spent 17 years working in Oklahoma in a variety of jobs for SBC Communications, in­cluding advertising, human resources and com­munity relations.

In 1992, she and her family moved to San An­tonio, Texas, where she worked in external af­fairs. She says this marked the beginning of what she calls her second career, since the focus of her position turned to customer contact and commu­nity relations. At that time, she was working not only with elected officials and corporate cus­tomers but was involved with SBC’s grants pro­grams and contributing to the community of San Antonio. About six months after she took the po­sition, SBC relocated its corporate headquarters from St. Louis, Mo. to San Antonio.

Lindsey recalls the move as a wonderful op­portunity both for herself and for the communi­ty. With the corporate headquarters now located in San Antonio, Lindsey’s visibility in the com­pany increased along with the risk, although she says she welcomed the accompanying chal­lenges. The company has a commitment to edu­cation and to being involved with the communi­ty in a positive way. “We try to be a catalyst for change in a community, and to make a collabo­rative effort to make the community a better place to live,” she said, adding that in Nevada, there are roughly 1,800 retired SBC employees.

Following the SBC/Pacific Bell merger in 1997, Lindsey moved to San Diego to become the executive director of internal affairs. While there, she represented the 4,600 Pacific Bell em­ployees with various organizations, municipali­ties, agencies and educational organizations. She also developed Pacific Bell’s corporate giving strategy, as well as serving on the board of a number of non-profit organizations.

She says that level of involvement will continue as she heads up Nevada Bell. “I really appreciate the 87 years of service Nevada Bell has already provided,” Lind­sey said. She also noted that the first chal­lenges she sees for herself are to become a part of the system that already exists and to represent the company within the com­munity, adding she is looking forward to the challenges that await telecommunica­tions companies in the years to come.

“My philosophy has always been that I have to do a good job on the present job and do the best I can every day, and good things will happen. I think the opportuni­ties presented by Nevada Bell are just that kind of opportunity, to share the knowl­edge that I’ve gained along the way and to learn more for myself,” Lindsey said.

According to Lindsey, one question she asks people in interviews is whether they would rather lead a committee on a small issue or be a member of a large committee for a major issue. She adds there is no right or wrong answer to the question, but how a person answers tells her a lot about how that person thinks. She says she has learned a great deal by choosing the latter path. Moving through the ranks of SBC, Lindsey says she has been able to see how the company operates from many differ­ent perspectives. “My tenacity and pas­sion for the company afforded me differ­ent opportunities to learn about [it]. Everything from the people I worked with in Oklahoma who were providing top­notch customer service to our regulatory side to watching the changes we’ve made through the years to working with our pri­ority sales people and how we work with large customers. I have learned so much about the business and the kinds of people involved, it has made a difference in what I can do today,” she said.

As she now steps into the lead of what could be seen as a committee with 900 members, Lindsey says she intends to continue doing what she’s done all along: listening and learning what’s important to the people with whom she works.