Frank Slootman, CEO and Chairman of Snowflake and author of Amp It Up, discusses topics like being tough on yourself, confronting demons, judging talent, rejecting pride, and learning from the best in this entertaining podcast episode.
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Quick takeaways
Successful leaders confront unsatisfactory situations and find solutions.
High performers are driven by a fear of failure and strive for greatness.
Being a CEO requires urgency, constant judgment of talent, and the ability to handle pressure.
Deep dives
The importance of confronting unsatisfactory situations
Many companies develop narratives to live with unsatisfactory situations, but successful leaders have a burning need to confront them and find solutions.
The fear of failure and the drive to succeed
High performers fear failure and cannot accept unsatisfactory situations. They have a burning desire to address problems and achieve greatness.
The constant need to confront and take action
As a CEO, the speaker feels a constant sense of urgency to confront and address any situations or problems that arise. There is no room for complacency or procrastination.
The importance of balance in different areas of life
While the speaker exhibits intensity and drive in his professional life, he emphasizes the importance of balance and being laid back in other areas, such as family, recognizing the need to relax and enjoy imperfections.
The challenges and rewards of being a CEO
Being a CEO requires confronting challenging situations with urgency, dealing with constant uncertainty and pressure, and constantly judging talent and making decisions. It can be exhausting, but it is also highly rewarding when successfully pursuing goals.
Guest: Frank Slootman, CEO and Chairman of Snowflake and author of Amp It Up
Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman doesn’t recall a time in his childhood where new achievements were celebrated — because, according to his father, putting everything into your work and “leaving it all on the field” was the only choice. “The problem with it,” Frank says, is that “it becomes a ‘never enough’ dynamic, because when is it enough?” To this day, he comes home on Friday night and asks himself, “Did it mater that I was there? ... If I’m just a passenger on the ship, that’s my nightmare.”
In this episode, Frank and Joubin discuss acting with urgency, Shlomo Kramer, negative role models, Elon Musk, Teddy Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech, aptitudes and weaknesses, ServiceNow, and the life spark of business.