Tech CEO Says Start As High School Janitor Taught Responsibility

Mark Testoni is the CEO of SAP National Security Services, a cyber security firm where he manages a team with more than 500 employees and is  responsible for sales, products and strategy.

He says he learned the lessons he needs to take on those responsibilities when he worked as a high school janitor, according to an article on the CNBC website.

He headed to college in the mid-70s, but couldn't quite find his place there. Eventually his father got him a job as a janitor at the school district in which he was a principal.

The 20-year-old Testoni mopped floors, scrubbed bathrooms and took out the garbage for students who weren't much younger than he was.

Those experiences gave him the keys to his success.

"I got to learn how to show up to work every day, punch a card, and if I was two minutes late, they docked my pay. I started to learn the principles of personal responsibility and accountability," Testoni said in the article. "It was actually what was the beginning of a renaissance for me personally."

In his experience, the people who get ahead have one trait in common: "When they say they're going to do something, they do it," he said. "Or they may not accomplish it, but they try like hell to do it. You have to make commitments and show up and meet them."

Read the full article here.