Frontier CEO Nick Jeffery: Purpose, strategy, and keeping it simple
Frontier CEO Nick Jeffery: Purpose, strategy, and keeping it simple
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/frontier-ceo-nick-jeffery-purpose-strategy-and-keeping-it-simple?
Nick Jeffery is president and CEO of Frontier Communications. Eric Kutcher is a senior partner in McKinsey’s Bay Area office and serves as McKinsey’s Chair of North America.
Nick shares his experience leading the fiber giant back from the brink.
In this episode of the Inside the Strategy Room podcast, Nick Jeffery talks with McKinsey Senior Partner and North America Managing Partner Eric Kutcher. Since taking the CEO role in 2021, Nick has steered Frontier Communications from bankruptcy through turnaround, with the course now set toward a multibillion-dollar deal with Verizon, which is expected to close in early 2026. Nick talks about the opportunity he saw in the struggling company and the culture change, grounded in simplicity and a clarity of purpose, that has rallied a workforce around a shared transformation mission.
This is an edited transcript of their conversation, which took place on September 22, 2025. For more discussions on the strategy issues that matter, follow the series on your preferred podcast platform.
Eric Kutcher: We are living in interesting times; certainly, Frontier has come a long way and is now on an interesting trajectory with the pending Verizon deal. If we step back to the beginning, can you talk about the US landscape when you arrived five years ago? What was the opportunity that you saw in Frontier at that time?
Nick Jeffery: One thing that motivated me was that the US has a very interesting market structure. It had the potential to deliver really strong returns on capital for people making the right investments in the right technologies at the right time. I thought Frontier could be one of those companies.
When I came to Frontier, it was bankrupt. It had been through years of declining revenue; it was losing customers and losing EBITDA. It had terrible net promoter scores. But the fundamentals were very compelling: It was coming out of bankruptcy with a clean balance sheet and the capacity to invest; fiber penetration in the US was very low by international standards (at maybe 35 percent here versus 60, 70, 80 percent or more penetration elsewhere). Fiber is a product that consumers and businesses want, and it’s also one of those rare instances of an end-state technology; there will never be a better way of connecting homes and businesses, because your information over fiber runs at close to the speed of light.
If you put all that together, you think, “Hey, maybe there is an opportunity to grow fiber in the US in the way that it’s grown elsewhere.” Frontier had the potential to become the largest pure play fiber provider in North America. I thought, “This is an opportunity that really needs to be grabbed with both hands.”
Eric Kutcher: Could you talk more about the cultural change that you had to make, and specifically, what exactly did you do to instill that sense of purpose at Frontier?
Nick Jeffery: I think purpose is extremely important. It is about making people feel a connection with what the company does, pride in its ambition, and a sense that you are part of a bigger ambition and vision that matters. A lot of companies have purposes that are extremely generic and don’t, therefore, meet the goal they should be setting out to deliver on—which is to make you feel great about the company you work for, what you do, and why you do it. So we had a good purpose and a clear strategy, but in a company that’s been through bankruptcy and years of underperformance, there’s always a layer in the organization that simply won’t believe, or doesn’t want to believe, the company can be successful again.
One thing I did was simply talk to the whole company on a regular basis. Every two or three weeks, I have a call where anyone in the company can dial in; we call it Listen Live. We use that not just to communicate what the strategy and purpose are, but also to communicate the proof points of where we’ve actually delivered progress. So if we said we’re going to become more efficient, this is what we’ve done. Through that, you begin to build followership, belief, and engagement. You have to be very transparent and open with people on those calls, which means that sometimes I’ve told people things they didn’t like hearing. I’ve often had people come to me saying, “Hey, that was a tough message, but we’re so glad you told us as it is, and we believe we’re going in the right direction with this kind of leadership.”
