Grit

#115 Executive Board Member at SAP, Scott Russell: Chief Optimist Officer

Dec 5, 2022

01:02:09

SAP Executive Board Member Scott Russell used to avoid talking about his personal life with coworkers. But “we want to understand and relate to each other,” he says, and being more open has made people more willing to trust and follow him. “Authenticity, you cannot manufacture that,” Scott says. “When you’re only showing a part of who you are to your team, you’re not showing your true, authentic self.”

In this episode, Scott and Joubin discuss European business structures, three-year contracts, creating a positive impact, informed feedback loops, maintaining a good emotional quotient, too much optimism, tough phone calls, playing the movie forward, helping your community, life balance, implicit trust and authenticity, finding new opportunities, considering other points of view, and speedboats vs. load-bearers.

In this episode, we cover:

Living around the world and away from HQ (01:05)
Signing a three-year contract with yourself (08:09)
The responsibility of delivering $1 billion in revenue every week (11:55)
Getting to the truth when you’re near the top of a huge organization (14:07)
The unintended consequences of optimism (17:11)
Missing earnings and “what’s the worst thing that could happen?” (20:11)
Scott’s childhood in Australia and his lifelong passion for basketball (26:21)
Why the “work version” of Scott isn’t the best version (30:15)
Being authentic with coworkers and how to drive outcomes in your personal life (33:53)
The one place Scott’s family hasn’t been able to relocate happily (38:47)
Loyalty to your work and your family (42:42)
How competition drives better performance and keeps you honest (47:45)
Finding discipline in your schedule and forcing yourself to relax (54:46)
Where SAP is hiring, and Scott’s view of potential M&A or strategic partnerships (57:08)

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