At the risk of sounding tautological, successful industry leadership – winning in business – hinges heavily on the habit of being a successful industry leader, an habitual winner.
Steve Jobs said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower,” and according to Bill Gates, “as we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” Both are smart guys who’ve achieved considerable business success.
Another smart guy with an impressive business track record is SAP co-CEO Bill McDermott. He’s helped SAP grow to 60,000 employees, $20 billion in revenue, and 200,000 customers.
In a recent Forbes interview, McDermott had this to say about leadership and winning, “Top CEOs have a relentless will to succeed. […] CEOs should put winning in the minds of their associates and define what winning is because it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. In business you are your record […] a culture focused on long-term sustainable winning is unbeatable.”
McDermott must practice what he preaches. SAP’s recognition for industry leadership in 2012 is both admirable and enviable:
Forbes Names SAP Most Innovative Companies 2012
SAP Ranks 84 on InformationWeek 500 in 2012
SAP Ranked Revenue Leader in Warehouse Management Systems Software by ARC Advisory Group
SAP Positioned as Leader in Leading Industry Analyst Firm’s 2012 Data Quality Tools Magic Quadrant
SAP Named a Leader in Advanced Data Visualization by Independent Research Firm
SAP Positioned in Leaders Quadrant for Salesforce Automation
SAP Named Worldwide Market Share Leader for Business Intelligence
SAP Positioned in Leading Industry Analyst Firm’s Leaders Quadrant for ERP for Midmarket Companies
SAP Named a Leader in Application Infrastructure Magic Quadrants
SAP Recognized as Employer of Choice in U.S. and Canada
SAP Named a Self-Service Business Intelligence Leader by Independent Research Firm
SAP Named Hottest Vendor in Ventana Research 2012 Value Index for Financial Performance Management
SAP Named a Winner in Independent Research Firm Report
SAP in Silicon Valley Earns Top Workplace Distinction
SAP Named Leader in Transportation Management Systems by ARC Advisory Group
SAP Becomes Fastest-Growing Vendor in Relational Database Management Systems Market
SAP Propels Sybase to Winning OCEG 2012 GRC Achievement Award and Principled Performance Prize
SAP Named Leader in Global CRM Software Market
SAP Named Supply Chain Management Leader Based on Revenue
SAP Named Worldwide Market Share Leader for Enterprise Resource Planning
SAP Wins 2012 PR News CSR Award for 2010 Sustainability Report
SAP Named Worldwide Market Share Leader for Business Intelligence
SAP Named a Leader in the Magic Quadrant for Corporate Performance Management Suites
SAP Named a Leader for IT Education in IDC MarketScape
SAP Wins 2012 EPA Climate Leadership Award
SAP Named an Enterprise ETL Leader by Independent Research Firm
SAP Positioned in Leaders Quadrant for Marketing Resource Management
SAP Wins Two GRC Technology Innovation Awards from Corporate Integrity
SAP Among Top Technology Providers for Food and Beverage Distribution Industry
SAP Positioned in Leaders Quadrant for International Retail Core Banking
[...] SAP and the Habit of Winning Looking Back at 2012 [...]