“I’ve practiced martial arts my entire life, and it’s taught me some important lessons. Mainly, to never stand still—if you do, you’re asking to get hit. I apply this philosophy towards my work, too. If you don’t keep moving, and if you’re not willing to take risks, you’re never going to stay ahead of the competition.
This year, I set out to understand how others keep moving. So I started “Never Stand Still,” a video series and podcast where I had the chance to speak with industry leaders and public figures about how they stay motivated, find sources of innovation and keep moving forward, especially after they’ve been hit hard.”
Dan Schulman
President and CEO at PayPal
Published on December 13, 2018
My Year’s Worth Of Conversations With Leaders Who “Never Stand Still”
I’ve practiced martial arts my entire life, and it’s taught me some important lessons. Mainly, to never stand still—if you do, you’re asking to get hit.
I apply this philosophy towards my work, too. If you don’t keep moving, and if you’re not willing to take risks, you’re never going to stay ahead of the competition.
This year, I set out to understand how others keep moving. So I started “Never Stand Still,” a video series and podcast where I had the chance to speak with industry leaders and public figures about how they stay motivated, find sources of innovation and keep moving forward, especially after they’ve been hit hard.
What I heard from each of them has been inspiring. They shared insights on how they approach their work, and what’s important for them to champion as leaders.
Here are the top five things I heard from my “Never Stand Still” conversations this year that resonated with me and my vision for PayPal.
1. All of us, including CEOs, have a civic responsibility to uphold.
“I do believe we’re in an era now where being the CEO gives you a platform. I think of it not so much about me as an individual, but the responsibility of the office of the CEO to have the guts, to have the courage, to take a stand on important issues that are affecting our world, and to not be afraid. You’ve gotta have thick skin to do it.”
— Chip Bergh (CEO, Levi Strauss) on the responsibility of the office of the CEO
“My principle goal is to get Americans to understand the world better, and to understand that America prospers and thrives by being deeply engaged in the world… Part of what’s happened is, in the best cases, the press has discovered the importance of its role. I think a lot of journalists were just doing their job… And I think people realized, ‘You know what, we’re not just here with doing a job. We have a role, a civic role in society.’ And I agree with you there, Dan. I think it’s very important that CEOs do that as well. Of course they have shareholders to worry about, of course they have a business. But they also play a role within society.”
— Fareed Zakaria (Journalist) on having the courage to play a role in civic society
2. Companies and organizations should exist to do more than just make money—they should also be a force for good.
“In a world where our politics is so fraught, we need our corporate leaders to be able to step up and to demonstrate [how to make a difference]… I think showing that you can be a great business and a great citizen at the same time is critical. In order to do that, we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard of execution. Being a good citizen does not let us off the hook one bit on our financial results… And I don’t think we need to.”
— Josh Silverman (CEO, Etsy) on the obligation for businesses to be a force for good
“My volunteers don’t want to hear, ‘We have an operating deficit, we’ve got to work on the balance sheet.’ They want to know how whatever it is we’re suggesting is going to help people… Everyone wants to be part of something bigger than themselves.”
— Gail McGovern (CEO, American Red Cross) on leading with your heart and your head
“There’s an opportunity for us to really try to collect likeminded businesses, whether they’re competitors or not…and go out and do more, and be able to have a greater impact.”
— Kevin Cleary (CEO, Clif Bar) on partnering with likeminded organizations to expand impact
3. Diversity and greater representation create a better, stronger workforce.
“I’ll still never forget watching Geraldine Ferraro accept the nomination. It was a big deal…there she was, taking the stage at the convention, to make her speech, and I thought to myself, ‘I can do anything. The sky’s the limit.’”
