Executive Decisions with Steve Sedgwick

Lord John Browne was one of Britain's most influential business leaders, transforming BP through a series of major acquisitions and publicly challenging the oil industry's approach to climate change. 

But throughout his career, Browne concealed his sexuality, influenced in part by lessons from his mother, who survived Auschwitz. In 2007, he resigned as BP CEO following a legal battle over a newspaper's plans to publish details of his private life. During those proceedings, his initial witness statement contained an untrue account of how he had met a former partner, which he subsequently corrected. 

In the latest episode of Executive Decisions, Browne tells CNBC's Steve Sedgwick how the experience shaped his understanding of honesty, fear and the importance of questioning assumptions. He also reflects on his landmark 1997 Stanford speech on climate change, the decisions behind BP's expansion, and his experiences doing business in Russia.

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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 Executive Decisions, Kapoor tells CNBC's Steve Sedgwick why he believes it's important to find opportunities for personal growth, how his approach to leadership has evolved and what he learned from hiring mistakes earlier in his career. 

He also discusses Morningstar's expansion into private markets, the challenges of leading through technological change and why AI is forcing businesses to rethink how they operate. 

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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 strong value proposition, an unusually close relationship with its consumers and exceptional performance at retail. He decided to invest his own family's money and become CEO. 

In this episode of Executive Decisions, Amin tells Steve Sedgwick how his family's immigrant experience and motel business shaped him, why curiosity remains central to his leadership style and how listening to e.l.f.'s community drives the company's product innovation. He also explains why he believes diverse teams are a competitive advantage — and the leadership philosophy behind his approach: “When people are looking at opportunities, I'm looking at strengths.” 

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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 shares with others: opportunities can be engineered, but their timing often cannot.

O’Hanley also discusses the curiosity that has guided his career, navigating the global financial crisis, leaving Fidelity without another job lined up and why an unexpected move to State Street eventually led to the biggest role of his career.

He also reflects on mistakes, leadership, responsibility and why even the most experienced CEOs should never believe they have everything figured out.

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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 arise, sometimes you should “take the reckless path.” For Winters, that doesn't mean being careless; it means being prepared to choose the less conventional route when it offers more to learn.

Winters also reflects on his 26 years at J.P. Morgan, the lessons of the global financial crisis and what it was like to be fired by Jamie Dimon. He explains why he subsequently ignored advice not to join the UK's Independent Commission on Banking and why, six years after leaving J.P. Morgan, he returned to mainstream banking to become CEO of a troubled Standard Chartered.

He also discusses the decisions behind Standard Chartered's turnaround, mistakes he made along the way, leadership, AI and why he believes ambition can sometimes become a curse.

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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 after just 11 days, Scaramucci was advised to disappear from public life. Instead, he chose to face his critics - a decision he says became part of a wider reckoning with his mistakes, his relationships and himself.  

He also discusses being fired and rehired by Goldman Sachs, the lessons he learned from market downturns, rebuilding SkyBridge and the fallout from its relationship with Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX. 

Through it all, Scaramucci says the lesson has been the same: own your mistakes, face the music and keep going. 

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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.

Orlopp also reflects on the path that brought her there, from nearly two decades at McKinsey to taking on Commerzbank's compliance function, becoming CFO just before the Covid-19 pandemic and later stepping into the CEO role.

She discusses how takeover pressure accelerated Commerzbank's strategy work, the challenges of restructuring and why she believes leaders need to be direct about what change will require.

Note: This interview was recorded on May 12, 2026. 

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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.

He discusses leaving McKinsey for Nielsen after an unexpected pitch from former GE executive Dave Calhoun, the lessons he learned from early career mistakes and why surrounding yourself with talented people can accelerate growth as a leader.

Hasker also recalls becoming CEO of Thomson Reuters on the eve of the Covid-19 pandemic, leading 25,000 employees through a period of uncertainty and helping transform the company into an AI-powered technology business.

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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 Vreeze discusses joining DSM with plans to stay only a few years, the family values and rebellious streak that shaped his leadership, and why he believes leaders should keep challenging what is already working. 

He also discusses ending a half-billion-dollar biofuels project, serving as co-CEO, leading the merger that created DSM-Firmenich and why treating assumptions as facts can be one of the biggest risks in decision-making. 

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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 communicate with confidence. 

Gitlin discusses his early fascination with financial markets, why he chose to study history instead of finance and the lessons he learned after being thrown into overnight trading in Asia with little experience and no roadmap. 

He also explains why he left T. Rowe Price - where he thought he would spend the rest of his career - to join Capital Group, helping transform one of the world's largest asset managers from the inside. 

Along the way, Gitlin shares how moving his family around the world influenced his biggest decisions, why he believes feedback is one of leadership's greatest gifts and why EQ will become even more valuable than IQ in the age of AI.

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