Farewell SAP

Before we get started - I always sought to have fun and leave positive impact on each person I encountered. If I left a positive impact on you, or if you have a memory in your heart that we shared together, please comment on this post or message me directly as it will mean the world to me and support what I am building next in my life. Thank you to the many people who have already done so.

I also learned something new in writing this farewell. I had to publish an article as the "Post" character limit was 3000 and I had over 15,000+ characters. Whoops.

Thank you for taking your valuable time to read this long farewell and share your thoughts and memories with me. There is much more to come on my next step, but for now, it is my turn to pay it forward through empowering people and communities at scale, just like my mentors paid it forward to me. These three mentors are mentioned in detail below.

SAP was my family and a major part of my life for nine years. I owe so many thank you’s to so many people. Please know that you are forever in my heart. I will forever be grateful to have been a part of your life and for you to have been a part of mine.?

I hope you enjoy the read.

In June of 2014, I booked a trip that would encompass the seed that was planted for the life that would emerge over the next decade. This trip was a bachelor party for a friend and the 25th birthday for both me and another one of my friends in Vegas. As an outcome to this trip, my great friend Allen Lewis, who was in attendance and a part of the SAP Sales Academy, referred me to the SAP Sales Academy recruitment team. I formally entered the interview process shortly after his referral. THANK YOU for the millionth time, Allen Lewis!!

Fast forward about seven months, on January 8, 2015 I was on a conference call in the middle of my shift at the Pepsi Beverages manufacturing facility in Wytheville, VA. While on this call, I received a call from "Newtown Square, PA" on my cell. I can still recall what I felt in that moment when I saw “Newtown Square, PA” underneath the random phone number on my screen. Turns out, this call changed my life forever.

Most do not know this, but about a month prior to this phone call, my candidacy for the SAP Academy had been rejected. But - those who know me, know this is what I am all about - I didn’t stop believing. I didn’t stop believing that, not only did I belong at SAP, but I was going to BE at SAP. I dreamt of big things at SAP. When I stepped into the final interview day at the SAP Academy Bootcamp in Pleasanton, CA on November 14, 2014, I was surrounded by sharp, positive and motivated people. I knew in my heart that I belonged in that environment. Even though I had been told that I did not make the cut, I wasn’t going to stop believing in my dream and I sure as hell wasn’t going to quit. I was prepared to try again in 2015 if I didn’t make it in 2014. Whatever it took, I was going to achieve my dream.

After my Pepsi call ended, I pulled out my cell to listen to the voicemail that was left by the random "Newtown Square, PA" phone number. My stomach was filled with butterflies, excitement and nervousness. It was a whirlwind of emotion because I wanted to be at SAP so damn bad.?

As I listened to the voicemail, my eyes grew wide and my heart pounded with joy and excitement. I was thrilled to hear that, due to recent changes in the interview process, the status of my candidacy had shifted and I had been accepted into the SAP Sales Academy as an Associate Account Executive in Chicago, IL. The universe delivered. Belief manifested!

But - there is a very important detail about that voicemail to share. The recruiter told me verbatim, “we have had an internal person actually decline and you are next on the list.” First off, thank you to whoever that person was that declined. Second off, those six words, ”you are next on the list” cut me deep. Talk about intrinsic motivation from that moment on. David Wolf is not next on a list. I saved this voicemail and committed to working relentlessly to prove I belonged on the top of that list, not somewhere down the line, “next on the list”.

I still have that voicemail saved on my phone to this day. I listened to it again as I wrote this farewell, hence the verbatim reference above. I will cherish this voicemail forever, as it was the spark of my endless energy and commitment to excellence. It also served as a reminder that, each day, I was blessed to have the opportunity to work for SAP. I was one person’s declination away from not making it in 2014. I carried this chip on my shoulder, gratitude and perspective with me every single day. I embodied it in everything I did from the moment I listened to that voicemail until the day I separated from SAP.?