The other piece of cultural change we’ve been trying to support is to give people the confidence to bring up things that don’t work, then support them and use the resources of the company to fix the issue they’re bringing forward. To try and embed this in the DNA of the company, we ran an employee-led program called Frontier 50, where we wanted the whole employee base to help us find $50 million in cost savings. The idea being: You know where this money is being unwisely spent and where the inefficiencies are, so tell us. I will never forget—there was this guy in, I think it was Arizona, who wrote in saying, “I’ve been here ten years, and every couple of years, I write in and tell management that this guy turns up with a truck on a Wednesday. He gets his mowers off the truck, and he goes up and down outside my window. But there’s no grass there. This is Arizona. It’s the desert. You’re paying somebody to mow the dirt.” That’s fantastic; that’s exactly the sort of employee empowerment you want, where real, actual things can be changed for the better. We have many examples of how we try to engage the whole workforce in this mission.
Eric Kutcher: When I think back to Frontier prior to bankruptcy, the perception was that it was rural communications; it felt more like the laggard of technology than the leader of technology it has become. How do you think about brand?
Nick Jeffery: We have many nonrural areas like in Dallas and in Tampa, Florida, and some parts of California, but, yes, I think that was the brand image. The Frontier we have today feels very modern and appeals to a wide array of people, not just its rural roots.
I think a brand is what a brand does. One of the first things I did early on was get my executive committee together once a week to go through the data on why customers had contacted us the week before. I remember billing came up as a top issue, so I asked to see the bills. They looked like they had been printed by one of those golf ball dot matrix printers from the early ’80s. I’d been in telecom for some 33 years, and there was stuff on these bills that I had no clue what it meant. It was so complicated, so badly presented. Of course, customers were upset. So great, we now knew the issue, and we focused on changing things with a new billing vendor, new format, new proposition. We tested with customers and rolled it out. And sure enough, billing drops off the top category. That management operating model of bringing the entire leadership team’s focus to bear on a small number of operational things, and fixing them one by one, year in, year out, is a big part of what has changed the perceptions of who Frontier is and what we do. It’s changed our brand.
Eric Kutcher: The decision to sell the company comes at a moment in time when you’ve made this incredible transformation, which obviously is what makes it attractive to Verizon. How did you approach that decision-making process?
Nick Jeffery: When we formed a new board and a new executive leadership team at the beginning of this journey with Frontier, we had a point in time where we had to make some choices. What do we do with this asset? One of the things we could have done was just sell the different parts off to people at that time. But we chose to invest over $5 billion in building ten-million-plus fiber homes across our footprint. At no point did we set out to build a company with the goal of selling it; we set out to build the best possible company we could. From the brand to the people we hired, to the systems we deployed, and the processes we built—every single thing was about scaling beyond the Frontier we had at that time. We were always trying to build something that could become a national champion. When you set about that mission and you are successful—and you end up with an asset that’s got back to revenue growth, EBITDA growth, and is well on the way to cash flow growth—inevitably, people notice. We started to gain interest from third parties, ultimately culminating in the sale to Verizon that we hope will close in Q1 next year.
And, of course, you go through a very rigorous process with your board to make sure that you have maximized value for your shareholders. I think the deal we ended up with certainly delivers a significant cash premium to Frontier shareholders and is good for our employees, and I believe ultimately great for our customers as well.
Eric Kutcher: You led the company through an incredible turnaround. What is it like to lead through a moment when you know that you’re trying to hand this over to someone else?
Nick Jeffery: I have to say, that has been a new, interesting, and difficult leadership task for me. When you’ve built a deeply purpose-driven organization—where every day, day in and day out, people are thinking about how to build “Gigabit America,” how to become a market leader, how to be the best at what we do—to suddenly not have that ambition clearly in front of you is a different kind of leadership challenge for the team.
But my reflection is actually that purpose is still the most important thing, because it was and is the bigger ambition. The reason why people come to work is because we are part of a bigger national endeavor. I don’t think that changes, whether we’re owned by Verizon in the future or by current shareholders as we are today. And people can see that this ambition is going to be easier to fulfill under the ownership of a much more financially muscular, powerful company that’s a national champion with the capacity to do even more of what we like doing.
