[piano intro] - Hello, I'm Nido Qubein.

Welcome to "Side by Side."

My guest today knows firsthand how technology can improve our quality of life.

As chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, he made the internet more inclusive and available to everyone in the U.S., as well as in developing countries.

He's been described as the consumer champion of the digital age.

Today, we'll talk about the digital world that we live in, and other subjects too, with Ambassador William Kennard.

- [Announcer] Funding for "Side by Side" with Nido Qubein is made possible by... - [Announcer 2] Here's to those that rise and shine, to friendly faces doing more than their part, and to those who still enjoy the little things, you make it feel like home.

Ashley HomeStore.

This is home.

- [Announcer 3] For over 60 years, the everyday leaders at the Budd Group have been committed to providing smart, customized facility solutions to our clients and caring for the communities we serve.

[soft music] - [Announcer 4] Coca-Cola Consolidated is honored to make and serve 300 brands and flavors locally!

Thanks to our teammates.

We are Coca-Cola Consolidated, your local bottler.

[upbeat music] [upbeat music] ♪ - Ambassador Bill Kennard, welcome to "Side by Side."

You have had a life that's filled with success, framed with significance.

And along the pathway of your life, you've impacted and influenced generations of people.

I mean, you're the first African American to be appointed as the FCC Chairman, the first to be designated as the U.S Ambassador to the European Union.

You serve on the board of Yale University, that's your alma mater.

And today you serve on many boards, including Ford Motor Company, and you are the chairman of the board of AT&T, what a distinguished American you are.

I'm pleased and privileged to have you on "Side by Side."

You have been named by U.S. News & World Report as the consumer champion for the digital age.

What does that mean?

- Well, first of all, I've been very blessed to have a lot of great opportunities in life, and I'm delighted to be here with you.

You are an incredible leader in your own right, and have done just wonderful things for this state, and really the country.

So it's a joy to be here.

- Thank you, Bill.

So what is this title?

You know, a consumer champion [Bill laughs] for the digital age.

What made him say that about you?

You were chairman of the FCC, and obviously, you've done some very significant things there, and then they defined you as such.

- Well, look, I've been, as I said, I've been very lucky.

I studied communications policy in college, when I think I was among one or two people who was interested in this, because this was all pre-internet.

- Yes.

- You know, no one was interested in communications policy.

And then in really a few short years later, I had, what I call, my Forest Gump moment, when I landed as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, literally at the dawn of the internet age.

The internet was just happening, wireless phones that, you know, have been clearly the most important technological revolution of our lifetime.

So, I find myself in this job, I was appointed by President Clinton, first African American chairman of that agency.

And I believed that it was my obligation to make sure that these wonderful technologies would serve everyone.

And so I devoted my tenure, my chairmanship, to bridging the digital divide, bringing that technology to the broadest number of people, and not only rural Americans, people living on Native American reservations, inner city kids, people with disabilities, because it's really the challenge of our time to make sure that this technology touches everyone and empowers everyone.

And it doesn't happen on its own, you have to work it, you have to partnership government, business to make sure it works.

- You know, and we'll come back to technology, but I've heard you tell the story on the very first day, showing up on the job at the FCC, [Bill laughs] and this wonderful, vibrant receptionist trying to do her job wondered about you.

- Well, look, I have been very fortunate because my generation of African American professionals had opportunities that were just not available to my parents' generation, my grandmother's generation, certainly.

And so, you know, when you show up, you're the first, and you get all sorts of responses.

You know, some people are, you know, sort of surprised, bewildered.

My first day on the job as general counsel of the FCC, I showed up early, eight o'clock, had a brand new tie, new briefcase.

I wanted to set the tone so I got there early, right?

- Yes.

- So I walk into the reception office, my new office, I introduced myself, and the receptionist, who would become my receptionist that day, looked at me in total shock, and she said, well, you know, "Why are you here?"

