Brittany Carroll

I attribute my success to being real and authentic with people. I'm a widow - my husband took his life three years ago after an abusive situation - and I've learned that sharing my story and being honest about my struggles is what makes me an effective leader. I don't hide who I am. Everyone knows they're going to get the real me, and that's the core of who I am. I'm a servant leader - I really value that. I feel like I'm not going to get anything out of people if I don't fill their cup up first. I'm known for crying in meetings with my entire organization because that's just who I am, and it shows the raw me, the real me. I've found in my career that people trust people who are real like that, and they will follow them. I have people that say, wherever you go, I'm following you. I will follow you through war. I will go wherever you go, because I know success will follow. My core values are resilience, ownership, and authenticity. I believe that if you stay true to yourself, you're authentically yourself, you're choosing honesty, and you're owning what you do and what you say, you're going to be successful.

The best advice I can share is to never give up. No matter what happens, no matter what comes before you, always know that there is a way. If there's a will, there's a way. That's what I tell my team every day. There are things that come before us that are challenges - whether it's with our systems going down, whether it's a new rule that's implemented, whether it's the credit process and getting a customer approved, or something at home going on - you can always rise, you can always rebuild. That's a big core value for me, the resilience side. And that's why I share my story with my team, because I need them to understand that it is possible to move through whatever comes before you. You just have to find a way and be patient. You also have to take ownership. If I take ownership of my outcomes, then I can really believe in creating opportunities and not just sit and wait for them. I have to own the moment and sit and think through how I can navigate it, and then take action and move forward. I would say resilience and ownership are the two biggest ones, and then authenticity - that may be the biggest one actually. As long as you stay true to yourself, and you're authentically yourself, you're choosing honesty, and you're owning what you do and what you say, you're going to be successful.

I would say never give up. Never give up. No matter what happens, no matter what comes before you, always know that there is a way. If there's a will, there's a way. That's what I tell my team every day. Whether it's challenges with systems going down, a new rule that's implemented, the credit process, or something at home, you can always rise, you can always rebuild. I think resilience is a big core value. I share my story with my team because I need them to understand that it is possible to move through whatever comes before you. You just have to find a way and be patient. You also have to take ownership. If you take ownership of your outcomes, then you can really believe in creating opportunities and not just sit and wait for them. You have to own the moment, think through how you can navigate it, and then take action and move forward. The third thing, which may be the biggest one actually, is authenticity. That is a really big thing with my team and how we operate, and really T-Mobile at the core. T-Mobile is really big about being authentically who you are, and valuing that, and then being true to that. Not ever letting anyone influence you in a way that's going to hurt you negatively or make you feel bad about yourself. As long as you stay true to yourself, and you're authentically yourself, you're choosing honesty, and you're owning what you do and what you say, you're going to be successful.

One of the biggest challenges that I think is not talked about enough is being a woman in this field at my level. I have to be very careful about how I communicate, because it can kind of come off rude instead of being genuine and coming with real, true needs of the business and the organization. So I have to really think out what I'm going to say before I do anything - whether I'm in a meeting with my boss, whether I'm even in a meeting with my own people or partners in another field that I work alongside. I have to be very careful about how I speak. That's a big challenge for me, because I am an outspoken person. I'm just up front. And sometimes that can come off brash, and sometimes I feel as though a man can do that differently. They can say whatever they want, and people respect that. Outside of that, another challenge is being in a big corporate company. There's a lot of rules and regulations, and it makes it tough to be creative the way that I would want to be creative. I've had to sort of get scrappy and find ways to be creative that's not pushing any boundaries with the corporate world, but still making it my own and leading my team with compassion and love. That could be very lost in a corporate environment, especially with a company as big as T-Mobile. It's very easy to lose that passion. In a corporate world, at my level, I'm sort of the middleman. I have to appease the shareholders and the VPs, but I also have to take care of my front line. That's my number one. I have to find that balance, and that can be really, really tough in this industry, no matter who you are.

The most important values to me are authenticity, honesty, and being a servant leader. I really value being real with people and sharing my story with others. Everyone knows they're going to get the real me, and that's the core of who I am. It starts with being a servant leader - I really value that. I feel as though I'm not going to get anything out of people if I don't fill their cup up first. I'm trying to be the person that they look to, that they look up to, that they trust. Trustworthiness is a huge thing for me. I'm known for crying in meetings with my entire organization because that's just who I am, and it shows the raw me, the real me. I've found in my career that people trust people who are real like that, and they will follow them. Beyond that, resilience and ownership are critical values. I believe you can always rise, you can always rebuild, and if you take ownership of your outcomes, you can create opportunities instead of waiting for them. And authenticity - that may be the biggest one. T-Mobile is really big about being authentically who you are, and valuing that, and being true to that. Not ever letting anyone influence you in a way that's going to hurt you negatively or make you feel bad about yourself.