One Cell Tower Survived | Chris Hillabrant, CEO of Crown Castle

Chris Hillabrant was only days into a new role in New York when the September 11 attacks changed everything.

As communications infrastructure across Manhattan began to fail, his team discovered they had one cell site still standing.

What happened over the next 72 hours became one of the defining leadership moments of his career. Technicians drove into the city, manually hauled thousand-pound equipment dozens of stories to triple the site's capacity, opened the network to competitors, redirected hundreds of surrounding antennas toward Manhattan, and helped provide 10,000 cell phones to first responders coordinating rescue efforts.

Now the President and CEO of Crown Castle, Chris shares the leadership lessons that crisis forged—and how they continue to shape the way he builds teams today.

In this episode, Chris discusses:

• What leading through the chaos of 9/11 taught him about communication and trust
• Why preparation is only the starting point—and adaptability wins in a crisis
• The leadership decision to help competitors when lives were on the line
• How to develop leaders who are ready before the crisis arrives
• Why the best career opportunities are often the hardest assignments
• The importance of succession planning and building a deep leadership bench
• The surprising childhood failure that taught him to obsess over customers
• Why raising your hand for difficult challenges has shaped every stage of his career

Whether you're leading a global organization or a small team, this conversation is a masterclass in leading with clarity, courage, and purpose when the stakes couldn't be higher.

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