/By Sean

#242 Scott O’Neil- CEO of Philadelphia 76ers & New Jersey Devils on Being Where Your Feet Are

Key Takeaways

“Find your peace, find your quiet time, find yourself, we have to plan it, schedule it, have the discipline to stick to it, but it is a choice, our choice”

3 things Scott believes brings success in business:

Work unreasonably hard
Be an extraordinary teammate
Intellectual curiosity

Scott says that the commonalities between the highly successful leaders he has worked with and for are:

Value Driven
Lifelong Learners
Lover of People

“If you just think about life as being about tradeoffs and once you understand what’s really critically important to you then decisions become simple”

3:02 Mind, Body, & Soul

Everyday Scott makes sure to do something for his mind, body, and soul. Scott believes that everyone needs to continue to learn new things outside of their profession.

“Find your peace, find your quiet time, find yourself, we have to plan it, schedule it, have the discipline to stick to it, but it is a choice, our choice”

3 things Scott believes brings success in business:

Work unreasonably hard
Be an extraordinary teammate
Intellectual curiosity

11:30 Talent Development

“I love all of these younger generations coming through. I think that they’re smart, they’re driven, they’re talented, they’re connected. They understand themselves and their brands”

Scott explains how the younger generations will work to their bones but in exchange they want access, recognition, and opportunity.

Scott has round table talks with his teams to connect and be transparent with each other, starting each meeting with “Let’s talk about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, what do you want to talk about?”

Scott gives each new sales class the book, Leadership and Self-Deception.

16:32 Leading Teams & Building Company Culture

Scott comes from a family of leadership development consultants and he describes how his home was a leadership laboratory. Four of the five children, including Scott, are now running companies.

Scott’s mission: “Culturally, I want to create the greatest place to work in the world”

To make this mission come true, Scott spends about a third of his time dedicated to cultivating the company culture.

“You can set the tone, you can set the vision, you can direct the resources, you can encourage, but there’s a lot that goes into creating the greatest place to work in the world.”

“There’s so many opportunities and avenues to stay connected to people who influence and impact you in your life. I think one of the missing ingredients is the next step, say thank you”

22:12 One of Scott’s Biggest Learning Lessons

Scott tells the story of a marketing campaign he led for the WNBA that crashed and burned. After this catastrophe, Jeff Robertson, Head of Human Resources at the NBA, taught Scott the importance of building relationships and checking in with colleagues and connections, even if you don’t need anything from them.

“My love of connecting with people is about how I can help them, it’s not what I can get from them. It’s just like a little nuance that help redefine how I see the world and how I go through the world and how I connect the dots when working with organizations”

34:44 Leadership Style

Scott says that he has always been a leader throughout his life but his style of leadership continues to evolve.

“I say to my team, you don’t have to like each other but you have to love each other”

“Now is the time as a leader, we got to pull everyone together and we’ve got to go one or two or three steps further and better than we have or will to make sure that we are supporting those who are driving the organization”

42:01 Scott’s Mentors

Most of the mentors Scott has worked with are his friends today.

Some of the mentors and friends that Scott lists are:

“It’s either dumb luck or incredible insight or some combination but I’ve worked for so many incredible leaders who now I’m privileged enough to call friends”

44:22 Commonalities Among Leaders

Scott says that the commonalities between the highly successful leaders he has worked with and for are:

Value Driven
Lifelong Learners
Lover of People

“If you just think about life as being about tradeoffs and once you understand what’s really critically important to you then decisions become simple”

49:17 The Impact of Sports

Scott talks about the value of sports, how it’s connected his family, and the importance of women in sports.

“Whether you were good or bad, you learned how to win or lose, hopefully graciously. I didn’t lose so graciously when I was young but I got better, still not great. Learn how to lead and follow, learn how to sweat and give, give for somebody else, and you learn how to compete.”

52:47 Inspiration to Write

After Scott’s best friend of 20 years took his own life, Scott experienced grief for the first time and writing became his healing. Through conversations with his friends and personal reflections, Scott’s book, Be Where Your Feet Are was born.

“Everything just came together, it felt like the world opened up for me”