And I said, "Well, I'm the new general counsel," and her jaw drops and she says, "You're the general counsel?"

[Nido laughs] And I said, "Well, yes, what did you expect?"

And she said, "Well, I guess I expected someone who would be taller than you."

So you know, this phenomenon- - [Nido] So she was clever then.

- Well, she was, and I wish I had later, the mistake I made in life frankly, is once I got to know her, I didn't come back to her and ask her about that day.

- [Nido] Yeah.

- 'Cause I think it would- - You didn't fire her either.

- [Bill] Oh, no, no, no.

- You kept her and encouraged her.

- But it would've been a learning moment for both of us.

- [Nido] Yes.

- But this phenomena has happened to me and others of my generation 'cause we're the first, right?

And you know, it's happened so many times, I have a name for it, I call it black surprise, when you show up - Yes.

- and people don't expect you.

And of course, the challenge of being first, is to make sure you're not the last.

- Yes.

- Right?

And to open the door for others, and so when folks like me show up for important jobs, then it's not remarkable anymore.

That's our challenge.

- That's a wonderful challenge.

And we should all pay attention to it.

You went to law school at Yale.

Your wife, Deborah, of course, also is an attorney.

She also went to Yale.

And then you were appointed, first African American to be appointed as the U.S.

Ambassador to the European Union.

- Yeah.

That was a really interesting job.

I didn't think I'd go back to government after having served the first time at the FCC, but I got to know then Senator Obama and got involved in his campaign, and really loved what he wanted to do for the country and the world.

And so when asked me to serve, it's kind of hard to say no.

It was a wonderful experience.

Living abroad with my family was really a great privilege.

- What does the U.S Ambassador to the EU does?

- Well, the European Union collectively, it's 28 nations, primarily Western and Central Europe.

It's our most important ally on the planet.

It's, collectively, it's the largest economy.

We have more economic activity with the countries of the EU than any other country, you know, it dwarfs what we do with China.

So there's a lot of economic issues that we work on.

There are a lot of geopolitical issues that we work on with Europe.

When you think about it, any time there's a major disaster on the planet, whether it's an earthquake in Haiti or, you know, nuclear issues with North Korea or Iran, everyone looks to see what is the U.S. and European response gonna be.

So when you're Ambassador to the European Union, you're at the center of trying to catalyze that partnership in ways that promote American interests.

- Mm-hmm.

And they gave you their highest award, Transatlantic Business Award.

So clearly you represent us well, and you are a terrific ambassador.

You are still connected to technology.

You are the chairman of the board of AT&T Corporation.

You are the front end of technological discoveries and applications on this continent and beyond.

We've all heard a lot about 5G.

What is it?

Why should we care about it?

How does it impact our lives?

- Well, 5G is the next generation of cell phone technology.

We started with 2G, remember the old flip phone?

- [Nido] Yes.

- Then we had 3G when the phone became a computer, and you started to surf the internet on your phone, and then 4G, which was really phenomenal because it enabled phones to be GPS enabled.

And so we had a whole plethora of new business models that emerged like Uber and Lyft, and DoorDash, for example, all the location-finding weather apps on your phone.

5G is just the next generation of technology.

And there's no question that it will spark a whole new generation of applications.

So for example, some of the most important things that we're gonna see in 5G first are in the business world.

Because what 5G does, you know, an easy way of explaining it is it'll give you the kind of bandwidth on your phone that you might have in a fiber connection in your house.

So much greater bandwidth, much lower latency, much greater speed.

So downloading a two-hour movie in four seconds as opposed to 30 minutes.

- [Nido] Wow!

- So when you think about those applications, it's going to enable a lot of things that are gonna be in high demand.

The one thing that we're seeing now that is clearly gonna be 5G-enabled is virtual reality.

Mark Zuckerberg, as you know, has announced recently his move into the metaverse, huge investment by Facebook to create virtual reality.

