[rapid chiming music] - Hello, I'm Nido Qubein.

Welcome to Side by Side.

My guest today is the definition of the American dream.

Overcoming a difficult childhood in Richmond, California's public housing, all the way to serving as the top executive of Mark Cuban's NBA team, as the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks.

We're talking about painful adversity, poignant success, and the purposeful joy of leadership and helping others with my friend, Cyntia "Cynt", Marshall.

- [Narrator] Funding for Side-by-Side with Nido Qubein is made possible by... [buoyant music] - [Female Narrator] 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 Home store.

This is home.

- [Second male Narrator] The BuddGroup is a company of everyday leaders making a difference by providing facility solutions through customized janitorial, landscape and maintenance services.

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Thanks to our teams.

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[rapid chiming music] - [Nido] Cynt Marshall.

Welcome to Side by Side.

I'm so glad to see you.

I'm going to begin this interview in a way I've never begun before.

- [Cynt] Okay.

- I'm just going to give you some numbers.

9-4-8-0-4.

- Oh, that means a lot.

That's the zip code in Richmond, California.

It's where my story began.

Yes.

I arrived there when I was three months old.

Parents left Birmingham, Alabama, and that's where we ended up.

And there was some good things that happened there, but also some bad things that happened there.

Poverty, domestic violence, broken nose in high school at the hands of my father.

Left us when I was 15 years old with nothing.

Still in 9-4-8-0-4 though, we we made a comeback because my mother said zip code doesn't matter, education does.

- And Cynt you have gone from there, to the mountaintop.

You have served as President of ATNT North Carolina.

You have served as the Head of HR for ATNT everywhere.

You today are the Chief Executive Officer of Mark Cuban's Dallas Mavericks.

And in between and beyond, there are hundreds of things that you've done to make this world a better place.

How does one go from 9-4-8-0-4, to where you are today?

- It's the Village.

It's the Village.

It's the Village deciding that 9-4-8-0-4 is an okay zip code to make sure someone gets a great education.

The Village decided that my zip code didn't matter.

And so I landed on Berkeley's campus had all kinds of opportunities to actually lead.

- You got a bunch of scholarships too, did you not?

- I got five full scholarships to the college of my choice.

- Five offers to go to school, tuition free, to college.

What were they?

Berkeley?

- I went to the college of my choice.

I mean, so all the Ivy leagues were coming at me.

Stanford.

I mean, so the five scholarships said "You can go anywhere you want to go".

- Safe to assume you are gifted academically.

- Yes - And your intelligence was off the charts.

- Yes - That helped a little bit?

- I skipped the fifth grade.

So yes, I was.

I was smart.

I'm still smart [laughs loudly].

- Well, you're smarter.

You're wiser today.

- I'm wiser, I'm wiser today.

- You took intelligence and turned it into wisdom.

- Yes!

- So say, just run me through this because I want to understand the chapters of your life.

- Yes.

- You started with poverty and some abuse, and you went to the mountaintop, but along the way you traveled and you passed a lot of guideposts.

- Yes.

- What, what were some of those guideposts?

Good and bad.

- Okay.

Well, I think about when the situation, when my father left us and my mom just told us.

I mean, we were all crying and devastated and we walked in and she just said, "God will take care of us."

And she just had us focus on school.

Education was everything.

She put two books in my hand.

A math book in one hand, and a Bible in the other and said.

[Nido Qubein murmurs] "If you keep your head in these two books, you will get out.

You will get out of poverty and you will be okay."

So she didn't let us dwell on our circumstances.

There were a lot of things happening in our neighborhood, that you know, she wouldn't let us do, but she just kept us very focused on school and church and on activities.

And on being leaders, and making the right decisions, even as kids.

And so in high school, I was involved in everything because I had teachers, faculty members, educators that all just wrapped their arms around me, which is why I always think education is just a great equalizer.

And then when I got to Berkeley, I remember my first day on campus, looking at the big buildings and I was a little bit nervous.

