FIVE FACTS THAT MAKE AN IMPACT: CEO of Fiserv Tells Whitman Students There’s No Substitute for Hard Work, Hustle and the Determination to “Crush It!”

Whether or not you’ve heard of Fiserv, Inc., you’ve most certainly interacted with Fiserv technology in some way, as the Milwaukee-based Fortune 500 company is a leader in payments and financial technology that processes 25,000 transactions per second as the company delivers high-tech solutions to financial institutions, businesses large and small, and consumers around the world.

It's CEO and chairman of the board, Frank Bisignano, P’11, H’17, joined Syracuse University Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and Innovation and Executive Dean of the Whitman School of Management’s J. Michael Haynie for a fireside chat in front of several hundred students and faculty members on Feb. 26 as part of the Whitman School’s IMPACT Speaker Series.

Bisignano has over three decades of experience in executive leadership in banking and global financial institutions, including working at JPMorgan Chase & Co, and Citigroup. In 2013, he joined First Data as chairman and CEO, transforming it from the world’s largest traditional payment processor into a technology innovator, industry collaborator and commerce enabler. His years of expertise combined with his belief in the transformative power of technology were key in merging First Data with Fiserv in 2019. Today, Fiserv serves clients in more than 100 countries, leads the IDC FinTech Top 100 ranking of global financial technology providers and has been recognized as one of Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies.

Bisignano is set to leave Fiserv by June, as he was recently nominated by President Donald J. Trump to serve as the next commissioner of the Social Security Administration and, at the time of this event, was awaiting confirmation.

Here are five highlights from Haynie’s conversation with Bisignano:

Tell Yourself You’re Going to “Crush It!”

Bisignano says he never planned out his career, but he was fortunate to have a number of opportunities and never shied away. “I went where they told me to go, and I worked hard,” he says. “When you take on a new role, you need to see how things work and figure out how to make them better. Ask if you can do more. No one promotes the complainers. Why would anyone say, ‘Let’s give that person more work so they can complain about it even more’? If you have an opportunity, you need to tell yourself, ‘I’m going to out think, out work and out hustle everyone else. I’m going to crush it!’”

Ask for Five Minutes

While Bisignano has had many mentors in his career, he doesn’t believe in forced mentorships but instead those that evolve organically. “At the start of my career, I’d show up early in the morning and leave notes on the bosses desks saying, “If you’ve got five minutes, stop in to see me.’ And, many did. Then, I’d pick their brains, and they’d like that. You can’t just be assigned a mentor. There’s got to be a real connection that makes people say, ‘I want to help this person get to where they want to go.’ Today, I use all of that wisdom I gathered from those various bosses in my own playbook as a leader.”

Talk to the “Older People”

The “older people,” those who have worked for a company for many years, are a valuable resource often overlooked, according to Bisignano. “You’re probably thinking you’re going into the workforce as a hot shot out of Whitman and that you’re going to show everyone the way you do things, but remember that there is some older person in the corner who doesn’t have quite your degree but knows a lot more than you,” he says. “They’ve been there 20 years. They’ve seen everything. Talk to that person about the work and learn from them. Chances are that older person will impart some wisdom on to you that you would never otherwise get, and that knowledge can be invaluable.”

Soak It All In

Haynie asked Bisignano to give one piece of advice to the business students in the room. “You can’t get your time back here,” he advises. “Just soak it all in, and love it and learn and try not to get distracted. I never knew anybody who said, ‘I wish I didn’t work so hard in college because it’s not paying off.’ Get as much done as you can every day. And, spend less time staring at your phone because not much is going to happen there. Trust me.”

When The President Asks You to Do Something, You Say “Yes!”

While this is sound advice when referring to any organization’s president, Bisignano means THE president, Donald J. Trump, who has tapped him to be the next commissioner of the Social Security Administration. Bisignano’s reason for wanting the position runs deeper than achieving success, as he’s already done that numerous times. “My grandfather left Italy and came to America to join the U.S. Army in World War I, so he could become a citizen and bring his family here. And, my father was a World War II veteran. I come from a multigenerational immigrant family where my role models fought for their country, and I regret that I never served,” he explains. “So now, the Lord has given me the chance to serve this country in the best way I know how. The Social Security System is essentially a large payment company that pays out more than it collects in premiums. It pays out $1.5 trillion a year, and Fiserv pays out $2.5 trillion a day, so I think I’m qualified. The experts say Social Security will run out by 2033, and I’m taking on a six-year term, so I’m the last stop before that day comes. I don’t know how we’re going to fix it, but I’ve got instincts, and it will be fixed. I’m ripe to do a better job for the American people, and that’s my own way to serve this country.”