Dr. Jessica Kriegel interviews Scott Wine, former CEO of Polaris and CNH Industrial, as they explore his leadership journey, rooted in faith, discipline, and a commitment to integrity. Scott shares his insights on building adaptable, customer-focused cultures, lessons learned from his Naval service, and the importance of critical thinking in leadership. With anecdotes from his time leading Polaris into the Fortune 500 and transforming the culture of 42,000 employees at CNH, Scott’s leadership advice is invaluable for anyone aiming to lead with purpose and accountability. Tune in to hear how Scott’s disciplined approach and faith-based values have guided his remarkable career.
What Is Your Why: Scott Wine shares how his core values of faith, integrity, and family have driven him throughout his career, citing a guiding principle from his time at the Naval Academy.
Faith and Leadership: Scott discusses the role faith plays in his leadership style and how religious values can inform ethical business practices, even when discussing topics that may seem uncomfortable in today’s workplace.
Integrity in Decision-Making: Scott emphasizes the importance of integrity, recounting how it has led him to leave two jobs rather than compromise his values. He discusses how leaders must set the tone for integrity in their organizations.
Customer-Centric Cultures: Scott highlights his experience transforming CNH Industrial’s culture from inward-focused to customer-driven, reducing bureaucracy, and empowering employees to make impactful decisions.
The Role of Discipline: Scott credits discipline, both personally and professionally, as essential to his success. He shares how his rigorous routine helps him balance work demands and personal commitments, including coaching youth football while leading Polaris.
Critical Thinking and Leadership: Scott explains how critical thinking and the ability to anticipate challenges have been key to his success, particularly in managing rapid changes like the rise of AI and the evolving demands of leadership in today’s fast-paced business world.
Challenges in Leadership: Scott discusses the unique pressures faced by CEOs in publicly traded companies, balancing quarterly results with long-term strategy. He reflects on how focusing on the customer above all else drives sustainable success.
Private Equity and the Future: Looking ahead, Scott discusses his interest in private equity, where longer investment cycles and a focus on ownership culture can drive meaningful and lasting business transformations.
Personal Reflections and Legacy: Scott shares personal stories about his family life and the critical role his wife, Jill, has played in his success, as well as how they’ve supported each other through the ups and downs of his career.
About Scott Wine: Scott Wine is the former CEO of Polaris, where he led the company into the Fortune 500, and CNH Industrial, where he oversaw a cultural transformation. A Naval Academy graduate, Scott has been a driving force in both manufacturing and customer-centric leadership. He continues to shape industries with his strategic insights and leadership expertise.
LinkedIn: Scott Wine
Jessica Kriegel:
Website: https://www.jessicakriegel.com/
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicakriegel
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jess_kriegel/
Culture Partners:
Website: https://culturepartners.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/culturepartners/
TRANSCRIPT
Jessica Kriegel: I am so excited to bring you our interview with Scott Wine. Scott spent 16 years as CEO, first at Polaris, which he led into the Fortune 500, then at CNH Industrial, where he worked with Culture Partners to overhaul a culture of 42,000 employees, making it more adaptable and resilient through the pandemic. We talk about his values, faith, integrity, and discipline, and how they impact his leadership, plus all the lessons he picked up over the years from mentors, from his Naval service, and even from volunteering as a youth football coach. I think you’ll really enjoy the conversation. Please welcome to the podcast, Scott Wine. Scott, thank you for joining us. What is your why?
Scott Wine: Jessica, thanks for having me on. I’m really excited about what you do at Culture Partners and specifically with this podcast. My why is pretty simple. I grew up in a small town where faith and family have always been important to me. When I went to the Naval Academy, I decided I wanted to go to chapel every Sunday. The why, I think, is best captured in a sentence from the Midshipman Prayer: “Keep me true to my best self, guarding me against dishonesty in purpose and deed, and helping me to live so that I can serve my shipmates, my loved ones, and myself.” That has really encapsulated what drives me. I’m ridiculously competitive, but I try to channel that competitiveness toward the right things, keeping those values at the core.
Jessica Kriegel: That’s beautiful. My why is also around faith, and I often grapple with the role that faith has in business and leadership. I want to talk about it more than feels comfortable. Why do you think we can’t talk about faith at work more openly?
