No Priors · 3 min · Apr 17, 2026

Leaders can teach agency through repeated practice

Bill McDermott says work helped him build confidence and that agency can be taught. He recommends practice, simulation, certification and coaching to prepare people to lead.

BM

Bill McDermott is chairman and CEO of ServiceNow.

Sarah Guo, Host · Founder, Conviction
Ex-Greylock partner; early investor in Cognition, Harvey and Mistral.

About this segment

Bill McDermott says work helped him build confidence and that agency can be taught. He recommends practice, simulation, certification and coaching to prepare people to lead.

From “Scaling Global Organizations in the Age of AI with ServiceNow Chairman and CEO Bill McDermott”, Apr 17, 2026. Watch the full episode

“We have to make them do it where they actually have to simulate and be trained and be certified and understand and be coached well.”

BMBill McDermottat 18:03 · No Priors18:03

Takeaways

Work gave a shy teenager confidence in what he could control.
He sees listening and presence as learnable, not purely innate.
He recommends practice, simulation, certification and coaching.

In this episode

Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

15:45
than ever i know i said i was gonna then ask you about service now but i have to ask you a little bit more about this let's do it um do you think it's possible to coach or to teach people that type of agency that you have yeah Yeah. I do. I think that, you know, someone asked me last night, you know, that similar question. And I said, you know, I'm a person like a lot of other people. I was a very shy, quiet, laid back kid and really came into my own through work.
16:19
And, you know, those part time jobs I was telling you about and the desire to be somebody in this world and know that my only way out, I wasn't going to make the NBA. I love basketball, but I wasn't going to make the NBA. Yeah, me neither. Right. So I said, you know, what can I control? I can control how hard I work. I can control desire to do something and make a difference. I can control that. And so I got a lot of confidence from work.
16:51
And, you know, other people might get confidence from something else, and that's fine. But I think it's so important to be connected to work, especially work that ties to people. Because when you know how to deal with people, and in the deli, I had 500 of them a day, you start to get a good feeling and a good understanding that if you really listen, if you really care, and you're really there, present, and not just going through the motions, there's people that want to connect with that kind of person.
17:26
And so I really do believe that you can teach that. But you do have to practitioner, you know, those ideas. You have to be a part of the process. And I think so much is done today on the beautiful mobile phone in your hand that it's replaced, you know, the human side of the connection. I, like you, I've got one in each pocket and I value them because they make me more productive and happier because I can do those things.
18:02
But we really do have to train people. We have to make them do it where they actually have to simulate and be trained and be certified and understand and be coached well. so they have the confidence to get out there and be in front of other people where they can lead and make a difference. And I'm convinced that they can do it. Yes, there are differences. Some people are more skilled at it naturally, innately, no question, but more people are capable of more things than they realize. That's very encouraging. One thing that also