Grit9 Jan 2023

#120 Chairman & CEO ServiceNow, Bill McDermott: Full Speed Ahead

“When you create something,” says ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott, “that gives you the ability to help and do good and achieve for the most people possible.” Bill left his first corporate job at Xerox for a short stint at Gartner, then served as CEO of SAP for nearly a decade. He made one more transition three years ago because he saw a great opportunity to help make ServiceNow a defining enterprise software company. “I knew it could happen,” he says. “What I didn’t know is just how unbelievably right I was.”

In this episode, Bill and Joubin discuss fist-pumps, shoplifting teens, Bill’s superpowers, needing to be needed, marriage as a partnership, why every relationship matters, difficult relocations, breast cancer, the FDNY’s chaplain, and the Medal of Honor.

In this episode, we cover:

Why Bill bought a deli when he was in high school — and how he competed against 7-Eleven (04:00)
Interviewing at Xerox and wanting it more than anyone else (08:17)
Unwavering optimism and being a source of strength for others (12:34)
How a love of work has shaped Bill as a person (16:44)
Facing challenges and keeping a promise to his father (22:00)
Enjoying the present and keeping an eye on the future (30:01)
Leaving Xerox for Gartner and learning from a tough experience (33:29)
Sloan Kettering and Father Michael Judge (39:22)
Following the “original dream” vs. building something new at ServiceNow (44:59)
Losing an eye and getting a pep talk from two Medal of Honor winners (51:15)
Why Bill started and ended his book with quotes from two Kennedys (01:01:21)

Links:

Connect with Bill
- Twitter
- LinkedIn
Connect with Joubin
- Twitter
- LinkedIn
- Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

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