Bob Nardelli

04/29/19 • 30 min

On this week's episode of A Call to Lead, you'll meet Bob Nardelli, who has an extraordinary breadth of expertise from a series of CEO jobs: GE Power Systems, then Home Depot, and then Chrysler. Bob, who spent three decades at GE, has an incredible perspective on business, operations, and leadership in times of disruption. Here, he shares lots of great advice about building teams and finding opportunity amidst near constant global change. Here are five things that my team and I found particularly insightful:

Diversity is most powerful when it’s practiced with its broadest definition. “When I think about diversity, it's not numbers, it's diversity of thought, diversity of opinion, diversity of ideas. Nobody has a corner on that, male or female.”
We talked about the need for speed in a business landscape that is constantly shifting. “Change is the only constant. Like my good friend Roger Penske says, "It's like NASCAR. If I slow down, I'll get lapped, and I don't want to get lapped."
Don’t let someone else push you to deliver an outcome that you could have achieved without any outside intervention. “It's far better to challenge yourself and win, than to be driven to the same point [by someone else].”
Business leaders know what shareholders and employees expect. “Be your own activist. You know what they're looking for, why give them a free throw?”
Purpose matters in business - and so does inspiring your team with a mission that matters. “What is prevalent today is having purpose, having mission, having integrity, having compassion and an intellect to improve upon everything you do and your team does. How are you continuing to encourage them to improve every day?”

You can learn more by visiting: www.sap.com/acalltolead. And you can subscribe and listen to episodes on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and Stitcher. We welcome your feedback on the pod! Tweet me @JenniferBMorgan and use the hashtag #acalltolead or e-mail us at [email protected].

Diversity is most powerful when it’s practiced with its broadest definition. “When I think about diversity, it's not numbers, it's diversity of thought, diversity of opinion, diversity of ideas. Nobody has a corner on that, male or female.”
We talked about the need for speed in a business landscape that is constantly shifting. “Change is the only constant. Like my good friend Roger Penske says, "It's like NASCAR. If I slow down, I'll get lapped, and I don't want to get lapped."
Don’t let someone else push you to deliver an outcome that you could have achieved without any outside intervention. “It's far better to challenge yourself and win, than to be driven to the same point [by someone else].”
Business leaders know what shareholders and employees expect. “Be your own activist. You know what they're looking for, why give them a free throw?”
Purpose matters in business - and so does inspiring your team with a mission that matters. “What is prevalent today is having purpose, having mission, having integrity, having compassion and an intellect to improve upon everything you do and your team does. How are you continuing to encourage them to improve every day?”

Previous Episode

Sir Richard Branson

On this week's A Call to Lead, we bring you one of the greatest entrepreneurs and business builders the world has ever seen: Sir Richard Branson. I had the pleasure of talking with Sir Richard at a recent event hosted by SAP Qualtrics. We discussed what makes a great, creative leader and the gaps in consumer experience he saw and exploited in building the iconic Virgin brand and disrupting industries ranging from music to airlines to telecom to space travel. Sir Richard’s team was kind enough to let us take a few of the highlights from our conversation and create a short episode of A Call to Lead. Here are five points that the team felt stood out from my conversation with this one of a kind businessman, adventurer, philanthropist, and global icon.

Balance and wellness start with the individual but scale with a global mindset. Sir Richard noted that at Virgin, “We have a something...where the first thing you do is draw a circle around yourself. You make sure that you're looking after yourself, that you find time to keep fit, to keep healthy. You get the right balance...Then increase the circle a bit bigger, around your family, around your friends...around your town, your country, and ultimately when you have a global brand, you can draw a circle around the world.”

We’ve heard this from other guests before, but Sir Richard talked (again) about the importance of leaders stepping outside their opinions to listen, learn, and challenge their assumptions: “You've got to be a good listener. If you're running a company, or if you're running a department, you know what you think. You don't need to hear your own voice speaking.”

Loyalty matters. But loyalty is earned by the small things. Sir Richard talked about how important it is to put a spotlight on the all-stars that come up with great ideas. “If somebody comes up with a good idea, write it down. Thank the person. Give them credit for the idea, and they will stay with your company. They'll be very loyal.”

Culture matters and so does having an engaged workforce. Sir Richard talked about how that focus is pervasive at Virgin. “Everyday, you've got to be able to go into work feeling great about it. And if you feel that your company is not behaving in the right way, try to force change within your company. Ask the company to experiment.”

Building a performance-driven culture means offering great experiences to your people. Sir Richard talked about how he encourages all the Virgin companies to offer unrestricted vacation time to all employees. “At Virgin, we encourage all our companies to give indefinite holiday time. Paid. People get the work done, and they give back 100% in return. So in treating people as adults, the company will get everything back from those people.”

We hope you enjoy this episode! You can learn more by visiting: www.sap.com/acalltolead. And you can subscribe and listen to episodes on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and Stitcher. We welcome your feedback on the pod! Tweet me @JenniferBMorgan and use the hashtag #acalltolead or e-mail us at [email protected].

Where to Listen: Subscribe and listen to episodes on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and Stitcher.

---

Jennifer Morgan is a member of the Executive Board of SAP SE and President of SAP’s Cloud Business Group.

Next Episode

Dana Perino

On this new episode of A Call to Lead, you'll meet Dana Perino. Dana has seen leadership from some very interesting and unique vantage points. She served as the first female White House press secretary in a Republican administration for President George W. Bush. Today, Dana is a bestselling author, mentor, podcast host, anchor of Fox News' The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino, and co-host of Fox News' The Five. In our conversation, Dana shares lessons learned from her career journey including time in one of the most high pressure, public jobs there is: White House Press Secretary. Here are five things that my team and I found particularly insightful:

"I give three pieces of advice to young women: Don't be afraid to move. Find your strong voice. And choosing to be loved is not a career-limiting decision."
"Listening is probably the most important leadership quality that you can have."
"Choosing not to make a decision is a decision. It's not waffling and it's not weak."
To learn from smart bosses, be willing to "take the deputy job or the second-in-charge job."
"Find a way to be grateful every day and to express that gratitude."

Where to Listen: Subscribe and listen to episodes on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and Stitcher.

---

Jennifer Morgan is a member of the Executive Board of SAP SE and President of SAP’s Cloud Business Group.