A common saying in SAP is, “Bleed Blue”. Anyone that knew me, inside and outside of the walls of SAP, knew I “BLED BLUE”. ALL CAPS, BLED BLUE. For over nine years of my life, I dedicated myself to SAP, our people, our customers, our mission to help the world run better and improve people’s lives, and our vision to Run Simple. This is how I operated and what I believed. If I am going to do something, I am going to bring everything I have to it. I prided myself on this during my career and strived to ensure everyone knew that if David Wolf was involved in something, it not only would get done, but it would get done with excellence.

Under the leadership of Bill McDermott, the energy within SAP was palpable. Every day was a hustle, but every day was fulfilling and fun because every day was an opportunity to move closer to the dream, just like Bill encouraged us all to do - Dream big, believe in our ability to achieve that dream and go after it with every ounce of energy we had. Everyone in the company worked towards a common goal and the team-oriented atmosphere drove connection and commitment to each other. It was an amazing place to be. I never knew Bill personally, but the impact he left on me and my leadership style, simply through just observing him and reading his book, will forever hold weight in my life and career. Thank you, Bill.

I will forever be grateful for the memories during that time – how electric SAP was – and I was so grateful every day to be a part of it. I brought my blue-collar work ethic to the white-collar business world and never forgot what blue-collar work was like – running a landscaping and home improvement business in my teenage and college years, walking over five miles a day around the Pepsi manufacturing facility in steel toed boots and seeing a foot doctor every couple of months, getting home covered in machine grease and sweat, moving thousands of pounds of Pepsi cases a day in the warehouse, etc. Like how I leveraged the voicemail, whenever things got hard, I would think about my days in the Pepsi warehouse or on the manufacturing floor or doing yard work in the hot and humid summers in VA and brought perspective back into my presence. This blue-collar work ethic, combined with my big dreams and the intrinsic motivation from the chip on my shoulder from the “next on the list” voicemail, ultimately led to an incredible run and I am so immensely grateful for it.

However, all that work ethic, all those big dreams, and the intrinsic motivation from the chip on my shoulder wouldn’t have manifested anything without all the people who invested in me and contributed to my success – of which the core three are mentioned below. During my time at SAP, leaders were focused on our people - developing them, investing in them, having their backs, and putting our people first – and each of the leaders below exemplified exactly that, not only with me, but with each person they encountered. I am sure there are thousands of people who feel the same way about these leaders.

Greg Petraetis. What an incredible journey we had together! In the Fall of 2015, I walked into an ASUG Analytics conference in Austin, TX. Tammy Johnson and I had set up an exec-to-exec meeting with Greg and one of our SCP accounts at this event and I needed to brief Greg on the meeting. I will never forget the moment I met him, in his sharp light gray suit and crisp white button-down shirt. The man still has incredible professional attire game, one of the bajillion things he, and the other two leaders below, taught me over the years. With a big smile, he shook my hand and welcomed me in. After we got acquainted, he asked if I wanted to join him and the NA Analytics leadership team for dinner that night (me, an Academy kid invited to dinner by an SVP to hang with him and his VP’s? Huh?). This was one of the major things I learned from Greg - it doesn’t matter what level you are at in the organization, everyone gets treated with love and respect while we all unify and collectively take responsibility for the common goal we are moving towards together. Greg, to this day, hosts people at his personal home for team events and welcomes them in as family. From my perspective, to Greg, his people are his family - just like the family we created in the Midmarket organization - which is something I will always remember and embody as a leader. People will run through a brick wall for Greg because he will do the same for his people and, most of all, he always has your back. After that week in Austin, Greg graciously offered to mentor me and the rest is history. This was my first look at mentorship at SAP and it created an insatiable appetite for seeking leadership from others, which became a big part of my success. Giving mentorship to others is what I will pay forward in the next phase of my life. THANK YOU so much for everything Greg, I owe a great part of my success to you and I am so grateful for the friendship we have formed over the last nine years together.