And I just heard these words that were always repeated in my life.

"Dream, focus, pray, and act".

So... - Dream?

- Focus, pray [in unison] - and act.

Those were the four words.

And I started having big dreams, - In that order?

- In that order.

And so my big dreams and the big dreams of other people got me on that campus that day.

So I'm this kid from 9-4-8-0-4, on Berkeley's big campus, looking at these big buildings.

And I thought "Okay.

I gotta focus.

"I gotta be big.

I got to do this.

This is my future."

I put my boyfriend on hold for the whole time I was in college.

The whole time.

And said "I got to focus".

- Tell me about your boyfriend.

Cause I know this story.

- [laughs loudly] My boyfriend called me, my first week on campus and said he had changed schools and he had moved schools.

He was three hours away from home now, near me.

He said "I'm across in San Francisco at San Francisco State University, because I want to be closer to you.

Surprise!"

And I said "Surprise back, buddy.

I'll call you when I graduate".

- Wow.

- I said, because I said... - Speaking of focus... - I said, I I got to handle my business.

I mean, those words, that's why it's important to put the right words - Yes - in young people.

And so I said "I got to focus.

I got to stay on track.

I'm at Berkeley now.

I know what this means for my future.

And I'll call you when I graduate."

And so the day I graduated, I called him - And he was still there?

- He was still there.

And I told him... - Was he waiting for you?

- No, he wasn't.

He was that he was engaged.

He told me I was all excited telling him, "I just graduated."

He said, I haven't talked to you in four years.

I said, I told you I was going to call you when I graduated.

I said, "I just graduated at two o'clock, it's three o'clock.

My mom's having a party at six, still in the project, still at 9-4-8-0-4.

I said, but you got to come to the party."

And he said, he couldn't, because he was engaged.

And now I've been married to him 38 years.

[both laugh loudly] He came to the party.

- Is that perseverance?

Is that?

What is that?

- Oh, he came to the party.

I think it was love.

I guess, I guess.

So he came to the party, and then of course we started our journey and got married two years later.

- Yes?

And that journey has been difficult since?

- Yes.

Yes.

We, we said we immediately wanted to have kids.

You know, I had this little plan, where go to college and then I'm going to get out, and get married two years later.

So did that and then start a family. '

And we ended up having, we spent 10 years having miscarriage after miscarriage.

Second trimester miscarriages.

And then we had a daughter, finally, who was born four months premature.

And she died at six months old.

Special K. Her name was Carolyn with a K. And it taught us a lesson.

First of all, it taught us that she was here for a reason because the the hospital learned a lot from her condition and actually figured out a cure for her condition.

- Wow.

- Now that was exposed.

Okay.

So, so she was here for a reason.

But also to teach us, to teach me, that I'm not in control.

That the Lord had another way to make our family.

And so now we have four beautiful adopted children who all have their own stories, their own abuse, abandoned, neglect stories.

And that's my family.

- Wow.

- That's my family.

- Wow.

Cynt, you, you you literally climbed the ladder of success with AT&T, a huge company.

You did it as a female and you did it as a woman of color and you didn't pay attention to either one of those two facts.

You just kept moving on up.

- Yeah, well, I always see it as a double blessing.

- Yes?

- Not everyone sees it that way.

- Yes?

- I mean, so I had a 36 year career, but it wasn't every day wasn't Sunday.

I mean, there was some people who had difficulty embracing a woman, embracing a black woman, so... - How did you do it?

Did you do it by sheer force of your accomplishment and performance?

Did you do it by building great relationships?

But what is it that, what is it that causes one to do what you've done, and others are unable to do the same.

- Okay.

So, so it's all of what you said.

Okay.

It's relationships, having mentors and sponsors and people who believe in you, but also having people who will teach you the rules of engagement, teach you corporate culture.

Because obviously this is all new to me.

So you have to have somebody to do that.

- Did they teach you that at 9-4-8-0-4?