My goal has been to keep the whole team running as fast as we possibly can and get ourselves over the finish line in the best condition possible for our new owners, Verizon. I’m very pleased to say that in the last two quarters, we delivered record-breaking performance across almost every metric. And this business continues to have amazing momentum as we head toward the close of our deal with Verizon.
Purpose is still the most important thing, because it was and is the bigger ambition. The reason why people come to work is because we are part of a bigger national endeavor. I don’t think that changes, whether we’re owned by Verizon in the future or by current shareholders as we are today.
Eric Kutcher: We’ve talked a lot about the company, and you’ve talked about what it’s like to lead through this level of transformation. As a leader, how has your playbook for turnaround and transformation evolved?
Nick Jeffery: Really, a turnaround is just an extreme example of making a business better. And what makes a business better? I think it starts with having a very strong and simple purpose so that people are clear on why we do what we do, where we are going, and why it matters. Strategy is super important, but I’ve seen so many company strategies that you can’t remember. And strategies, as you’ll know much better than I do, are only a recipe for how you allocate resources to get the outcome you want. So making it very simple and very memorable really matters, because you want thousands of people across the organization to understand what they have to do. How do they apply the recipe to making the business better, to get a better outcome for the company and its teams?
It starts with having a very strong and simple purpose so that people are clear on why we do what we do, where we are going, and why it matters.
So building a simple, clear strategy is incredibly important—then communicating it at all levels relentlessly. My team laughs because the purpose and strategy slide [is the one] I have used in every single presentation I’ve done, to every single audience I’ve spoken to for the last five years. Nothing ever starts without us talking about purpose and strategy, because it has to be drilled in right across the organization until it’s something that’s almost burned on the back of people’s retinas.
Building a simple, clear strategy is incredibly important—then communicating it at all levels relentlessly.
Eric Kutcher: My last question. If you had one bit of advice that you could give to your 20-year-ago self, what would it be?
Nick Jeffery: I’d say, first of all, figure out where the money is in a company and go work there. Be at the center of the action; that really matters. Second, find the most talented people you can to work for, because you’ll learn huge amounts from them. You’ll be dragged up on their coattails, and if you’re half decent, they’ll spot you and invest in you as well. They’ll take risks on you, which is certainly something I benefited from a lot. The third thing I’d say is, don’t have a plan. I never believe anyone with a career plan. But be very conscious of serendipity. When you come to a fork in the road, be very mindful and purposeful about which way you are going to go, and why, and take the risk. Nine times out of ten, that’s paid off for me.
Keep it simple and have fun would be the other two in my books. A lot of people at my level seem to take business and strategy very seriously. But I think a great strategy is super simple. It’s just a recipe for how you allocate resources. And if you make it fun as well, you get people to come with you. And when people are moving with you, amazing things start to happen.
Accor focuses on uniqueness to expand luxury, lifestyle platform
High-end travelers want one-of-a-kind experiences, exec says
https://www.costar.com/article/1522963859/accor-focuses-on-uniqueness-to-expand-luxury-lifestyle-platform?
LOS ANGELES — The quest to win over high-end, high-spending travelers relies heavily on a hotel company's ability to deliver unique experiences.
Agnès Roquefort, Accor's chief development officer for luxury and lifestyle, said that's a space her company is heavily focused on.
Perhaps the most obvious example of those efforts are the revived Orient Express brand, which combines luxury train travel with high-end hotel stays.
That can be hard to scale in the way a large company like Accor would like, but Roquefort said in an interview at the recent Americas Lodging Investment Summit that the company has wide opportunities by focusing on different white spaces.
"Orient Express has this very specific positioning within ... the ultra-luxury segment, but we are convinced that even with the other luxury and lifestyle brands we can go even further in terms of experience," she said.