- You know, there's a lot of talk, of course, about, whether it's Facebook, whether it's a 5G phone, whether it's other applications, about privacy.

- Yes.

- We are all concerned about our private lives and our private information.

What's your take on that?

- I think there's a huge demand by consumers for privacy.

And recently, you might have seen that Apple decided that they're going to give consumers the right to block advertisers from tracking them.

And a majority of their users want this feature.

People don't want to be monetized.

They don't want their data to be used to market goods and services.

So much so that Apple makes this announcement, a majority of their consumers decide that they want this feature to block advertisers, and Facebook's market cap, in one day, drop 300, $237 billion, the largest drop in market cap in the history of any company.

So you can see consumers want to protect their privacy.

And the technology industry collectively is gonna have to figure out a way to give consumers this choice.

- But that's a huge loss of revenue that goes against their strategic direction, right?

From growing the business.

I mean, if they don't sell that information, they don't share it, it will preclude them from making more money.

So there is a de-motivation process that these companies must go through.

Where am I wrong?

- Well, they'll find another way to, the business model will change.

But this notion that you click on a website to look at a pair of shoes, and for the next two weeks, you know, every time you open a device, a shoe advertisement pops up.

- Yes.

- People do not want that in their lives.

- [Nido] Yes.

- And businesses are gonna have to adapt and they will.

- And when you look at something like Facebook, sometimes it's confusing.

You're reading the stuff, and if you forget to see the word sponsored, then you assume it's news or assume it's real communication, when it's really an advertisement.

You serve on a number of boards.

You're chairman of AT&T, that's got to be a very big task, huge responsibility, mammoth size of a company.

But here's what I admire so much about you.

We have a number of friends in common, you and I, and I find out through the grapevine that you actually resign as director of another major corporation in this country.

And then I ask you privately, "Why did you do that?"

I mean, I don't know people who resign from a major corporation.

Your answer was, "I just want to allocate my time properly to the boards I'm on.

It was too much and I'm not gonna overdo it.

And I'm not gonna cheat anybody when I serve as a director."

Now, that's a remarkable trait, Bill, that I wish more of us would have that kind of integrity about our relationships.

You're on the board of an insurance company.

You're on the board of an automotive company.

You're on the board of a communication company.

You're on the board of an educational institution, among other nonprofits, and so on, that you serve, that must be very interesting.

- It is interesting.

I've enjoyed board service because it gives you a vantage point to see how businesses are adapting to changing economies.

So, you know, and my boards, I've been fortunate that I have a great window into communications and transportation, and financial services, you know, it's just interesting to me.

- And it brings you information, wisdom, - Yes.

- and knowledge.

You also have, you're also involved in another business.

- [Bill] Mm-hmm.

- You're helping fund innovative businesses and improving their lives.

Talk to me about that.

- Well, I've always been interested in the communications business.

And, you know, I've been in it long enough to have seen just waves of innovation, wealth creation, and societal changes.

And it's just fun to participate.

I've invested in a lot of broadband technologies, because when you think about it, in our lifetimes, broadband is equivalent to what the canal system was in the 19th century or the railroads in the 19th century, the highway system in the early 20th century.

You know, it is facilitating our economy in ways that are really profound.

And to be able to invest in it and understand it, and be a part of it, I feel very blessed and privileged.

- What does a learned person like you look at in terms of fundamentals when you invest in a company?

- People.

- People.

- People.

I tell my team, in my private equity life, that, don't think that you're investing in a particular business model or a company first.

You're investing in people because people are the thing that make business models work.

And I know you are a leader, and you see this in your life as well, that the most important thing you can do is find great people and empower them and enable them, you know, give them capital, let them pursue their ideas, and magical things happen.

I mean, that's a story of technology in America.

You know, people with nothing, coming up with great ideas, getting funding and changing the world.

It's pretty remarkable.

- Yeah.