— Tammy Baldwin (U.S. Senator), the first woman elected to the Senate from Wisconsin and the first openly LGBTQ senator in American history, on the importance of inclusion and representation
“[Village Capital recruits entrepreneurs and allows them to decide where to invest money. This brings capital to people and organizations that other venture capitalists often overlook, like women and people of color.] It’s small improvements and small innovations that can matter, in many ways much more important than big ones. [At] Village Capital, we do a lot of things like many other investment firms. The only thing we changed was who makes the final decision, who gets money. Making that small change led to dramatically different results.”
— Ross Baird (Founder, Village Capital) on how small changes to your business can have large impact
4. Part of maintaining momentum in our careers involves learning how to own our paths and moving forward after being hit hard.
“I didn’t recover quickly… In terms of really feeling like I was so excited about everything, thrilled to get to work, full of great ideas, and really learning again—that took me almost 10 years… Once I sort of figured out, ‘Wait, this is my life, I’m going to start directing it, I’m going to have fun, I know who I am, it doesn’t matter what people think I am,’ everything changed. It was a journey. It was my own Odyssey… But it was good. At the end of the day, I’m glad I did that because I’m really sort of fearless now. And I don’t know if I would’ve come to that place if I would have recovered that quickly.”
— Julie Wainwright (CEO, The RealReal) on embracing your own Odyssey and taking your recovery journey at your own pace
“I have been fired on the front of The Wall Street Journal…twice… If you had told me [as a little girl] I was to get fired [in that way], I’d be like ‘Fantastic!’ That I would have the opportunity to do something that anybody cared about? Like, effing amazing. So, I love to say I loved every minute of my job, even when they were firing me.”
— Sallie Krawcheck (CEO, Ellevest) on owning your failures and seeing opportunity in them
“I think sometimes when people are stuck in midlife, trying to figure out what they want to do, our childhood holds clues. I loved doing magazines and newspapers and I loved making dolls’ clothes. And actually when I ended up at Marie Claire editing a fashion magazine, it was like these two great passions in my childhood, which had been ignored in my teenage years and my 20s, suddenly came to fruition.”
— Joanna Coles (CBS News, and formerly of Hearst Magazines) on looking to our childhood passions when we feel stuck in our careers or in life
5. Creating better company culture helps recruit and foster the best talent.
“This proposition just resonates with a certain group of the rising generation of folks out there…who want to be part of something larger, who want to build the future of their countries. And we’re honestly seeing the same movie playing in all these different countries, in terms of just thousands of incredibly talented people who have so many other career options, who are competing to channel their energy in this direction.”
— Wendy Kopp (CEO, Teach for All) on standing for something to recruit the best talent
“I walk into the elevator and a young man walks into the elevator with me. He looks at me and says, ‘You’re David Solomon… I love the fact that you DJ! And I’m proud to work at Goldman Sachs.’ And I said, ‘Well that’s just great! Tell me about yourself, it’s nice to meet you.’ I really believe we would have said hello in the elevator—I try to say hello to everybody when I go in the elevator—but he approached me. If he didn’t feel that human connection, he might have been a little bit more intimidated.”
— David Solomon (CEO, Goldman Sachs) on why sharing parts of your whole self at work can return deeper connections
I’m grateful to each of these leaders for sharing their wisdom with me, and for giving the business world so much to think about as we look ahead to next year. All of our guests hit on themes that are central to what we’re trying to accomplish at PayPal, and I’m proud to know each of them.
I’m also thankful to all of you for following along with this first season of “Never Stand Still.” Leave me a comment to let me know what you’ve learned, what you’ve liked, and what you hope to see in the next season.
WATCH ALL THE EPISODES | Never Stand Still Season 1 with PayPal CEO
Never Stand Still Season 1 | Episode 12 | Ellevest CEO and Co Founder Sallie Krawcheck
On this episode of Never Stand Still, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman sat down with Sallie Krawcheck, the CEO and co-founder of Ellevest to talk about her move from Wall Street to the world of startups and how she held onto perspective and gratitude when rebounding from failure.
