Executive Decisions with Steve Sedgwick
‘Executive Decisions’ is a CNBC podcast offering a rare window into the minds of top decision-makers. Hosted by seasoned financial journalist Steve Sedgwick, each episode explores the pivotal choices that shape the careers and legacies of influential business leaders and policymakers. Through candid conversations about risk, doubt and conviction, the series reminds us that even the most powerful face uncertainty and trade-offs. The first season of 'Executive Decisions’ will launch on November 11th.
Episodes
Kunal Kapoor faced a choice early in his career: accept a higher-paid job in banking or join a little-known investment research firm called Morningstar.
Despite encouragement from those closest to him to take the more secure option, Kapoor trusted his instincts and chose Morningstar. Nearly three decades later, he's still there — having risen through the ranks to become CEO.
In the latest episode of Exec...
Tarang Amin wasn't looking to run a cosmetics company when the opportunity to invest in e.l.f. Beauty came his way. He thought the category was crowded, fragmented and lacked differentiation. But Amin followed a rule that had served him throughout his career: “It never hurts to have a conversation.”
That conversation changed his mind. After looking more closely at e.l.f., Amin saw a digitally native brand with a st...
Ron O’Hanley was on track for a successful career at McKinsey when Mellon Bank offered him the chance to leave consulting and run a business. He initially turned it down — only to reconsider the decision three months later.
In this episode of Executive Decisions, the State Street CEO tells Steve Sedgwick why changing his mind turned out to be “the best thing I ever did” and shaped a career lesson he still sha...
Bill Winters planned to become a diplomat. Instead, a job at J.P. Morgan led him into banking and eventually to a pivotal early-career decision: move into the emerging derivatives business despite knowing little about it.
In this episode of Executive Decisions, the Standard Chartered Group CEO tells Steve Sedgwick why that experience helped shape a career philosophy he still shares with younger colleagues: when rare opportunities ar...
Anthony Scaramucci’s career has included high-profile successes and setbacks.
In this episode of “Executive Decisions,” the SkyBridge Capital founder reflects on leaving Goldman Sachs to build his own business, why insecurity led him into the wrong job early in his career and the pride and ego that influenced his decision to join the Trump administration.
After being fired from the White House afte...
Bettina Orlopp took over as CEO of Commerzbank as the German lender was pushing ahead with a multiyear turnaround — and as UniCredit was building a stake that raised the pressure on the bank's leadership.
In this episode of Executive Decisions, Orlopp explains how she has approached leading through that pressure: staying calm, speaking candidly about difficult change and relying on trusted teams to deliver the bank's strategy.
...
Steve Hasker never followed a formal career plan. Instead, the Thomson Reuters CEO says his biggest decisions were guided by one question: Would he learn more by saying yes than by staying where he was?
In this episode of “Executive Decisions,” Hasker reflects on the childhood experiences that taught him resilience, the mentors who shaped his leadership and why the people around you can matter more than the role itself.
H...
After more than three decades at science-based firm DSM, Dimitri de Vreeze faced what he calls the hardest decision of his career: selling the materials business where he had grown up professionally.
In this episode of “Executive Decisions,” the DSM-Firmenich CEO reflects on why the decision made strategic sense, even as it felt deeply personal, and how it shaped his view that success is not a finish line.
De ...
Mike Gitlin never set out with a master plan to become CEO. Instead, his career has been shaped by a series of decisions to embrace opportunities that pushed him outside his comfort zone.
In this episode of Executive Decisions, the Capital Group CEO reflects on the family values that shaped his leadership, from lively dinner-table debates to mock trials with his father that taught him to think critically, listen carefully and ...
After 25 years at Dow, Ester Baiget left a business she loved to take on the top job at Novozymes — now Novonesis. It was not a move driven by ego, or a lifelong plan to become CEO. Baiget says she did not need the title. What drew her in was purpose, potential and a belief that she could help the company make a bigger impact through biology.
In this episode of “Executive Decisions,” the Novonesis CEO reflect...
After 26 years at Goldman Sachs, Robin Vince made a decision few senior Wall Street executives would make: he walked away without another job lined up. At 48, he chose to take what he called a “gap year,” turning down an immediate approach from BNY so he could step back and think carefully about what he wanted from the next phase of his life and career.
In this episode of Executive Decisions, the BNY CEO explains w...
Stéphane Boujnah, the CEO of Euronext, reflects on a pivotal decision to block a major merger, the origins of his conviction and the emotional weight of leading against the consensus.
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James Reed reflects on the decision that defined his career — taking the risk of joining the family business. The Reed CEO discusses failure, purpose and why standing still is the worst decision of all.
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At the start of his career, Lloyd Blankfein made a decision that would define the way he led — stop trying to fit in.
In this episode of Executive Decisions, the former Goldman Sachs CEO reflects on growing up in public housing in Brooklyn, arriving at Harvard as an outsider and learning that authenticity was more powerful than performance. He explains how that mindset shaped his rise through one of the most co...
At one of the highest points in her career, Amanda Blanc made a decision most executives would avoid — she walked away.
In this episode of Executive Decisions, the Aviva CEO reflects on leaving a senior role with no safety net, the judgment required to know when something isn’t right and how that instinct shaped the decisions she’s made since.
From leading Avi...
Vas Narasimhan never planned on becoming a CEO. In fact, he says the idea only hit him six months before he got the Novartis job.
He credits his rise to a lesson from his parents: throw yourself fully into whatever you’re doing, because you never know what comes next.
Narasimhan talks through the surprising roles that opened new doors, the crises that forced him to “stay in the ring” and why focusing ...
Thrust into the top job sooner than expected, Schneider Electric CEO Olivier Blum explains why leadership isn’t about making perfect calls — it’s about committing once you choose, following through with discipline and learning fast under pressure. He shares how he sorts reversible vs. irreversible decisions, builds teams that execute without micromanagement and how he stays steady when the stakes climb.
Shaped by family legacy, grit and a deep sense of responsibility, Jenny Johnson reflects on the pivotal decisions that took her from “the founder’s granddaughter” to the CEO of Franklin Templeton.
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Roy Jakobs reflects on the early experiences that shaped his leadership—from post‑war lessons in forgiveness to the resilience built through childhood asthma. In “Executive Decisions with Steve Sedgwick,” the Philips CEO explains why compassion must sit alongside hard, practical choices—and how those uncomfortable decisions prepared him to lead the company through its latest evolution.
Pinterest CEO Bill Ready reflects on the pivotal decisions behind his rise from small-town-Kentucky to Silicon Valley—and the bold move that reshaped the platform for a new generation.
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