You know what I look for in people are three things, intelligence, integrity, character, and energy.

Do you agree with those?

Do you add to that list, take away from that list?

- That's a great list.

I would add one other thing, and that's humility.

- [Nido] Humility.

- Because the leaders- - [Nido] That's part of character though, is it not?

- Yeah, it is.

It is.

But the leaders that I emulate the most in life, and I've had the opportunity to work with some great leaders, I put you on this list, by the way, they're humble.

They understand that their power is serving others and figuring out how to empower others to be successful.

- Create capacity in others.

- Exactly.

Leadership is an act of selflessness.

- [Nido] Yes.

- First and fundamentally, I think.

- I've always talked about relational capital.

- [Bill] Yes.

- What makes a person relevant to as many others as possible?

It's always feeding the other person, contributing first.

William Barclay, the Scottish theologian, said it best.

He said, "Always give without remembering."

- [Bill] Right.

- "Always receive without forgetting."

He wasn't just talking about money.

He was talking about, just what you said, being selfless, give of yourself, time, energy, mentorship.

- [Bill] Yes.

- I know that you do a lot of mentorship.

I know that you and I have had relationships and occasions where you were always willing to step up and step out.

As busy as you are, Ambassador Kennard, everybody wants your time, and your knowledge, and your gift of mentorship.

You have a love to plant seeds of greatness in the minds and hearts and souls of other people.

And that's a truly admirable trait in someone who's achieved as much as you have.

Tell me this.

When you look at our world as a whole, what worries you?

- A lot of things worry me right now about our politics and about the state of our country and the world.

But the thing that worries me the most, I would say, is that for too many Americans, they feel that the American dream has become elusive.

- [Nido] Hmm.

- That too many people in our country are feeling that they're no longer upwardly mobile, they're downwardly mobile.

There's a sense of economic insecurity.

We have to rebuild the middle class in this country.

Because this insecurity that we're seeing among primarily working people is creating huge volatility in our political system.

And it's making it harder for politicians, particularly in Washington, to come together and compromise.

And when people become desperate, they become susceptible to crazy conspiracy theories and to crazy ideas, political ideas that are unattainable, and that's where we are today.

So I really think that as a country, we need to address this in a serious way.

And by the way, this is not a U.S. phenomena.

Living in Europe, I saw this throughout the developed world, where part of it is the globalization of labor, and people feeling like they can't earn a living wage and buy homes, and have healthcare, and all the things that people need to feel secure and comfortable.

A lot of people aren't feeling that way.

- Well, what are we gonna do to change that?

- Well, I think it's important that we connect with working people and understand what their needs are.

- [Nido] We need to understand them.

- Understand their needs.

- Fears, needs, aspirations, goals.

- And there needs to be a government solution.

I mean, we've known for 25 years now that our social security system is fragile.

But for whatever reason, our political leaders can't come together and fix it.

The same with healthcare, the same with education.

And I feel that if we don't solve these problems, we're kind of moving into uncharted territory.

Because throughout our lifetimes, we've had the good fortune of having an expanding economic pie, and that creates political stability in our country.

And we have to return to that fundamental basis.

- So, Bill, let me give you a definition, as an immigrant, - Yes.

- I'm gonna give you my definition of American dream.

And please tell me where I'm wrong.

I define the American dream not as having money and buying big cars and living in a big home.

I define it more as the achievement of one's own goals.

Because if you don't define it that way, how do you say to a young person who goes to college and invests four years, five, six, seven, eight years to become an educator?

You know, what do you say to a third grade teacher who knows he or she's gonna be overworked and underpaid?

They have not attained the American dream.

They don't have a lot of money.

They work on a very humble pay, compensation.

To me, they've achieved the American dream because they've achieved their own goals.

Where am I wrong with that definition?

- Well, you're fundamentally right.

The problem is that there are too many people who are working in jobs that are vitally important to our society, teachers, healthcare providers, who are economically insecure because those jobs are not paying them enough.

