Name: Why Schneider Electric’s Olivier Blum Hesitated on Becoming CEO — And What Made Him Say Yes
Uploaded: 2026-03-06T18:07:55.000Z
Duration: 32 min 20 s
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Every leader's journey is shaped by a handful of defining decisions, those moments of risk, doubt, and conviction that influence their lives and careers.

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In this podcast, we get to hear the stories behind those choices.

Welcome to Executive Decisions with me, Steve Sedgwick.

In this episode, I speak to Olivier Bloom, the CEO of energy tech company Schneider Electric.

I think when you take a CEO role, it's a very important commitment.

I'm not this kind of person that do that, you know, for one year, two years.

So if I accept it because I want to commit.

Olivier Blum has been at Schneider Electric for 32 years.

That longevity, along with his experience across several parts of the business, have given him a deep understanding of the company.

But that doesn't mean he's not open to debate.

They prefer this kind of management style of relationship where you are challenged, you put things on the table, but at the end of the day, you are in charge, which means you are accountable.

He talks about why decisive leadership matters and how stepping away helps him find clarity on his biggest choices.

The most important business decision that I take, I take them when I run, when I practice, when I'm in the mountain.

These are Olivier Bloom's executive decisions.

It's a company I've learned lots about in the last decade.

To start, you make my life very difficult.

Well, look, if I have to define myself, I would say I'm a very passionate person.

So whatever I do, I do it at 100% or more.

I like to have a kind of freedom in everything that I do in my personal life or professional life.

So I would say my passion and my commitment is really always proportionate to my level of freedom when I feel I can really impact, when I can really have a positive impact on everything that I do.

I was lucky enough to meet this company, Schneider Etrix, 32 years ago, and I'm still there.

So, yeah, I've enjoyed the journey so far.

Let me go backwards and find out a little bit more about your backstory as well.

Before I started my professional life, I wanted to be a rugby player.

I think I had a bit of skill, but I was not working enough.

And what I've learned through my professional life is there is no mystery, you know, even if you have a bit of, you are gifted, you have a bit of talent, at the end of the day, if you want to be good at something, you have to train hard.

And probably I've learned that it took me too long, probably.

And if I knew that when I was a boy, maybe I would have been a professional rugby player.

But I applied at least that learning in my professional life and I think I put a bit more energy in my work and that has helped.

But when I look at and like you, I love those analogy with sport.

But when you look at the most talented spirit sport player in the world, you take Jordan in basketball, you take Mbappe in soccer or whatever, maybe they have all of this.

But what I've learned is they have one characteristic.

I mean that they apply more than the other, they work more than the other, they train more than the other.

I think you can build new muscle, but you can build those new muscle to be more strategic, to be good at that or whatever.

But you just have to train more, to practice more, you know.

So I agree with you, but I think that that's probably the most important characteristic.

So you realized you weren't going to be a sportsman and then just tell me a little bit about your latter stages of education and who was your mentors as well.

Just tell me a little bit about growing up and how people helped you make decisions.

So I was really, really lucky to have a pretty good leader when I was in the commercial organization when I started.

And I would say the most important moment was in 2001 when I was called by the CEO of Schneider before Jean Pascal, Henri Lackman, to become his chief of staff.

And I really asked to myself, why did he ask me to do the.

But I've learned so much being close to him.

And I was lucky between Henri Lackman at that time and then Jean Pascal to spend a large part of my career close to amazing leader.

And I've learned so much from those people.

You know, they did not tell me much actually, but they challenged me a lot.

They are not kind of people who tell you should do that or that or that or that.

But they challenge you, they raise the bar.

And you have to capture those signals sometime.

You know, I remember my first executive committee as a chief of staff.

I entered to make a presentation that I prepared with the CEO at that time.

And I started to be attacked by all the executive community member.

And he did not say anything and he was just looking at me, you know, how I would react in such an hostile environment, you know.

And I went back home and I said to my wife, I think that was my last day at Schneider, you know, but what I mean, it was more indirect leadership, indirect coaching, you know, and that has been so powerful.

But again, you are so fortunate when you are close to those people and you observe the, the way they work and you spend time with them, you know, it's.

What did you think when you thought, oh, this is my last day at Schneider, this is the career I want.

I'm, you know, I'm working on these amazing people.

That was not a big problem at that point of time, you know, I think it was.

I would have loved to escape the company at that point of time.

But no, and joke aside, I stick to the job and I've learned so much.

I don't often respond well to feedback when I was, certainly when I was younger.

I think I'm getting better as I get older, but I find it quite hard sometimes.

Being present, feeling rested, feeling that you are in a good mood to make decision or whatever is also true for feedback.

Sometimes those feedback hurts, but they are so useful sometimes.

I don't say, I don't react when I don't like necessarily those feedback, but feedback is a gift at the end, you know, you.

I used to be very defensive at one point of time on my career, on those 360, you know, that you do in leadership.

And I was always trying to bring an explanation to the feedback.

But at the end of the day, you know, feedback is a perception.

That's how you are perceived in the world.

You know, it's about emission and what I meet when I speak to you.

It means that it's black and it's not white.

So I try to reflect a lot on those feedback and I guess I'm less and less emotional and all that because maybe I feel a bit more rested than I used to be.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Why Schneider Electric’s Olivier Blum Hesitated on Becoming CEO — And What Made Him Say Yes

perception

meditation

commitment

tough