Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Introduction
- 1 Athletic Leadership Explained
- 2 The Agenda and Practices of Athletic Leaders
- 3 Effectiveness of Athletic Leadership: Outputs and Outcomes
- 4 Vitaly Saveliev: Passion and Innovation at the Old Airline
- 5 Eugene Kaspersky: Saving the World
- 6 Alexander Dyukov: Quiet Transformation of Gazprom Neft
- 7 Herman Gref at Sberbank: Entrepreneurship in the Least Likely Place
- 8 Athletic Leadership in Other Regions: Roger Agnelli, Dong Mingzhu and Jeff Bezos
- 9 Athletic Leadership for Non-Athletes
- Appendix Research Methodology
- Index
7 - Herman Gref at Sberbank: Entrepreneurship in the Least Likely Place
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Introduction
- 1 Athletic Leadership Explained
- 2 The Agenda and Practices of Athletic Leaders
- 3 Effectiveness of Athletic Leadership: Outputs and Outcomes
- 4 Vitaly Saveliev: Passion and Innovation at the Old Airline
- 5 Eugene Kaspersky: Saving the World
- 6 Alexander Dyukov: Quiet Transformation of Gazprom Neft
- 7 Herman Gref at Sberbank: Entrepreneurship in the Least Likely Place
- 8 Athletic Leadership in Other Regions: Roger Agnelli, Dong Mingzhu and Jeff Bezos
- 9 Athletic Leadership for Non-Athletes
- Appendix Research Methodology
- Index
Summary
I think I am difficult to satisfy, because when I win something, I'm already thinking about the next step, and that is maybe a problem for me. I'm not enjoying the moment. I'm already on the mission to win the next trophy.
– Zlatan IbrahimovicIf I could be really good at other sports, I'd want to pitch to Barry Bonds, guard Michael Jordan, sidestep Ray Lewis, or stop Wayne Gretzky when they were at their best. I might not succeed, but I wouldn't want to spend my career training every day without measuring myself against the best.
– Michael PhelpsHerman Gref, the CEO of the Russia's largest bank, is probably the closest match to the model of the athletic leader among the protagonists of this book. The scale of his work is unprecedented. In less than ten years, he transformed a clumsy, old-fashioned, gigantic bank into one of the country's most innovative companies – a change that is visible to literally every Russian citizen.
Herman Gref: Profile of a Leader
In 2007, to the big surprise of the international financial community, the former minister of economic development and trade of the Russian Federation, Herman Gref, became the new CEO of Sberbank. At age 43, Gref had a spectacular government career behind him but had never worked in business. Born into a family of ethnic Germans in a small town in Northern Kazakhstan, he graduated from the prestigious St Petersburg University with a degree in economics and became engaged in social and political life during the perestroika years. After holding government jobs at district and city levels in St Petersburg, he went to Moscow to head a ‘centre of strategy’ that had been set up to create a blueprint for the economic development of Russia. There he assembled a team of experts from different spheres of life and engaged various organizations to contribute to the centre's work. The ideas thus developed formed the foundation of President Vladimir Putin's initial reforms in early 2000, which are recognized for having given a significant a boost to Russian economy. Gref then became a minister and earned a reputation as a committed liberal reformer who could push his agenda through the corridors of power.
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- Athletic CEOsLeadership in Turbulent Times, pp. 139 - 158Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2018