Roquefort said each Accor hotel brand has to find its defining element in terms of experience, like how Raffles differentiated itself as a luxury brand via personalized butler service.
"And Fairmont [is well-known] for sports, golf resorts and branded residences," she said.
In the near term, Accor's plans for expansion will focus more on moving into new places rather than adding more brands, especially since the company grew its brand portfolio so aggressively over the past decade, Roquefort said.
Because of the long-term history of brands like Fairmont, Accor has a heavy presence in its luxury portfolio across North America. But Roquefort said there is still room for growth, including the soon-to-open Delano South Beach in Miami Beach Florida and a new Fairmont property in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
For the rest of the interview with Accor's Agnès Roquefort, watch the video above or listen to the audio-only podcast version.
You’ll Love This Surfer’s Paradise Even If You Never Paddle Out
Courtesy Lamangata Luxury Surf Resort
https://www.fodors.com/world/mexico-and-central-america/costa-rica/experiences/news/youll-love-this-surfers-paradise-even-if-you-never-paddle-out
Soaking up the stoke in a world-class surf playground.
Costa Rica has earned its place on my surfer’s bucket list, a country where palm-fringed coastlines hide world-class waves in nearly every bay. On the west coast, much of the tourism revolves around surfing’s gravitational pull, and nowhere is that more obvious than around Dominical. This stretch of the Osa Peninsula draws surfers from all over the world, with waves that can make or break your confidence.
Dominical Beach and Playa Hermosa are the heavy hitters here, powerful and hollow, best left to advanced surfers who thrive in fast, barreling conditions. But just down the road, Dominicalito offers a gentler alternative. Smaller, rolling waves peel in over a cobblestone bottom, making it a playground for intermediates and anyone chasing flow over fear.
That is where I spent most of my days while staying at Lamangata Luxury Surf Resort, sharing waves, stories, and a lot of smiles with a tight-knit crew in the lineup.
Board Meetings, but Actually Fun
Surfing sets the pace at Lamangata. The day starts with a quick seven-minute drive from the hillside property down to the beach, boards stacked in the truck, and the smell of salt in the morning air. At first, paddling out here felt intimidating. The waves stood up quickly and carried enough power to keep me on edge. But the more time I spent in the water, the more it shifted from nerve-wracking to addictive. I learned to turtle roll under the bigger sets, pop up in the calm between waves, and position myself out the back, ready for my turn.
From that spot in the lineup, the view back to shore was unforgettable. The mountains dropped straight to the sand, the jungle pressing right up to the beach. Macaws crossed overhead, and the water was warm and endlessly blue, refreshing enough to clear my head–yet gentle enough to keep me out for hours.
The surf program was led by Junior Vargas, a talented Dominical local who stayed with me in the water the entire time. He pushed me into waves, called me into sets I might have let pass, and guided me to paddle into my own. It was easy to feel comfortable under his watch. The lineup felt like a block party, full of laughter, high fives, and strangers quickly turning into friends. Sessions were tailored to my level, from the mellow rollers at Dominicalito to the more challenging waves at the main beach. With drone footage and video analysis, I actually improved. At night, we would rewatch clips on the couch, laughing at wipeouts while Junior offered feedback between bites of dessert.
The Garden Is the Chef
After mornings in the water, meals at Lamangata felt like part of the surf experience. Some days, breakfast was brought right to the sand with strong coffee in one hand, a chilled coconut in the other, or watermelon-basil juice that hit even harder after a few hours in the water. Other mornings, I headed back up to the resort, where the menu changed daily but always started with what was grown on the property: basil, cilantro, cherry tomatoes, mango, mint, and a mix of greens. Whatever was not harvested on site came from nearby farms.
