Doug Conant Quotes

Personal notes are particularly effective, especially if they emphasize being a role model, treating people well, and living the organization’s values. Doug Conant, a former CEO of Campbell Soup, is well aware of the power of personal recognition. During his tenure as president and CEO, he sent more than 30,000 handwritten notes of thanks to employees.

In a Harvard Business Review article by Stephen M. R. Covey and Doug R. Conant—two leaders who have shaped how I try to show up in my own leadership—they described how “Inspiring Trust” was Doug’s number one mission in his remarkable ten-year turnaround of Campbell Soup Company. They quote information from the annual list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For,” where Fortune’s research showed that “trust between managers and employees is the primary defining characteristic of the very best workplaces,” and that companies with high levels of trust “beat the average annualized returns of the S&P 500 by a factor of three.