DJ Paoni was the second mentor I was blessed to work with while at SAP. Witnessing DJ’s presence and how he engaged with each person in the Downers Grove office, day in and day out, was absolutely inspiring. Regardless of what was going on, DJ smiled big and always engaged people with positive energy. He was one of the most approachable leaders I observed during my time at SAP. His door was always open and he was always willing to engage anyone who needed anything. You know a great leader when everything you hear about them is consistent and consistently great. This was DJ. Everyone revered him in our Midwest family and I admired this in him. I wanted to learn how to leave the same impact on people during my career at SAP. DJ was so approachable that, as an AE in 2017, I felt confident enough to walk through his corner office open door in Downers Grove, sit down across from him, and ask for his mentorship when he was the MD of the Midwest. In a very on brand response, DJ asked why and challenged me, and after a healthy discussion, he ultimately agreed to mentor me. DJ, being the selfless and innovative leader he was, also agreed to a reverse mentorship with me when I offered it. I had heard him mention this as something he was open to during one of his speeches at a Collaboration Day in the Midwest. When I came into the Midwest MU, DJ led the SCP business in NA and I was inspired by witnessing his meteoric rise from this role to, eventually, the President of North America, all of which, from my perspective, is because of how he treated and engaged people. THANK YOU for everything, DJ. Amongst the many things I learned from you, you engrained authenticity into my leadership style and I am forever grateful for your mentorship and support throughout my career at SAP.

Steve Shute was the third mentor I was blessed to work with while SAP. Steve is a business transformer and I learned so much from him. If you put Steve Shute into a business, you know that business is going to thrive, regardless of where that business is when he steps in it. He is still showing that to the world to this day. Steve was the MD of the Midwest when I started at SAP (yea, we had Shute and DJ back-to-back. I am so blessed to have been a part of that run as the top MU in NA). Everything Steve touches turns into gold. I admire his business acumen and amazing ability to take a business to the next level. When Steve was approached by SAP HR to mentor me as a part of a new program, he didn’t hesitate, which was right in line with how he transforms businesses. As I learned from Steve, the most impactful action of transforming a business is involvement with the people, at all levels, and understanding the business while investing in and empowering the people through identifying and fixing issues, gaps, and roadblocks that prevent people from reaching their greatest potential and productivity. Steve exemplified this in how he took me on and engaged me as a mentee when he was the COO of NA. He would ask me, a frontline Analytics AE, about what I thought needed to change and what I thought would help us all get better in SAP NA. Someone five levels above me, learning from my experiences and taking my feedback into account as he led the NA business, I will never forget that. THANK YOU for everything, Steve. I am grateful for everything I learned from you and the relationship we continue to maintain to this day.

Do you see a common thread here? People investing in people, people having each other’s backs and empowering one another to learn and grow, and people caring about one another’s success. This is the root of SAP’s success. These three leaders will forever remain people I look up to, admire, and seek leadership from. Thank you so much Greg, DJ, and Steve.

During my nine year career at SAP, I was blessed to work in all five geographical Market Units. While I am so grateful for this experience, it also makes this farewell really difficult because I want to acknowledge each person I was blessed to work with. As I type this, I am already on page four of this word document so, I should wrap it up. As I started off, all of you will remain in my heart forever.

To the entire SAP family, inclusive of SAP, our partners, and our customers - THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. From the SAP Academy, Analytics, Midwest, Northeast, South, West, Canada, and Middlesex University teams, to, most near and dear to my heart, the Midmarket and Partner Ecosystem team, I am forever blessed to have had the opportunity to work alongside each and every single one of you. From getting turned down by SAP in 2014 to five Winners’ Circles and the opportunity to lead as the youngest Executive in North America in nine years, what a run. I owe all of it to my mentors, every single person who blessed me with their leadership and everyone I was blessed to work with and/or lead over these last nine years.

One last time…Thank you everyone and thank you SAP for the last 9 years.

As I move forward and as a foreshadow for what is next, I leave this with you - Dream big, believe in your ability to achieve that dream, and work like hell to achieve it. I did it and you can too. Along the way, take what you learn and bring others with you to bring impact at scale. Time for me to continue bringing others with me and continue empowering others to achieve their big dreams, just like Greg, DJ, and Steve did for me.

LET'S GO SAP! Farewell!

Best,

David