Food in Costa Rica is one of the country’s quiet superpowers. It is simple, fresh, and clean in a way that makes a difference you can actually feel. Breakfasts ranged from Costa Rican gallo pinto to chili crisp avocado toast and mango chia pudding. Lunches were poke bowls, empanadas, and crisp salads. Dinners felt like a reward after long hours in the sun with plant-based mains, local curry, and one night a trip into Dominical for Phat Noodles, where the Costa Rican-style Pad Thai still lingers on my mind.
Clean, healthy food is essential when you are surfing for hours every day. I could feel the difference in my energy with no sluggish afternoons, just fuel that kept me ready for the next paddle out. Every dish tasted fresh and alive, and I could tell it came from nearby, not from halfway around the world. It was the kind of food that made me feel stronger with every meal.
Leaving With More Than a Tan
By the end of the week, my turns were cleaner, my arms felt like they had been through boot camp, and I had no idea what day it was. I woke up with the sun because it felt right, not because I had to. Lamangata got me hooked on a simple routine–surf, laugh, eat, sleep, repeat–and made it hard to imagine going back to anything else. I showed up chasing waves, but I left with better surfing, a few new friends, and the smug satisfaction of knowing I’d scored one of Costa Rica’s best lineups without the crowds.
The One Important Thing Everyone Forgets When Returning Home From a Trip
bernardbodo/iStock
https://www.fodors.com/news/travel-tips/the-one-thing-travelers-forget-to-do-after-returning-home
As it turns out, our suitcases can be the carriers of more than just our clothing.
After a long travel day, many people just want to hop into bed or start catching up on everything they’ve missed. However, for most people, that’s a mistake. Many travelers are concerned about staying healthy before and during a trip, but too many overlook a few simple steps post-trip that can help them avoid everything from bacteria to bed bugs.
“With a few simple precautions when you return [from a trip], you can help keep yourself and your family healthy,” advises Dr. William Woo, a family medicine physician at Kaiser Permanente in Anaheim, California.
As it turns out, our suitcases can be the carriers of more than just our clothing. By simply remembering to clean your suitcase after a trip, you can help prevent bringing viruses and bacteria into your home.
Suitcases Can Pick up a Range of Bacteria and Mold
While you are out shopping for souvenirs, your suitcase may be busy carrying germs that it picked up on its way to your destination. When traveling, it’s common to place your suitcase on airport floors, hotel room carpets, inside car trunks, and atop luggage racks.
“All of these can harbor bacteria, viruses, and fungi,” warns Dr. Philip Robinson, an infectious disease specialist and Medical Director of Infection Prevention at Hoag, a healthcare system in Southern California. “Studies have shown that luggage wheels and bottoms can carry high levels of germs.”
One study showed that luggage wheels are teeming with bacteria and are up to 58 times dirtier than a public toilet seat. Among other contaminants, the study found Staphylococcus species, a common skin bacterium; Serratia marcescens, often found in moist environments such as bathrooms; and black mold growing on the wheels of suitcases. Allowing bacteria and mold to fester in your home can make you sick, Robinson explains.
Your Suitcase May Have Picked up Hitchhikers
While it’s less common to unwittingly carry home critters as stowaways in your suitcase, it is possible.
“Bed bugs are a real risk, especially in high-turnover lodging, and suitcases can act as a vehicle for bringing them home,” Robinson says. In addition to bed bugs, “scorpions, beetles, and random mystery critters like spiders, ants, or that thing you swear wasn’t moving until it did,” can hide in your luggage and hitch a ride home, Woo says.
Although it may seem like a hassle, thoroughly cleaning your suitcase when you arrive home can help keep you healthy and may prevent bed bugs and other critters from invading your space.
How to Clean the Outside Of Your Suitcase
Cleaning your suitcase doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. First, Woo recommends checking your luggage before bringing it into your home. If you notice any critters or visible grime, it’s wise to address them before bringing your suitcase inside.