Scott Wine: I think it’s because we’ve been encouraged not to. Unfortunately, this whole idea of being “woke” has suggested that certain religions aren’t something to be talked about openly. But I fully believe in a group of CEOs, like those in “CEOs for Faith,” and consider myself part of that. I don’t want to be a zealot or virtue-signal, but I think it’s important to lead in a way that embodies the faith we have.
Jessica Kriegel: What’s interesting is that a lot of the great leadership gurus over the last 50 years were devoutly religious people who took what their faith touted as good morals, ethics, or values and adapted them to sound more secular. Servant leadership, for example, is rooted in religious ideas about serving others, yet it’s often presented as a secular leadership concept. I think a lot of people don’t even realize the origins of these ideas.
Scott Wine: Absolutely. If you go all the way back, the principles that Jesus taught about how to live our lives work well in business too. When people are honest and put in a hard day’s work, it genuinely improves the business. It’s something we should all aim to embody.
Jessica Kriegel: But what about the fact that many businesses thrive by not being honest or servant-focused? In a capitalist society, it sometimes seems like doing the right thing doesn’t align with what works to get results. How do you manage that as a leader, especially in a publicly traded organization?
Scott Wine: When I became a public company CEO, I often heard criticism about managing to quarterly results. I’ve tried to make sure the board is aligned with our long-term purpose—what we’re aiming to achieve in the long term—while meeting our short-term commitments without prioritizing them over that vision. I believe, and history shows, that companies that take shortcuts and aren’t true to their customers or values don’t have lasting success. One of the things I value about our work with Culture Partners is that it helped us focus on customers and align employees on doing what’s right for the customer. If you put resources toward doing right by customers, it will pay dividends over the long term.
Jessica Kriegel: That’s interesting. I’ve heard you speak about integrity as one of your core values, yet maintaining it consistently can be challenging. Even well-intentioned people can find themselves pulled toward decisions that lack integrity. Why do you think that is?
Scott Wine: For me, integrity is non-negotiable. I’ve left jobs where I felt I couldn’t uphold my values. I believe leaders must stand up for integrity because when it’s compromised, it sets a precedent that others might follow, creating all sorts of issues in an organization.
Jessica Kriegel: What kind of issues are you referring to?
Scott Wine: When integrity isn’t upheld, it can lead to a culture where decisions aren’t based on the values of the company. This can result in a toxic culture and ultimately the downfall of a business.
Jessica Kriegel: I misunderstood—I thought you meant integrity could create problems once established.
Scott Wine: No, quite the opposite.
Jessica Kriegel: You once said that leaders often make the right decision only 60–80% of the time. Is that enough?
Scott Wine: Yes, the context was about moving fast. I’d rather be 60% right and go quickly than wait to be 100% right and go slow. That’s why trusting your team and your gut is critical.
Jessica Kriegel: What if you can’t trust your team? Tell us about your old manager at Allied Signal and the choices he gave you.
Scott Wine: A former boss told me, “Change the people or change the people.” It means you either help them improve, or you find someone else. Leaders have to be accountable for setting expectations and making changes when necessary.
Jessica Kriegel: How long do you give people to change before deciding to replace them?
Scott Wine: I won’t fire someone who doesn’t expect it. I make sure they understand the need to change, and if it’s serious, I put it in writing. If they still don’t change, then it’s time to move on, as the organization depends on it.
Jessica Kriegel: You were with Polaris for 12 years, taking it into the Fortune 500. What was that journey like?
Scott Wine: It was incredible. When I started, Polaris was doing about $1.8 billion annually. By the time I left, we were at around $6 billion, and they hit $8 billion right after the pandemic. It’s an organization that’s just so driven, and it was a really fun place to work every day.
Jessica Kriegel: Then you joined CNH, a much larger company. Was the culture at CNH different?
Scott Wine: The cultures were polar opposites. Polaris was agile, customer-focused, and had a “get it done” mentality. CNH, a big global company, had a lot of bureaucracy, which I quickly realized needed to be cut through. That’s why I brought in Culture Partners to help change the culture and focus everyone on serving customers. We made a lot of progress in shifting the culture, though it still had some bureaucracy by the time I left.
Jessica Kriegel: Was the bureaucracy due to the company’s size, or was it something else?
Scott Wine: I think it was a mix of size and the presence of multiple power centers within the company. Many of the top people were focused inwardly rather than on customers. With the help of Culture Partners, we worked to turn that focus outward, towards our customers.