- No, they did not.

No, they did not.

And so someone to tell you how to take your career into your own hands.

I remember I had a boss.

One time, he goes, they used to call me Cindy back then.

He says, "Cindy, what are you going to do next?"

I just started an engineering job.

And I said, "I don't know Mr. McBride, your job."

My job was to do my current job, because results matter.

That's number one.

- Yes.

- Deliver the goods.

- Results matter.

I said in "My job was to deliver the goods.

Your job is to deliver my next job.

You will tell me what to do next."

He said, oh, Cindy followed me to my office.

And so I followed him and he had his whiteboard up and he started laying out a career path for me.

- Wow.

- And he said, and what I want you to know is, he says, "Never leave your career to anyone else.

You have to take charge."

Yes, you do have to deliver the goods.

And yes, you do have to focus on your job, but you also have to think ahead, and you have to take ownership too, for your career.

And I was, I guess, 23 years old at the time.

- Did you understand what he was saying?

- Yes.

Because he laid it out for me.

- And your mom before that had laid the foundation for you?

- Exactly, exactly.

So I knew exactly what he was saying.

He was just basically saying, "don't go overboard.

Don't just put it in somebody else says hands.

Be accountable.

Be accountable."

And which is a lesson that I have learned in my life with not just work, but everything.

You have to be accountable.

And then you have to take action.

And that's what dream focus, pray, act.

That's what my mom taught us.

Things aren't just going to come to you.

You have to take action.

And that's also what he was telling me.

And so from then on, we laid out the career path and I said, okay, "What exactly do I want to do in this company?"

I want a job where I can lead big teams.

I want technical jobs because the technical company.

Then I want non-technical.

I want to go out and recruit people.

So we laid out this whole path for me.

And it, it worked out.

And there were some bumps along the way... - Of course.

- But then there were some great pluses and surprises along the way.

- So what are the two or three pieces of advice you would give young people today?

The world has changed and it's changed a lot.

The world is more, you know, as, as Tom Friedman said in his book, "The world is flat."

"Yes".

Today, you could work with this company, but like ATNT is a, is a global company, in many ways.

And so there's more competition.

There's more demands.

Young people generationally have different needs and aspirations and goals and fears.

So what are the two or three pieces of advice that you would say to someone?

Do these things, if you want to achieve an extraordinary career, extraordinary life, a balanced life.

- I would say "You have to develop a very strong work ethic, no shortcuts."

- What is a strong, define a strong work ethic.

- No shortcuts.

You might be up working late when other people are asleep.

You have to prepare.

You can't just rely on other people.

There are some things you might not think you should do.

Maybe you don't think you should prepare that PowerPoint presentation.

Maybe you think somebody else over there should.

No, you have to do it.

I still do that right now.

- Yeah, Cynt, today you are leading an organization that has employees, has players and employees and, and back of the room operators and all of that.

You think you could say that to young people today?

And say "your work ethic has to be your long hours, give it all it takes, be responsible for your performance".

Or do you think generationally, people have different outlooks on what work is and where work, you know, is placed in their priorities?

- You have to work hard.

You do have to put in the time.

Now it's not maybe sitting at a desk.

Maybe it, maybe it looks different these days, but you can't just give it one or two hours and think somebody else is going to put in the rest of the time.

And you learn in that process.

You learn in that process.

And that's what I always wanted to do.

So some things are constant, so to have that work ethic, But also keep a balance, keep a balanced life.

Integrate your personal and your professional.

Get in touch with your passion.

Kind of know what your purpose is.

And sometimes the passion and purpose won't always come together.

But you just keep trying until you have a job in an environment where we'll all come together and then be open, because we can lay out a plan, but you don't really know what's around that corner.

And all of a sudden, some opportunity will come up.

Like me moving to North Carolina.

Or me moving to Dallas.

Some opportunity will come up and then you'll realize why.

