May 6, 1997, is a day that Denise
Kitsock Gutstein '86 will certainly remember. It's
not only the day that she and her husband, Adam, founder
of nationally-recognized Diamond Technology Partners,
experienced the birth of their son, Grant. It's also the
day that Frontier Telephone (formerly Rochester [N.Y.]
Telephone) — the company she leads — and the
Communications Workers of America signed a contract after
eighteen months of labor strife.
Gutstein started with Rochester
Telephone as an assistant engineer just ten years before
her technical skills and experiences, business acumen,
and leadership propelled her to the presidency.
Established in 1899, the company serves some 400,000
customers, selling local phone, long distance, cellular,
and Internet-access service. It accounts for about
fifteen percent of the $2.6 billion in revenues each year
of its parent company, Frontier Corp., which focuses on
providing long-distance service.
An electrical engineering major at
Union, Gutstein chose Rochester Tel for two reasons: the
company's standing in a dramatically changing industry
and the terrific people. “I didn't want to go into
pure engineering, and Rochester Telephone offered a
program in which I could use my technical abilities
within a management track,” she says.
She entered a management program that
allowed her to gain experience in many areas of the
company and, over nine years, worked in engineering,
operations, and strategic planning.
It was Gutstein's technical expertise
— and her strong interpersonal skills — that made her
the top candidate for job as president in March of 1996.
Now, she oversees a major technical project as Rochester
Tel consolidates switching centers. She has also
assembled a management team and has put together a plan
for 1998 and beyond that incorporates significant change
into the very basis of how Rochester Tel does business.
“We are changing the business, making it easier for
customers to do business with us while strategically
differentiating ourselves,” she says.
Many attribute Gutstein's success to
her ability to work with others so well. She regularly
spends several mornings each week with workers on site,
listening to their concerns and suggestions. Gutstein
explains that her parents taught her that you can always
learn something from everyone, and she's always looking
to learn from her fellow employees.
At Union, Gutstein says she learned
problem solving and critical thinking skills that have
allowed her to excel. “I learned how to attack
problems logically and work through issues based on fact,
not emotion,” she says.
Even as one of only a handful of women
in her electrical engineering classes, Gutstein says that
she was never intimidated. When she began at Rochester
Tel and people told her that many men might be hesitant
to accept a woman in a leadership role, she was not
worried. “I went into each position not trying to be
the superstar, but rather comfortable that I was going to
learn from them while hopefully providing some critical
thinking,” she says.
Gutstein says her first year leading
the company was full of challenges. “It was a time
of learning, of building a team, and of understanding
priorities,” she says.
And how does she deal with the stress
of running a $320 million a year company? She doesn't
actually feel much stress, she says, explaining that her
confidence in her own experience and in her management
team and the potential of all employees minimizes the
stress. Still, she enjoys taking time out for tennis,
golf, volleyball, skiing, and, most importantly, her son.