PayPal
Published on Dec 28, 2018
Never Stand Still Season 1 | Episode 11 | Author and Creative Adviser Joanna Coles
On this episode of Never Stand Still, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman sat down with Joanna Coles, the former Chief Content Officer at Hearst Magazine and newly appointed creative adviser at CBS This Morning to discuss her secret to success: forward thinking. Calling it the “grappling hook into the future,” Joanna discusses how she uses forward thinking to stay positive when times get tough.
PayPal
Published on Dec 28, 2018
Never Stand Still Season 1 | Episode 10 | Levi Strauss & Co President & CEO Chip Bergh
On this episode of Never Stand Still, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman sat down with Chip Bergh, President, and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co., to talk about the life lessons he learned in the military, including “Always eat last. Take care of your troops…And never ask a soldier to do something you yourself wouldn’t or couldn’t do.”
PayPal
Published on Dec 28, 2018
Never Stand Still Season 1 | Episode 9 | American Red Cross President and CEO Gail McGovern
On this episode of Never Stand Still, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman sat down with Gail McGovern, President, and CEO of the American Red Cross to talk about the career lessons she took from the business world as she moved into nonprofit leadership. One of the lessons Gail shared is to always lead with your heart as well as your head.
PayPal
Published on Dec 28, 2018
Never Stand Still Season 1 | Episode 8 | The RealReal Founder & CEO Julie Wainwright
On this episode of Never Stand Still, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman sat down with Julie Wainwright, CEO, and founder of The RealReal, to discuss how she defied the odds and carved out her own lane in the e-commerce sector. Julie credits her success with getting “back to her core” and encourages people to ask themselves, “If you could spend your days, what would you get excited about every day?”
PayPal
Published on Dec 28, 2018
Never Stand Still Season 1 | Episode 7 | Journalist and CNN Host Fareed Zakaria
On this episode of Never Stand Still, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman sat down with CNN host Fareed Zakaria to talk about navigating a 30-plus-year career, managing work-life balance and advice for overcoming adversity.
PayPal
Published on Dec 28, 2018
Never Stand Still Season 1 | Episode 6 | Village Capital President Ross Baird
On this episode of Never Stand Still, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman spoke with Village Capital President Ross Baird about the evolution of microfinance and its growing presence in consumer lending.
PayPal
Published on Dec 28, 2018
Never Stand Still Season 1 | Episode 5 | Teach For All CEO and Co Founder Wendy Kopp
On this episode of Never Stand Still, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman sat down with Wendy Kopp, CEO and co-founder of Teach for All, to talk about how her senior year thesis turned into one of the largest nonprofit educational organizations in the world today, the moral obligation for companies to be leaders for social good, and optimism as a key to success.
PayPal
Published on Dec 28, 2018
Never Stand Still Season 1 | Episode 4 | Clif Bar & Co CEO Kevin Cleary
In this episode of Never Stand Still, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman spoke with Clif Bar & Co. CEO Kevin Cleary, who has fostered a workplace culture grounded in creating shareholder value through community and employee engagement.
PayPal
Published on Dec 28, 2018
Never Stand Still Season 1 | Episode 3 | Etsy CEO Josh Silverman
On this episode of Never Stand Still, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman sat down with Josh Silverman, CEO of Etsy, to talk about Josh’s beginnings as a Theater Major, his first year at Etsy, and the obligation for businesses to be a force for good.
PayPal
Published on Dec 28, 2018
Never Stand Still Season 1 | Episode 2 | Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon
On this episode of Never Stand Still, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman sat down with David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, to talk about company culture, the importance of diversity and David’s passion for electronic music.
PayPal
Published on Dec 28, 2018
Never Stand Still Season 1 | Episode 1 | Senator Tammy Baldwin
On this episode of Never Stand Still, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman sat down with U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin. A lifetime public servant, she is the first female Senator from Wisconsin and the first openly LGBTQ Senator in American history.
PayPal
Published on Dec 28, 2018