Jessica Kriegel: It’s interesting because CNH approached you multiple times before you considered joining, right?
Scott Wine: Yes, initially, I was too focused on running Polaris, especially during the pandemic. But as Polaris stabilized, I saw an opportunity at CNH. They had great brands, strong distribution, and solid products. I felt I could bring consistent leadership, and it turned out to be a great experience.
Jessica Kriegel: At Polaris, you were chairman and CEO. At CNH, you were just CEO. Was that transition challenging?
Scott Wine: Not really. I enjoy running companies, and as long as I was given the freedom to do that, it was fine.
Jessica Kriegel: Did you face resistance when trying to remove bureaucracy at CNH?
Scott Wine: Not from the employees—they wanted to move faster and focus on customers. It was mainly a leadership challenge. Part of the solution involved adopting a more agile, customer-focused approach, which engaged employees and improved performance.
Jessica Kriegel: I’m curious about how the pressures on CEOs have changed since Covid. It feels like the pandemic shifted society’s views on work. Do you agree?
Scott Wine: I think so, but it depends on the industry. For us, most employees were in manufacturing, and they didn’t have the option to work from home. This meant we, as leaders, had to set an example by staying engaged and present.
Jessica Kriegel: With the rapid pace of change, especially with AI, it seems like being a leader today is very different than it was even a decade ago. Do you feel that way?
Scott Wine: Absolutely. I use generative AI daily to get better insights and solutions. AI will fundamentally change how organizations operate and reduce the need for certain roles. It’s evolving so fast that it will likely reshape industries more than we can currently anticipate.
Jessica Kriegel: That sounds exciting but also a little scary. I’m concerned that the drive for profit will lead to shortcuts with potentially harmful consequences.
Scott Wine: I think that’s a valid concern. AI, like many innovations before it, brings both opportunities and risks. It’s essential to keep the dialogue going about these risks to help set up guardrails and protect against potential harm.
Jessica Kriegel: But sometimes it’s not about bad intentions. Even well-meaning tech can have unintended consequences, like social media’s impact on mental health. How do we address that?
Scott Wine: We need to be thoughtful about potential risks. I’m on the board of US Bank, and risk management is a big part of our discussions. As a society, we should be doing more to assess and mitigate the risks of these new technologies.
Jessica Kriegel: How do you balance risk assessment with the need to move quickly and be agile?
Scott Wine: It comes down to critical thinking—the ability to anticipate not just the next step but the one after that. The best leaders I know are excellent critical thinkers; they’re always thinking a few moves ahead.
Jessica Kriegel: So, what’s next for you?
Scott Wine: I recently had my 35th reunion at the Naval Academy, which made me feel old! I’m 57, not ready to retire but looking for something different. After 16 years as a CEO, I’m considering opportunities in private equity or mentorship, where I can use my experience to impact multiple companies.
Jessica Kriegel: Private equity sometimes gets a bad rap, but there’s a lot of potential to make a positive impact, especially by fostering cultures of ownership and accountability.
Scott Wine: Exactly. Engaging employees and creating a culture of ownership can drive significant improvements. It’s about rewarding those who create value and giving them a stake in the success of the business.
Jessica Kriegel: How do you feel about discipline? I’ve noticed that many successful CEOs have a rigorous approach to discipline in both their personal and professional lives.
Scott Wine: I think some level of discipline is essential for any CEO. The demands on a CEO’s time can be overwhelming, so you need the discipline to set boundaries and prioritize. It’s also important to stay physically and mentally fit.
Jessica Kriegel: I’m impressed. I struggle to find time for my daughter’s practices, let alone coaching a youth football team as you did.
Scott Wine: It’s all about balance. I prioritized family time by coaching football, which forced me to leave work at a reasonable hour, even with the demands of being a CEO.
Jessica Kriegel: What do you wish people asked you more often in interviews?
Scott Wine: I rarely get asked about the secret to my success. For me, it’s simple—I married up. My wife, Jill, has been my rock. She raised our kids and supported me through countless moves and long work hours. I wouldn’t be where I am without her.
Jessica Kriegel: That’s beautiful. Thank you for sharing that, and thank you for joining me today. It’s been a pleasure to learn from your insights and experiences.
Scott Wine: Thanks, Jessica. Congratulations on what you’re doing with the podcast and at Culture Partners. You’re doing great work in elevating the importance of culture in organizations.
