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‘Will you be my best friend?’ How Lumen’s Kate Johnson turned a breakfast into a CEO partnership

Wednesday 14 October10:27 · 2h agoAI summary
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Lumen Technologies CEO Kate Johnson turned a chance breakfast encounter with EY's Janet Truncale into a partnership built on trust and respect, illustrating how personal connections can drive business collaboration.

01Summary

  1. 01Johnson approached Truncale at a Business Roundtable event and asked, 'Will you be my best friend?'
  2. 02Both CEOs describe themselves as introverts and initially kept their friendship private.
  3. 03About 25% of EY's $57 billion global revenues came from alliance and ecosystem partners last year.
  4. 04Johnson said she partners for expertise because she cannot allocate enough human and financial resources alone.
  5. 05Logitech CEO Hanneke Faber stressed the importance of bringing one's network to a corporate board.

02Why it matters

The story shows how informal, authentic connections between CEOs can lead to trusted business partnerships, offering a lesson in leadership and collaboration for executives and professionals alike.

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Answers are generated by AI from the story summary; they are not investment, health or legal advice.

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