Because of your work ethic, because of your relationships that you have, where you can call on people to help you with things, because of your intellect, because of your passion, you have a foundation to actually say "yes" to this opportunity that's so new.

And that you may not even know the subject matter, like me not knowing the business of basketball.

- Yes.

- But I knew people.

I knew how to lead.

I practiced my three L's of leadership.

Listen, learn, and love.

So listen to the people, learn from the people, love the people.

That's how I got... - What has been the most challenging obstacle for you with the Dallas Mavericks?

- I think the most challenging thing has been to institutionalize a new inclusive culture, a values-based culture, while also purging an old culture.

- How do you do that?

- You do that in a few ways.

It starts with a vision, and you lay out what the vision is.

You make that very clear for the people.

And so day one, I said "Our vision is that the Dallas Mavericks would set the global standard for diversity and inclusion, workplace culture, period."

We would set it, not just in the NBA, but we would set that standard.

Period.

Then I laid out a set of values.

This spells CRAFTS.

Character, Respect, Authenticity, Fairness, Teamwork, and Safety.

- How do you teach character?

How do you monitor character?

- Well, first of all, you role model it.

That's the first thing you have to do.

And what I say is you, there's a difference between doing things right, Which we often learn, especially in school and doing the right thing.

So you have to role model for people doing the right thing.

And you have to talk about it.

You have to give examples.

And I give as you know, tons and tons of examples of where I learned about character and what that looks like.

And so then we celebrate it.

We celebrate it in our workplace.

- I see.

- We do... - You announced it, you talk about it, you ... - Oh, we talk about it, all the time.

- You reward people for the good things.

- Oh yes.

We have our character awards, and all that.

And then the safety piece, is physical and emotional safety.

And so we kind of lay out, we talk about it, we have our sessions, what it is, what it looks like, what it looks like in all aspects of our business.

- Is this for the staff?

- Yeah.

This is what for, for, for the staff.

The players, the entire organization.

- The players actually gather in the staff meetings with you?

Or they do separate meetings?

- We do separate and so we roll out the values and our code of conduct and all that.

And and we've put a code of conduct in place.

We kind of, we, we, we laid it out in writing.

What does values based employment looks look like?

I mean, you have to give it to people.

You have to show it to them, and you have to reward it.

But then you also have to dismiss it when someone is not, you know... - Showing what they gotta be doing... - Yeah.

And, you know, we did that.

- Yes.

- We had to let some people go.

We had to let people know we were serious.

And so it was the vision.

It was the values.

It was a hundred day plan that focused on modeling zero tolerance.

So when ... [speaking interrupted] - And you came out of retirement to do this... - Yes!

Yes!

[laughs] - What?

Why?

What made you get out of it?

You were happy.

You're having retirement.

You were going to travel and change the world.

And all of a sudden, you had to go and take care of some issues at the Dallas Mavericks.

- Because my old words came back to haunt me.

I wrote a blog post the morning.

It just so happened, the morning the Mark Cuban called me.

I wrote a blog post called "Impact", because I was being impacted by these teenagers, who were protesting in Parkland, Florida.

And then by the Reverend Dr. Billy Graham, who had passed away at 99 years old, who had input, who had been a big influence in my life.

And so I said, and here I am, age wise, smack-dab in the middle.

They're having an impact on me.

What impact am I going to have?

So I wrote a blog post that morning.

- Wow.

- And then I got this call.

And... - Mark Cuban saw the blog and called you?

- No, no.

I just, I put it aside.

And then later I got the call from Mark Cuban.

I didn't know him at the time.

Believe it or not.

I went to see him.

He's telling me what was going on.

He was sincere about a culture transformation, said he had gotten my name and all that.

Walked out of his office, two women stopped and talked to me and told me their stories.

And between what Mark was telling me, And why he thought I was uniquely qualified to do it and what these women were telling me, and then it hit me.

My words came back.

I said "impact."

There's an opportunity to really impact this situation.

- Make a difference.

- And for some reason, I'm being the one chosen to make a difference here.

