Denny Strigl

Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, Dennis Strigl is the former president and COO of Verizon Communications and the former CEO of Verizon Wireless. He served in the telecommunications world for four decades and is widely recognized as one of the most prominent architects of the wireless communications industry. Strigl addresses telecommunications, leadership, management, and business strategies.

Telecommunications Career. Strigl began his career at New York Telephone Company in 1968 after taking a bet to postpone his piloting career. He held positions at AT&T and Wisconsin Telephone Company, before becoming vice president of American Bell, Inc. In 1984, he became president of Ameritech Mobile Communications. He then went to Applied Data Research, Inc., where he served as president and CEO. Strigl joined Bell Atlantic in 1989, rising to the position of chief operating officer of New Jersey Bell, before being named president and CEO of Bell Atlantic Mobile in 1991. He was subsequently named president and CEO of the combined Bell Atlantic Mobile and NYNEX Mobile, after the companies’ merger was completed in 1995.

He went on to become president and CEO of Verizon Wireless and executive vice president of Verizon Communications. On January 1, 2007, Strigl was named president and chief operating officer of Verizon Communications, where he remained until his retirement in December of 2009. In this capacity, he was responsible for all Verizon’s network businesses—Verizon Wireless; Verizon Telecom; Verizon Business; and Verizon Services Operations, which provides financial, real estate, and other functional services to all of the corporation’s operations.

Strigl is the former chairman of the board of directors of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association and currently serves on the board of directors of Eastman Kodak Company, Anadigics, Inc., PNC Financial Services, and PNC Bank.

Can You Hear Me Now? Strigl was instrumental in launching the nation’s first cellular telephone network in Chicago. Verizon’s very popular “Can you hear me now?” commercials were based on Strigl’s real-life actions. He travelled across Chicago and the surrounding suburbs documenting whether he could get a dial tone in specific areas and recording how long the call lasted before it dropped. This effort and his development of the wireless network earned him the Cellular Industry Achievement Award for engineering advancement and pioneering in marketing programs.

Strigl is the author of Managers, Can You Hear Me Now?, in which he presents the leadership techniques, skills, and strategies used to lead Verizon to the top of the telecommunications industry and the nine reasons most managers fail. He also addresses how to achieve exponential growth despite increasingly globalized competition and the current economic pressures.