With leadership, confidence is key, but certainty can kill. I have seen how dangerous that can be, especially when we fully accept a future as fixed even when it is still ours to shape. Transformation in an industry on the brink of disruption requires the humility to question everything and the courage to reinvent.
When Lumen’s board approached me about becoming CEO, I remember thinking, “This company has the assets to lead the industry, but not the mindset.” Lumen was a legacy telecommunications business, weighed down by $20 billion in debt. Instead of playing to win, the company’s culture was playing not to lose — holding onto existing customers and defending outdated ways of working. I knew that wasn’t enough in a rapidly changing world.
My assignment was different: transforming the company to grow in the age of AI. Shaped by experiences and mentors at organizations such as Red Hat, Oracle, GE, and Microsoft, my leadership philosophy is to run toward disruption, not away from it. And I saw firsthand at those organizations how a fresh mindset could transform not just profit, but people. I have carried that forward at Lumen, embracing process to drive improvement and identifying coworkers who go all-in not just for the company, but for each other. And, mostly, I work hard with the team to develop and nurture a culture of “Play to win.” Because that’s the surest way you can.
What Do Employees Need to Play to Win?
There are various tenets of this strategy and leadership style. In this blog series, I’ll share what has worked for me and the team at Lumen.
The first tenet is to embrace a growth mindset, on both the individual and the team level. People need clarity of purpose, the freedom to grow, and permission to take smart risks, because innovation rarely comes from playing it safe. Real transformation requires an approach in which learning never stops, agility subordinates title, and clarity is always celebrated.
Johnson (right) discusses how Lumen is transforming telecommunications for the era of AI at Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies Summit. (Image: Fast Company)
Put another way, success is not about the certainty of being right. It is about striving to get it right. And getting it right takes the humility to admit what isn’t working and the curiosity to fix it. Oftentimes, that means figuring out how to prioritize and pivot. It means using failure as a teacher and asking the tough questions others avoid. It means being courageous in leaning into transformation — unlocking the potential of those driving it.
Growth Mindset in Action
We’ve put this approach to the test, asking: What’s the fastest path for creating value? Where can we disrupt? How do we make Lumen relevant to the AI boom? What does AI need?
AI needs data, data needs data centers, and data centers need to be connected. By leveraging our crown-jewel asset — one of the most expansive and intelligent fiber networks in the world — we are proving to the market that Lumen’s network is critical infrastructure for the AI economy. Rather than protecting legacy systems, we are reinventing the backbone for AI.
We’re far from finished, because transformation is never one-and-done. It’s iterative. We recognize and accept — as must all leaders — that our world moves too fast and is too bumpy for us to stand still.
We’ll keep learning, knowing that failing fast and asking hard questions are signs of confidence and strength, not weakness. Because the only certainty in leadership is knowing we must grow to grow.
Kate Johnson WG94 is the CEO of Fortune 500 company Lumen Technologies. A recognized thought leader on digital transformation, Kate was named to the 2025 Forbes “50 Over 50” list and recently was featured on Fortune’s Leadership Next podcast and at Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies Summit. Prior to Lumen, she held executive roles at Microsoft, GE, and Oracle. She currently lives in Seattle with her family.
