A host of leaders in our new UC All-Stars series have named their business heroes, with three business titans leading the way.
As part of our inaugural UC All-Stars series, we asked more than 50 UC Leaders to name their business hero.
Below is a snapshot of some of their answers. You can view their complete answers to these questions and more in UC All-Stars or click a leader’s name to view their complete profile.
Strictly speaking, ‘relatives’ would be tied at the top if they were grouped together, but in terms of individuals, three business leaders polled at the joint top.
Richard Branson
Stijn Nijhuis, CEO at Enreach: “I don’t really believe in heroes, as most individuals are not all good or all bad, but people I admire are entrepreneurs like Richard Branson, because they combine ridiculous success and ambition with a sense of corporate responsibility and fun.
“The author and creator of Holacracy, Brian Robertson, has also had a big impact on our business and the way we organise.”
Nigel Dunn, Vice President EMEA North at Jabra: “I was inspired enough by Elon Musk to buy a Tesla but quickly went off him because of some of his bizarre behaviour and divisive opinions – I left Twitter when he bought it too; when he changed the name to X it was all I needed to support my decision (is it me or is the X logo just too sinister?).
“I get inspired by Richard Branson – the fact he had dyslexia and used his creativity to found and sustain many great businesses is one thing but to be a pretty nice guy at the same time is very cool. I just love his ideas about managing people.”
Dom Black, Director of Research Services at Cavell: “Sir Richard Branson – building his business by taking risks and innovating as well as diversifying the Virgin brand into multiple industries and sectors.
“Always made me think about what can we do differently, what areas can we get into, and where we can build (and sometimes fail!) quickly to better serve our customers!”
Dominic McDonald, Chief Executive of ULAP Networks: “Richard Branson – For the following quote: ‘Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.’
“I truly believe in this.”
Steve Jobs
Rob Kurver, Founding Partner of CPaaS Acceleration Alliance: Steve Jobs: “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
Peter Eisengrein, Chief Product Officer at Evolve IP: “This one’s not original but I would have to say my business hero is Steve Jobs.
“Though he was legendarily difficult to work with, I greatly admire his passion for design and simplicity in the user experience. It permeated everything he did.
“He knew that he was solving problems people didn’t know they had and created products people didn’t know they wanted or needed. And in doing so he changed the world in which we live.”
Evan Kirstel, Founder of Evira: “Steve Jobs, as he lived at the intersection of art technology and design.”
Satya Nadella
Development Architect Tom Morgan: “It’s hard not to be impressed at how Satya Nadella is making Microsoft turn on a dime right now.
“The entire company has pivoted to AI-first in a way that I wouldn’t have thought was possible for an organisation that size.”
Graham Walsh, Director of Global Technical Sales, Alliances at Neat: “Satya Nadella. Amazing how he has transformed Microsoft.”
Technology Analyst & Strategist Kevin Kieller: “I greatly admire how both Bill Gates and Satya Nadella have taken their keen business acumen and applied the same critical thinking, processes, and measurement to focusing on making the world a better place.
“Gates in a full-time role through his foundation, Nadella, arguably still very involved in growing the financial success of Microsoft but also doing this with a focus on accessibility, diversity, and trust.
“To be clear, like all of us, neither Gates or Nadella are without flaws; however, more than most they have leveraged technology primarily for good.”
Alan Masarek, CEO at Avaya: “I don’t generally think of a single business hero because “business success” is so situational.
“For example, I admire Steve Jobs’ uncompromising push for product perfection, and he led an incredible turnaround of Apple. Somewhat differently, I also greatly admire Satya Nadella because of the cultural transformation he engineered at Microsoft.”
Relatives
Patrick Watson, Head of Research at Cavell: “My Dad. He has been self-employed supporting a family for my entire life and was a pioneer of remote working all the way back to the 1980s.”
Melody Brue, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy: “My dad. He co-founded and operated a very successful company in the early ’70s that prioritized employees – way before EX was a corporate priority.
“To this day (he’s long retired now) the company is known for its culture and has low turnover and happy, well-paid employees.”
Jamie Hughes, Sales Director at Evolve IP UK: “The most inspiration person and would be my business hero would be my Father.
“The reason behind this would be that over the years he’s had a number of businesses that have been successful but have also failed. There’s been different industries from property maintenance, car hire among others and these companies have brought highs and lows and from them, but he’s always learnt from them.
“This has taught me that success can be imminent but also, there can be delayed success and failure and sometimes recognising when to stop has can be a key strength. It’s also important to obtain the opinions of others but also to challenge them too.”
William Rubio, Chief Revenue Officer at CallTower: “My great uncle is my business role model. He came from Cuba in the late 1960s and began restoring furniture that people discarded.
“Over the years he opened his first furniture store and expanded it to one of the biggest furniture chains in New Jersey/New York.
“He died very successful but never lost sight of his humble origins and was cherished by his family, his employees and everyone he met. When he died over 2,000 attended his funeral. He made a lasting impact on all with his hard work and commitment to his family.”
Best of the Rest
Ilya Bukshteyn, VP, Microsoft Teams Calling and Devices, Microsoft: “I will name two heroes; one is Zig Serafin, my former boss and now CEO of Qualtrics, as he has incredible dedication, work ethic, and customer focus, and the other is my current boss, Lan Ye, the CVP for Microsoft Teams Calling, Meetings and Devices, as she is just brilliant and an incredible mentor for me.
Zeus Kerravala, Founder and Chief Analyst, ZK Research: “I don’t have a business hero, but there are several historical people I admire for thinking differently than their peers. Johannes Kepler was the watershed that modernized science, and Carl Sagan simplified and made science understandable for the common man. In my career, I’ll credit John Chambers for helping me understand the importance of continually working in markets that are in transition.”
Tim Banting, Practice Leader – Digital Workplace, Omdia: “Anne Boden (MBE) is my business hero. She is the founder and former CEO of Starling, a mobile-only bank, and the first woman to found a British bank. The 2008 financial crisis changed her perspective on banking, prompting her to leave her job in 2014 to re-imagine banking without bureaucracy. She envisioned a bank where opening an account took minutes instead of weeks, and which delivered instant spending notifications and insights, helping customers achieve their saving goals.”
Graham Fruin, Senior Research Analyst, IDC: “Matthew Benham – he made money in the gambling industry and then used that money to help fund his football team write off their debts. Then used his knowledge to help the club become one of the best-run teams in the country.”
Melissa Swartz, Technology Consultant, Swartz Consulting, LLC: “Female entrepreneurs in technology. Starting a business is difficult, and creating traction in an industry that has been traditionally male-dominated increases the challenge. These women are talented, persistent, and have the self-confidence to make their mark in the industry.”
Joseph Walsh, VP, Product Marketing, GoTo: “I like listening to Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks. I’ve done a few case studies over the years into Starbucks, and I admire his ambition and leadership style.
