Leadership Interview – Doug Conant

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth

Many people discuss transformational leadership, but few can point to a modern day CEO who is an example of a transformative leader. Douglas R. Conant is the President and CEO of Campbell Soup Company, and he epitomizes just such a leader. When Doug took the helm at Campbell’s 10 years ago, he reversed the trend of declining earnings and employee engagement. In 2010, during a down economy, the company posted a 12% increase in earnings on $7.7 Billion in sales, and the storied brand now possesses some of the best employee engagement rankings in the industry. Doug had a similar impact in his previous role as President of Nabisco where the company posted 5 consecutive years of double-digit earnings growth under his leadership. What I most appreciate most about Doug is his passion for those whom he leads. He’s part old-school; still regularly sending hand written thank you notes to employees, and part new-school; equally as comfortable communicating on Twitter (@DougConant). Doug’s new book TouchPoints, co-authored with Mette Norgaard is a must read for leaders. If you do one thing today watch this video and then leave a comment thanking Doug for freely sharing his considerable insights and experiences.

Ron

Thank you for the valuable insights. Your pointing out that “High trust leads to high performance” is quotable. It’s amazing how many organizations don’t seem to get this most fundamental axiom that’s the #1 point in Campbell’s business model. I also appreciate your growing realization that business and personal life aren’t separate realities. For me, that’s also key in maintaining trust. People must see one character in an individual who has many roles.
- http://www.n2growth.com/blog Mike Myatt
  
  Well said Ron. I too believe it is difficult, if not impossible to separate one’s personal life from their business life. The consistency you speak of is exactly what people are looking for in their leaders, but are failing to receive in many instances. Thanks for sharing Ron.
http://twitter.com/Leadershipfreak Dan Rockwell

Thanks Mike, Wonderful interview.

My take away is great leaders do two things, not one thing, well. Frequently leaders can be tough but not tender. Weak leaders are tender not tough.

Tenderness and toughness is a both/and rather than an either/or circumstance.

It’s nothing new, the Bible describes it as grace and truth.

Best,

Dan
- http://www.n2growth.com/blog Mike Myatt
  
  Hi Dan:
  
  I hope all is well, and thanks for stopping by Dan. Your observations are spot-on as always. Let’s catch-up sometime soon. Thanks again Dan.
http://asimpleguyblog.blogspot.com Dan Collins

Mike,

Doug crystalized some exceptional leadership tenents that are undoubtedly a primary driver to the metric increases you illustrated above. But in my view his insights on the people and how those tenents translate to actionable “touch points” were invaluable. The 4 minute interruption “opportunity” as opposed to how most view interruptions (both external and self imposed) and his six leadership expectations of “True North” at Campbells were outstanding. Four bullet points I particularly found alignment with in your conversation were:
Be tough minded and tender hearted.
Align and Execute.
Build vitality.
Execute excellence and get Results.

As always Mike a good un. Keep ‘em coming pal.
- http://www.n2growth.com/blog Mike Myatt
  
  Hi Dan:
  
  I always appreciate how you cut right to the chase with such clarity. Any leader who focuses on the aspects highlighted in your comment with be better off for doing so.
http://twitter.com/LeadrshpAdvisor William Powell

Thanks for such a great interview Mike! When I am asked about quality leaders who truly “get” employee engagement, Doug consistently ranks in the top 5 for me.

Thanks for sharing such amazing info!
- http://www.n2growth.com/blog Mike Myatt
  
  Thanks William…You hit the proverbial nail on the head when stating that Doug understands the value of employee engagement. Many leaders speak of engagement, but Doug has clearly invested himself in doing far more than talking about it. Thanks for stopping by William.
http://www.tanveernaseer.com/ Tanveer Naseer

Great interview, Mike.
One point I wasn’t surprised to hear Doug repeating throughout the
interview is how critical it is for leaders to foster a sense of
trust within their team. There are so many articles and books being
written on how to “engage” employees in the sense of turning them
into these manic Energizer bunnies that produce high productivity
rates. Invariably, this leads to talk of various incentive programs
and whatnot.

Doug’s remarks
throughout the interview are an important reminder that leaders
should not assume their position only confers them the trust of those
they lead. Instead, a leader should make efforts to ensure they’ve
earned the trust of their employees so that they are willing to
follow their lead toward reaching the goals their team is expected to
attain.

Earlier this week, I
co-hosted on Twitter a talk about the role empathy plays in
leadership and one of the reasons I shared for why it’s necessary is
how empathy allows us to create deeper relationships built on trust.

That’s probably why
hearing Doug speaking about the importance of trust resonated so much
with me during his interview.

Thanks Doug for sharing
your personal experiences on how leaders can bring a more human touch
to business which not only benefits employees, but helps to
strengthen the organization as well. And thank you Mike, for
providing Doug with a platform to share these wonderful insights into
leadership.
- http://www.n2growth.com/blog Mike Myatt
  
  Hi Tanveer:
  
  You called out trust and empathy as two things within the interview that resonated with you. These are two qualities present in all great leaders, and sadly the two that are most often missing in failed leaders. Thanks for adding value to the thought stream Tanveer.
Biffbarbie

This a classic case of a Manager resting on his laurels and bailing when it gets ugly. The soup category is down high single digits year on year for the past 5, coupled with General Mills aggressive pricing and marketing and the the cash cow sector has failed miserably for almost half of Conant’s tenure. Concurrent with passing the torch to Denise Morrison Campbell is expected to undergo heavy layoffs. Nice job, Doug.
- http://www.n2growth.com/blog Mike Myatt
  
  Thanks for sharing your observations and opinions. I’m sure that Doug is a better person to address the concerns you raised, and I would be remiss to speak on his behalf. I would point out that the soup category is just one data point with other categories showing better performance. With regard to the successor CEO, only time will tell…
Mark Oakes

Excellent interview, Mike!

A lack of Trust inflicts perhaps the single largest excise tax on any organization. It’s great to see Doug address this often-overlooked off-balance-sheet component.

Well done

Mark
- http://www.n2growth.com/blog Mike Myatt
  
  Hi Mark:
  
  As always you bring up a thought to be pondered: “off balance sheet leadership.” It is the soft metrics that leaders need to focus on in order to drive the hard metrics that impact the balance sheet. People drive numbers, numbers don’t drive people. Great thoughts Mark.
http://lairigmarketing.typepad.com Kevin

Kudos to commenter Biffbarbie – the only one you didnt acknowldege so far. Conant has done squat in the past 4 years at Campbells except to lord over a sinking ship. Soup sales have dropped every quarter. Leadersghip? Must be some new definition.
- http://www.n2growth.com/blog Mike Myatt
  
  Hi Kevin:
  
  Thanks for stopping by and sharing your views. All leaders have both fans and critics – it goes with the territory. Many view leadership from a what have you done for me lately perspective, which is fair to a degree. Best wishes Kevin.

Links	Archives	Subscribe
N2Growth Awards N2Growth Clients N2Growth Leadership Events N2Growth – Intermediaries Testimonials	View Archives	Subscribe with us Your email:
Copyright/Legal \| Privacy \| Resources \| Sitemap \| N2growth Blog \| © Copyright 2013 N2growth - All Rights Reserved