- Tell me how you negotiate your salary with Mark Cuban.

- Well, when I first sat down with him and at the end of the conversation, he said "Okay, so what will I have to pay you?"

I said "Well, I haven't decided that I'm going to do, do it yet" - A lot.

- I said, yes.

I said, I'm in retirement.

So I'm coming out of retirement.

And I have a lot of things I'm going to have to put on hold.

I had just started my consulting company.

- Yes.

- So I said, so there, and I'm going to be focused 100%.

So there's a lot of stuff I'm going to have to say no to.

So I got to quantify all that.

And then I just wrote down a number and he said... - You got what you wanted?

- And he said: "I'm not sure I play pay some of the folks here that," I said "But they're not me."

- They don't call you "Cynt, The Spirit" for nothing.

- Right?

I said.

I said that that's not that.

You're asking me to come and do some heavy lifting here.

And yes, he gave me what I asked for.

- Wow.

- Oh yes.

- Where did you get "Cynt, The Spirit?"

- Cynt THE SPRINT.

Cynt, the Sprint.

- Oh, Cynt, the Sprint?ú - Yes, Cynt, the Sprint, because I ran track.

Yes.

I ran for like 10 years growing up, from probably age seven until seventeen.

I didn't run in college, though.

That was totally focused on academics.

And I had an academic scholarship.

Yes.

- But I was quick.

- You were the first in your family to go to graduate from college?

- Yes, correct.

- And what did you major in?

- Business administration.

Yes.

I started out as an engineering major, straight A's and took one business class and said, "okay, this is what I'm supposed to do."

- Wow.

- I'm supposed to ... [speaking interrupted] - It's quite a shift.

From engineering, to business.

- It is a shift, but it is not a shift.

Okay.

I'm very numbers focused, very disciplined.

I've got to have my equations laid out.

So I still use all my engineering and all my math every single day.

Every single day.

Some, some stuff is just foundational.

- Just run us through your daily routine, to the extent that you're comfortable, you are full of life.

- Yes!

I've never known you when you were not excited.

[Cynt laughs] - You want to change the world.

You're being kind and calm today because we're on television, - "Yeah, you know I'm wild!"

- Yes!

But you're "a go get them" kind of creature.

- Yes, I am!

I am!

And I want to know what your day looks like.

What time do you get up?

What do you do?

What do you eat for breakfast?

What happens when things don't go your way?

What happens at the end of the day when you're tired?

What happens when somebody whines to you and how you deal with it?

- Okay.

- All right.

So I get up about 5:45 AM and the first thing I do, I go through the house and I lift all the blinds.

I mean, I just, I have to bring the light in.

- Okay.

- I, and I'm not one of those that I don't go to bed with all this stuff up because I don't want anybody looking at my house.

[both laugh loudly] So anyway, I lift all the blinds, bring the light in.

Then I go into my prayer closet.

So I have a little place in my house, where I go in, I listen to my normal songs, like, you know, like Above the Day and all that.

So I got my little songs, my spirituals, I listen to.

Say my prayer.

I got a little wall there, I've got names up there so people that I pray for... - You do that everyday?

- Yes, everyday.

- Everyday?

- Everyday.

So I do all that because ... - It's your mom's advise?

- Yes, it's my mom's.

Yeah.

And you just math book and a Bible math.

- Focus.

Pray.

Act.

- Math book and pray, okay.

And so I do that and then I've already printed out, like my schedule for the next day.

And it's also my phone.

So I just kind of refresh on what I know I need to get done.

Then I get all dolled up and beautiful.

And if I'm working at home, I go into my home office, just so like, I'm at work.

Or if I'm going to office, then you know, I'm heading into, you know, to, you know, where the arena is.

And either it's, I'm having a one-on-one with one of my team members, or a meeting with one of the employees, because I still like to not just meet with my executive leadership team, but everybody else.

I'm talking to a sponsor, so I'm helping my folks work, sponsorship deals.

