50 Years of Leadership

ConantLeadership Founder, Doug Conant, originally published this post in 2015. Now, over a decade later, we present this piece as the first in our “Golden Anniversary” collection—a treasury of Doug’s thought leadership that has been updated to help YOU meet the current moment as we celebrate his 50 years in leadership.

All year long, expect pieces in this special collection to draw on timeless wisdom—and leverage a half-century of experience—to give you specific,  practical, future-forward advice for leading people to higher ground. Think of this “Golden Anniversary” collection as a gift from Doug to all of you. This is his way of saying, ‘I’ve walked hundreds of miles in your leadership shoes. No matter what happens, please know I’m in your corner. You are not alone. And you’ve got this.’

Also to honor this milestone, we’ve added two new tenets of “leadership that works” to our guiding values, the first of which we’re unveiling today in harmony with this piece: Kindness. In a world that gets harsher and more unforgiving with each news cycle, and in an environment that often beckons us towards cruelty and uplifts callous models of leadership, it is more important than ever to lead with humanity. Naked self-interest may earn you short-term wins. But enduring success comes from a spirit of generosity and compassion. Now is the time to say loudly, proudly, that  ‘People First’ is the path forward.

One last thing: This collection is also a preview of something NEW coming later this year. We don’t want to spoil it, but just know we will be unveiling a system, drawn from Doug’s 50 years in leadership, built to transform YOUR ability to dig deep and reach high—no matter how chaotic the operating environment becomes. Watch this space for hints as we build to the big reveal.

Yours in Leadership, Team Conant

Work Hard, Be Kind

There’s a Conan O’Brien quote that’s stuck with me over the years: “Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.” It’s an elegant distillation of one of the core beliefs in my leadership philosophy, the concept of an ‘abundant’ approach to leading people. An abundant approach means recognizing that you must simultaneously deploy more than one crucial behavior to achieve extraordinary results. It’s a both/and orientation. You can’t just work hard. And you can’t just be kind. “Amazing things” can only happen through the magic created by two elements: the tough and the tender, working together in harmony. Here’s why you should embrace both, and expect the same of others.

Work Hard

To achieve breakthrough in our leadership (or any endeavor for that matter), we must work hard to improve. We have to practice, learn, and grow. And in the process of working hard, we must also challenge others to do better. There’s a higher ambition woven into the DNA of hard work that asks us to rise to the occasion, and to help those around us be their best, in lockstep with our own pursuit of personal growth.

We have to practice, learn, and grow.

Every single day, the challenge to improve begins with us. In each moment, we must model the behavior of doing the hard work if we expect the people we lead to do the same. Why should they be fully invested in the work if we’re not visibly invested? Why should they be wholly engaged in the daily grind of the enterprise if we aren’t equally as engaged?

We have a responsibility to be tough-minded on standards—both with ourselves and with others. With a tenacious, resolute approach, we can lift performance ever-higher. Upholding high standards denotes faith in our own and others’ contributions, shows that we trust in our combined capacity for excellence, and signals a shared commitment to follow-through.

Still, it’s important to remember that while we’re reinforcing tough standards of performance, there is never a need to be overly difficult with others. And there is never an excuse for being disrespectful. That’s where being kind comes in.

Be Kind

In leadership, as in life, there’s little we can accomplish all on our own. As we do our best to build better organizations, better communities, and a better world, we will inevitably be buoyed most by the relationships we forge and nurture. If there’s one thing my 50-year career has taught me, it’s that leadership is all about the people. The way we treat others determines our successes and our failures.

Maya Angelou famously remarked that “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” She was right. We must lead with kindness.

When we treat people with respect, truly value them, and influence them with honor, we earn the good will that enables us to move forward meaningfully in a challenging and dynamic world. Our efforts to put people first must be earnest and true—not only because it’s the right thing to do, but also because there will come a time when we need to make hard decisions. Tough calls must be made, and people may get upset. These are the inevitabilities of leadership.

“People will never forget how you made them feel.”

Being kind ensures that we accrue a high enough balance in our “emotional bank account,” to increase the likelihood that people will give us the benefit of the doubt when we have to make difficult choices. People will be more likely to trust that we’ve got their best interests at heart, and to see that our decisions, however thorny, were made with care and consideration. Why? Because we will have demonstrated genuine compassion in countless prior moments leading up to the tough decision. We simply must be consistently, authentically, and unwaveringly tender-hearted with people if we ever hope to lead effectively. It’s the only way to get things done with our integrity intact.

Kindness is not only morally preferable, it is your best path to successful outcomes. I have seen no evidence in my 50 years of leadership that an unkind approach creates enduring value for any enterprise. Yes, fear and intimidation can lead to short-term progress in driving an agenda. However, in the fullness of time, cruelty and/or disrespect creates a reservoir of ill-will in the enterprise that becomes the leader’s undoing. And that negative legacy continues when the leader is not in the room, and certainly long after they’ve left the organization, causing chaos and dysfunction that can take years to undo. It’s just not worth it.

Make Amazing Things Happen

Leadership is the art and science of influencing others in a specific direction. When you master the delicate balance between being tough-minded on standards and tender-hearted with people, you model the very conduct you expect from the people you lead.

Expect hard work. Expect kindness. And pledge to work hard and be kind yourself. It’s an abundant, virtuous circle that makes everyone better, which is why it’s your job to champion both the hard and soft edges of leadership in everything you do. So go forth: Work hard, be kind, and make amazing things happen.

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If you’re committed to working hard and being kind, we commend you. To keep the momentum going, check out our  LinkedIn Learning Course designed to help you find your leadership purpose, check out our STEPS Leadership Course for Administrative Professionals, or enroll in the next BLUEPRINT Boot Camp to design your personal leadership model under Doug’s direct tutelage. And be sure to join our email list to receive newsletters and updates about how to win with kindness in work and life.

About the Author: Doug Conant is Founder and CEO of ConantLeadership, former Chairman and Current Board Member of CECP, former CEO of Campbell Soup Company, Former President of Nabisco, former Chairman of Avon Products, and co-author of two bestselling leadership books, TouchPoints, and The Blueprint.

(Header Photo Credit: Charlie Llewellin via Flickr Creative Commons under this license).