Executive Decisions with Steve Sedgwick

Tarang Amin wasn't looking to run a cosmetics company when the opportunity to invest in e.l.f. Beauty came his way. He thought the category was crowded, fragmented and lacked differentiation. But Amin followed a rule that had served him throughout his career: “It never hurts to have a conversation.”
That conversation changed his mind. After looking more closely at e.l.f., Amin saw a digitally native brand with a strong value proposition, an unusually close relationship with its consumers and exceptional performance at retail. He decided to invest his own family's money and become CEO.
In this episode of Executive Decisions, Amin tells Steve Sedgwick how his family's immigrant experience and motel business shaped him, why curiosity remains central to his leadership style and how listening to e.l.f.'s community drives the company's product innovation. He also explains why he believes diverse teams are a competitive advantage — and the leadership philosophy behind his approach: “When people are looking at opportunities, I'm looking at strengths.”
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Ron O’Hanley was on track for a successful career at McKinsey when Mellon Bank offered him the chance to leave consulting and run a business. He initially turned it down — only to reconsider the decision three months later.
In this episode of Executive Decisions, the State Street CEO tells Steve Sedgwick why changing his mind turned out to be “the best thing I ever did” and shaped a career lesson he still shares with others: opportunities can be engineered, but their timing often cannot.
O’Hanley also discusses the curiosity that has guided his career, navigating the global financial crisis, leaving Fidelity without another job lined up and why an unexpected move to State Street eventually led to the biggest role of his career.
He also reflects on mistakes, leadership, responsibility and why even the most experienced CEOs should never believe they have everything figured out.
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Bill Winters planned to become a diplomat. Instead, a job at J.P. Morgan led him into banking and eventually to a pivotal early-career decision: move into the emerging derivatives business despite knowing little about it.
In this episode of Executive Decisions, the Standard Chartered Group CEO tells Steve Sedgwick why that experience helped shape a career philosophy he still shares with younger colleagues: when rare opportunities arise, sometimes you should “take the reckless path.” For Winters, that doesn't mean being careless; it means being prepared to choose the less conventional route when it offers more to learn.
Winters also reflects on his 26 years at J.P. Morgan, the lessons of the global financial crisis and what it was like to be fired by Jamie Dimon. He explains why he subsequently ignored advice not to join the UK's Independent Commission on Banking and why, six years after leaving J.P. Morgan, he returned to mainstream banking to become CEO of a troubled Standard Chartered.
He also discusses the decisions behind Standard Chartered's turnaround, mistakes he made along the way, leadership, AI and why he believes ambition can sometimes become a curse.
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Anthony Scaramucci’s career has included high-profile successes and setbacks.
In this episode of “Executive Decisions,” the SkyBridge Capital founder reflects on leaving Goldman Sachs to build his own business, why insecurity led him into the wrong job early in his career and the pride and ego that influenced his decision to join the Trump administration.
After being fired from the White House after just 11 days, Scaramucci was advised to disappear from public life. Instead, he chose to face his critics - a decision he says became part of a wider reckoning with his mistakes, his relationships and himself.
He also discusses being fired and rehired by Goldman Sachs, the lessons he learned from market downturns, rebuilding SkyBridge and the fallout from its relationship with Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX.
Through it all, Scaramucci says the lesson has been the same: own your mistakes, face the music and keep going.
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Bettina Orlopp took over as CEO of Commerzbank as the German lender was pushing ahead with a multiyear turnaround — and as UniCredit was building a stake that raised the pressure on the bank's leadership.
In this episode of Executive Decisions, Orlopp explains how she has approached leading through that pressure: staying calm, speaking candidly about difficult change and relying on trusted teams to deliver the bank's strategy.
Orlopp also reflects on the path that brought her there, from nearly two decades at McKinsey to taking on Commerzbank's compliance function, becoming CFO just before the Covid-19 pandemic and later stepping into the CEO role.
She discusses how takeover pressure accelerated Commerzbank's strategy work, the challenges of restructuring and why she believes leaders need to be direct about what change will require.
Note: This interview was recorded on May 12, 2026.
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