Quotes by Douglas Conant

About Douglas Conant:

Douglas Conant is an American businessman who served as President and CEO of the Campbell Soup Company until July 31, 2011. Longtime protégé Denise Morrison, who worked for him at Nabisco as well as Campbell's, succeeded him as CEO.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

All of us introverts aspire to be more outgoing, but it's not in our nature. When I was nearly 50, I discovered that the best thing to do was to tell everyone I worked with that I'm just shy. People are not mind readers - you need to let them know.

Douglas Conant

Extroverts may get places faster, but for introverts it's all about working at the pace you need and, at the end of the day, performing at your best.

Douglas Conant

Often leaders have the best intentions, but people cannot read their minds. That's why it's important to declare yourself: Tell people why you choose to lead and the code you live by.

Douglas Conant

My most memorable meal is every Thanksgiving. I love the food: the turkey and stuffing; the sweet potatoes and rice, which come from my mother's Southern heritage; the mashed potatoes, which come from my wife's Midwestern roots; the Campbell's green-...

Douglas Conant

There's no evidence that large, diversified food companies win over time.

Douglas Conant

I have a foundational belief that business results start with culture and your people.

Douglas Conant

On a personal level, I send out about 20 thank-you notes a day to staffers, on all levels. And every six weeks I have lunch with a group of a dozen or so employees, to get their perspective on the business, to address problems and to get feedback.

Douglas Conant

I have found that the more I honored others, the more they honored me and the more fulfilling my career became. In the business arena, I have been surrounded by people with awesome skills. The difference between good and great is determined by the mi...

Douglas Conant

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

Most people that derail as leaders in the corporate world, it's not because they couldn't do the math and calculate return on investment properly. The issues are communication and understanding. All of what typically would've been called the 'soft st...

Douglas Conant

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 someone's day.

Douglas Conant

You must bring great resolve to your work. It's not all a bed of roses.

Douglas Conant

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 you're not willing to work at it, well, you get what you give.

Douglas Conant

I would assert that highly effective leaders are made more than they're born. Every leader I know who's been highly effective has worked hard at it, and they've been students of it. The more you're a student of leadership, the more you figure out wha...

Douglas Conant

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

Douglas Conant

Ultimately as a leader, you're evaluated on how you interact with people. If you do it well, you develop a reputation as effective leader. If you don't, you develop a reputation for being a highly ineffective leader.

Douglas Conant

You have to be a well-rounded leader. You can't fly by the seat of your pants anymore. You have to be incredibly tough-minded about standards of performance, but you also have to be incredibly tenderhearted with the people you're working with.

Douglas Conant

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

I've met so many leaders who realize that telling your colleagues something that is on your mind is so much easier than keeping it in. Sometimes the things we make up in our heads are not nearly as big a deal as we think.

Douglas Conant

Most people think of leaders as being these outgoing, very visible, and charismatic people, which I find to be a very narrow perception. The key challenge for managers today is to get beyond the surface of your colleagues. You might just find that yo...

Douglas Conant

Author Bio

  • NameDouglas Conant
  • DescriptionAmerican businessman