Otherwise, you could create a much bigger problem that’s harder to address. Woo suggests performing a quick inspection for bedbugs before setting foot in your house. If you find any signs of bedbugs, Woo recommends placing all items in a sealed plastic bag and keeping them there for two weeks or washing them in water at 130 degrees Fahrenheit or higher and drying them on a heat setting.
If your initial inspection doesn’t reveal anything alarming, it’s time to bring your suitcase inside and start cleaning. Robinson recommends paying special attention to the bottom of your bag, as well as its wheels, handles, and zipper pulls.
“They are among the most contaminated surfaces,” because they are high-touch areas, he explains. Using disinfecting wipes to clean these surfaces is the easiest and most effective option for most people, Robinson says. However, he adds that soap and water are also very effective. Whichever method you choose, “use enough friction to remove grime, not just a quick swipe,” Robinson advises. Next, if you have hard-sided luggage, Robinson advises wiping down the entire exterior with disinfecting wipes, a cloth dampened with soap and water, or a mild disinfectant.
Cleaning soft-sided luggage is a bit more involved, but it’s not difficult.
“Vacuum seams and pockets thoroughly. If the manufacturer allows, spot-clean with warm water and detergent,” Robinson recommends. Once you finish vacuuming, seal the vacuum bag in a plastic bag and throw it out immediately, Woo advises. That’s important because some critters can survive in vacuum bags and possibly escape.
Regardless of the cleaning method you use, Robison recommends allowing luggage to fully dry before storing it to prevent mold and mildew from growing on your suitcase. Additionally, if you inadvertently left any germs behind, they may proliferate more easily on damp surfaces, he explains.
Why You Should Clean the Inside of Your Suitcase
Although the inside of your suitcase may not pick up as many germs as its exterior, it’s still a good idea to clean your suitcase inside and out.
“The interior of a suitcase comes into direct contact with clothing, shoes, toiletries, and personal items, all of which can carry germs from airports, hotel rooms, public transportation, and restrooms,” Robinson says. Just like the outside of your luggage, “over the course of a trip, the inside of a suitcase can accumulate bacteria, viruses, dirt, allergens, and occasionally pests, even if nothing looks visibly soiled.”
If you skip cleaning the inside of your suitcase, those contaminants may spread throughout your home or contaminate clean clothing the next time you travel.
Robinson recommends using a similar approach to cleaning a suitcase’s interior as its exterior. For hard-sided interiors, use disinfecting wipes or soap and water. For fabric-lined suitcases, vacuum thoroughly and spot clean. Then, ensure the inside of the bag is fully dry before closing or storing it.
Although cleaning your suitcase may seem like a pain, it’s an essential part of staying healthy so you can enjoy your next trip.
DUHC&S | Strategic Hospitality Consulting & Advisory
We transform hospitality and tourism businesses through strategic solutions, operational efficiency, and comprehensive renovation. With over 40 years of experience working with brands like Hilton, Hyatt, Sheraton, and Sonesta, we enhance asset value and profitability through:
*Operational excellence and brand standards (GSI +90%)
*Market penetration and commercial strategies
*Key partnerships and disruptive innovation
*Hotel openings and repositioning
Proven results :
✅ 48% GOP |
✅ +120% asset valuation growth
✅ Successful projects across 6 Latin American countries
🔹 Let's connect :
📩 Email: diurugeles@gmail.com
📱 WhatsApp: +57 3153259968
🎥 YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@DUHC-S
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diur_2000/
https://viajes-noticias-duhospitality.blogspot.com
https://viajes-duhospitality.blogspot.com
https://travel-duhospitality.blogspot.com
Disclaimer
DUHC&S shares this information for educational and informational purposes only. The news articles reproduced here are sourced from public and recognized media outlets. We are not the original authors of this content but rather distributors of it. All credits go to the original sources cited in each article. If you are the legitimate owner of any material and wish to have it modified or removed, please contact us immediately at diurugeles@gmail.com, and we will address your request promptly.
Comments
Post a Comment