Trust gives you the permission to give people direction, get everyone aligned, and give them the energy to go get the job done. Trust enables you to execute with excellence and produce extraordinary results. As you execute with excellence and deliver on your commitments, trust becomes easier to inspire, creating a flywheel of performance. Douglas Conant Read Quote
If you cultivate a relationship in a genuine, thoughtful way, people will be more inclined to want to help you even though they don’t have to help you. Douglas Conant Read Quote
The packaged food business environment is very Darwinian. You’re fighting for survival every year; you evolve and grow or you die. It’s really that simple. Douglas Conant Read Quote
I strongly believe that you can’t win in the marketplace unless you win first in the workplace. If you don’t have a winning culture inside, it’s hard to compete in the very tough world outside. Douglas Conant Read Quote
The corporate world has the resources to improve the world. It’s where people live and work. Douglas Conant Read Quote
As a CEO, you get sucked into dealing with all the tasks of being a CEO. There’s a big meeting, a big discussion, and you get into all the big issues, which is your job. But what CEOs often lose sight of is that it’s all about the people who work for you. For every 1,000 decisions, 999 were being made when I was not in the room. Douglas Conant Read Quote
You have to talk about mistakes and then talk about what you have learned and how to move forward. You acknowledge missteps right away, you deal with them, and you move ahead. Douglas Conant Read Quote
When I arrived at Campbell on January 8, 2001, the company had lost half its market value in the prior year. They had to cut costs to the point where they were literally taking the chicken out of chicken noodle soup and the product was no longer competitive. Douglas Conant Read Quote