Douglas Conant is the CEO and Founder of ConantLeadership, a mission-driven community of leaders and learners who are championing leadership that works. He is the former CEO of Campbell Soup and former President of Nabisco, as well as author of the new book The Blueprint: 6 Practical Steps to Lift Your Leadership to New Heights. He is the only former Fortune 500 CEO who is a New York Times bestselling author, a top 50 leadership innovator, a top 100 leadership speaker, and a top 100 most influential author in the world.
LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS
- A good book needs to be aspirational and approachable. It needs to help the reader lift their sights while also still being touchable.
- The key to becoming the leader you are meant to be is your life story. You need to learn how to access this and bring it to life.
- Your leadership approach must be developed and implemented in a way that will fit into the culture where you are leading.
- Forget perfection. Try. Learn. Iterate.
- The best way to be a more effective leader in the world is self-examination and an understanding of yourself.
- If you think you can do better, you typically will.
- Look to learn lessons from what is going on around you in the world.
- Be a student of leadership in a way that works for you and fits in your life. Create a rhythm and practice around it. To excel at the craft of leadership, you must be a student of the craft.
- You already have the seeds of leadership contribution. Tap into these and lift your contributions to new heights.
- The Blueprint’s six steps to getting unstuck:
Step 1. Reach High/Envision
Step 2. Dig Deep/Reflect
Step 3. Lay the Groundwork/Study
Step 4. Design/Plan
Step 5. Build/Practice
Step 6. Reinforce/Improve
QUESTIONS TO INSPIRE US TO ACTION
– What is some lesson, saying, or experience that continues to influence your leadership to this day? Meeting a counselor after being fired and learning the lesson of the importance of a “how can I help?” mentality.
- Use three descriptors to finish this sentence: “A leader is…” Authentic, effective, and fulfilled.
- What is a question that leaders should be asking either themselves or others? How can I help?
- What book would you recommend to leaders? The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
- If you could get every listener to start doing something THIS week to help them be a better leader, what would it be? Reflect on your life story, harvest the lessons from that story, and bring them to life in your everyday actions. Your life story is your leadership story.
- As a general life principle, is it better to ask “why?” or “why not?”
“Why not?” It aligns with an abundance mentality.
Website:
https://conantleadership.com
Find Doug on social media:
Twitter: @DougConant
Facebook: @ConantLeadership
LinkedIn: in/DougConant
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