Quotes by Douglas Conant

Most people that derail as leaders in the corporate world, its not because they couldnt do the math and calculate return on investment properly. The issues are communication and understanding. All of what typically wouldve been called the soft stuff. You have to be authentic. You have to be dialed into the soft stuff.

Learning to celebrate success is a key component of learning how to win in the market.

My most memorable meal is every Thanksgiving. I love the food: the turkey and stuffing; the sweet potatoes and rice, which come from my mothers Southern heritage; the mashed potatoes, which come from my wifes Midwestern roots; the Campbells green-bean casserole; and of course, pumpkin pie.

Leadership does take work. And it should. If you aspire to be a leader, you ought to treat leadership as a craft, you ought to become a student of it, and you ought to work at it. And if youre not willing to work at it, well, you get what you give.

I would assert that highly effective leaders are made more than theyre born. Every leader I know whos been highly effective has worked hard at it, and theyve been students of it. The more youre a student of leadership, the more you figure out what works for you and the more effective youre going to be.

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.

Too many leaders are so caught up in the momentum of work that they lose sight of the opportunity to connect with people. I discovered that the more fully present I was with other people, the more fully present they were with me, and the more productive our relationship became over time.

Even a brief interaction can change the way people think about themselves, their leaders, and the future. Each of those many connections you make has the potential to become a high point or a low point in someones day.