Episode
SAP's Mark Niemiec - The Decision That Cost the Quarter, but Saved the Business
- Published
- Aug 30, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1849
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- http://www.benfanning.com/theceosessions/mark-niemiec-sap
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Summary
What happens when leaders face intense pressure to compromise short-term gains for long-term survival? In this episode of Lead The Team , host Ben Fanning sits down with Mark Niemiec , Global Chief Revenue Officer for SAP Customer Experience. Mark shares the story of a massive enterprise deal where his team walked away from a short-term commission boost to do the right thing for the business long-term—and why the customer’s head of procurement called days later to thank him for not "taking the bait." Key Takeaways & Highlights Don't Take the Bait: Why holding the line under extreme pressure builds enduring businesses. "Down and Out" Leadership: A game-changing framework learned at Cisco on pushing decision-making power to the front-line teams closest to the customer. Intellectual Honesty: The importance of holding "strong opinions, loosely held" and letting go of ideas when better facts arrive. The Premium on Judgment: Why high-level judgment and context are becoming the ultimate executive skills in the era of AI. Lead Through Influence: How to navigate culture and lead large teams without relying on command-and-control hierarchy. Episode Chapters 00:00 – "Don't Take the Bait": The Deal That Missed the Quarter 00:34 – Intro: Mark Niemiec (Global CRO, SAP Customer Experience) 01:32 – Discovering "Down & Out Leadership" at Cisco 03:36 – Front-Line Empowerment vs. Centralized Control 06:58 – The High-Stakes Deal: Choosing Long-Term Survival Over Short-Term Cash 08:30 – "You Didn't Take the Bait": The Call from Procurement 10:35 – Lessons from a $20/hr Temp Job: Making an Impact Fast 13:18 – The #1 Trait Every Leader Needs: Intellectual Honesty 14:20 – Strong Opinions, Loosely Held 17:10 – What to Do When the Playbook Fails 19:02 – Yoga, Solitude, and Stoicism for…