Then we look at our marketing activities, and right now, because we're, pre-seasoned, we're getting all of our preseason stuff lined up.

I will talk to our new general manager, and our new coach.

Like right now, we're doing a lot of work around values.

- Do they report up to you?

- No, they actually report directly to Mark.

- I see.

- But they call me "Boss Lady".

Okay.

They call me boss lady.

So I guess they think they report to me, but they don't.

- Yes.

I'm just in there trying to help them get acclimated and all that.

And then let's see, we look at our, like right now, I'm hiring a Chief Technology Officer.

So this week I've spent a lot of time in interviews.

So working on my staff kind of things.

And then we do a lot in the community.

So I'm on boards and all that, representing the Mavs.

So I might be on a call with the Texas Women's Foundation.

I was at a mall the other day, early in the morning because we're taking pictures and doing the whole video shoot.

- Yeah.

So I do a lot of community stuff too.

- Well, I mean, I know, I know the time that I owe you a favor for, because you, you are going to interview former President George W. Bush.

- Yes.

And because we needed to do something with us, you gave that up and you got somebody else to do it.

And you're known - this is your reputation, that you, you stand up for your friends.

You're there when you're needed.

- Yes.

- You give what's expected of you.

And then some.

And you're modest about how you got the way where you are, but you've, you've paid your dues.

You've earned your wings, mostly have earned the respect of other people, but your leadership, and that's why you've won so many awards and so many recognitions.

What's next for you?

- [breathing heavily] Oh, I think I'm going to contribute to boards.

So I'm going to be on corporate boards and, and it's not even about, you know the money, or just having my name out there.

It's about wanting to help these corporations be better, to help them really embrace kind of the, the, the students that are coming in, the diversity that's coming in.

So to really try to make a difference around corporate governance and that kind of thing.

So I'm gonna do boards, I'm gonna write a book.

I'm actually writing a book right now.

- What will the book be about?

- The first one is going to be about my cancer journey because ... - Your cancer journey?

- Cancer, because 10 years ago, I was going through brutal chemotherapy right about now.

Well, I had just ended it right about now.

So I'm going to write about that journey.

I'm going to write about going through stage three, colon cancer, almost stage four, and that whole journey and the people who were on it with me and I was chosen for that journey.

And so I write about it.

Yes.

And so we're going to do that.

- Did you have doubt through that period of time?

- Oh.

Yes.

Yes.

There's nothing like hearing those words :"Sit down.

I have something to say, that's bad, and significant.

You have stage three cancer."

- What helped you through it Cynt?

- My faith, definitely my faith.

I think a sense of optimism because I mean, I knew I was going to be okay.

My mom, her words were, "This is for God's glory.

So you're going to be okay, and it's going to be public.

So let's get ready."

Those were my mom's words when I told her I had cancer.

So she just let me know right then we're going to be okay.

So I want to I write a book about that, then I want to write a book about motherhood, about raising children, adopted children.

I want to write a book about corporate America and being a woman and a black woman.

- Amazing thing is that you have experienced all that.

- Yes!

- So you will speak with a sense of authority about subjects that you know, that you've traveled.

Cynt, we could talk for hours.

- Yes!

[upbeat triumphant music] - Your life is an amazing story.

It is the American dream at its best.

You continue to do amazing things, not only in your profession, but beyond you.

Thank you for who you are.

And I thank you for being with me, today.

- I thank you.

We are blessed.

Thank you.

- [Narrator] Funding for Side-by-Side with Nido Qubein is made possible by... [buoyant music] - [Female Narrator] 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 Home Store.

This is home.

- [Second male Narrator] The BuddGroup is a company of everyday leaders making a difference by providing facility solutions through customized janitorial, landscape and maintenance services.

[rapid gentle chimes] [country pop music] - Coca-Cola consolidated is honored to make and serve 300 brands and flavors locally.

Thanks to our teams.

We are Coca-Cola consolidated.

Your local bottler.