They're not providing the kind of economic security that they need.

- But how do we finance it?

So let's take teachers, we all know that learning, education is the pathway to meaningful achievements in life.

How does the system pay teachers more?

Do you tax more?

Do we allocate funds in a priority basis?

Do you get the private sector to participate?

- Well, it's not just about funneling more money into those educational institutions.

It's also about running them better, more efficiently in ways that serve their constituents better.

I know you know a lot about this as an educator.

There's tremendous waste in our educational system as well.

- Inefficiencies, - Inefficiencies.

- lack of productivity, - Right.

- repetitive tasks that really could be streamlined.

- [Bill] Absolutely.

- I agree with you wholeheartedly.

What's next for Bill Kennard?

My goodness, Bill, you are a young guy.

You have done it all, and you are so much in demand on so many platforms on merit and by design because you bring relevance and value to everything that you do.

Certainly in the years I've known you, I've learned to respect you and find you to be a a comrade of the highest level of support and cooperation, collaboration for which I thank you very much.

What's next for Bill Kennard?

- At this stage in my career, I really am getting more satisfaction out of helping younger people achieve their dreams.

So a number of my investment activities revolve around helping people who are younger, who are hungry, who are trying to make that first big success in life with either a private equity firm or a company.

- [Nido] Or a scholarship.

I know that you invest in scholarships, - Yes.

- especially for students of color who may not have other support systems.

- Yeah, I've been very lucky.

I had some really important mentors.

And I think back at critical times in my career, when I got help from people and it wasn't a lot, it was a conversation or a helping hand, or somebody made a call for me or opened a door for me.

And I feel like I'm in a position to do that now for other people.

And it gives me great satisfaction to do that.

- It's called fulfillment.

- Absolutely.

- That's where joy comes from.

- Yes.

- Knowing that you are making a difference that makes the world a better place.

Bill, you've been in government, public sector, you're engaged in private sector to a great extent.

And what is the difference between the two?

One is very bureaucratic, my assumption, one is much more streamlined by definition, that they must perform, there are shareholders involved.

You work for the shareholders of a public company.

In your mind, what's the difference?

- [laughs] They're not that different.

I find that the leadership issues that we talked about are universal.

So the leadership qualities that you need in both are not that different, you know, humility, focus, discipline.

- [Nido] Communication skills, et cetera.

- Exactly right.

I think what's different is in many big companies I work with, they sometimes they feel like government, so, bureaucratic, you know, you have layers of bureaucracy.

Oftentimes what's needed in both is the ability to cut through the essence of the problem, cut to what's important.

That's what I learned in the private equity business.

Private equity investors are really smart in that in our business, you don't own businesses that long.

So you have to be very focused and understand what are the key levers that will make a difference?

- And be results oriented.

- And have a great sense of urgency and results oriented.

- And Bill, I can talk to you all day.

You are a great source of information, knowledge, and wisdom.

- [Bill] Thank you.

- They say artificial intelligence is the name of the game.

It's really, there's no such thing artificial wisdom.

And so when I meet a guy like you, I learn so much.

Thank you for being with me - My pleasure.

- on "Side by Side."

- Great pleasure.

- And blessings to you and all that you do.

- Thank you.

- [Announcer] Funding for "Side by Side," with Nido Qubein is made possible by... - [Announcer 2] Here's to those that rise and shine, to friendly faces doing more than their part, and to those who still enjoy the little things, you make it feel like home.

Ashley HomeStore.

This is home.

- [Announcer 3] For over 60 years, the everyday leaders at the Budd Group have been committed to providing smart, customized facility solutions to our clients and caring for the communities we serve.

[soft music] - [Announcer 4] Coca-Cola Consolidated is honored to make and serve 300 brands and flavors locally!

Thanks to our teammates.

We are Coca-Cola Consolidated, your local bottler.

[upbeat music]