Master the art of being tough-minded on performance while remaining kind-hearted with people to drive sustainable results.
Leading with Accountability and Care: How to Drive Performance While Supporting People
In this conversation, Doug Conant, former CEO of Campbell Soup Company and founder of ConantLeadership, joins Adam Mendler to discuss how leaders drive performance while supporting the people who deliver it. Drawing on five decades of experience across twenty roles and multiple companies, Conant argues that sustained results depend on both people and performance together, and describes the mindset at the center of his approach: being tough-minded on standards of performance while remaining kind-hearted with people.
The discussion explores accountability as a two-way street, in which leaders hold themselves accountable to their people and their values as much as they hold others accountable for results. Conant explains why he believes trust, grounded in both character and competence, is foundational to durable rather than episodic influence, and why rhetoric cannot substitute for performance over time. He introduces several models he draws on, including leading across three time horizons by honoring the past, performing in the present, and building a more prosperous future; the idea that leaders influence others most lastingly through honor rather than fear or transaction; and the practice of identifying the people who have most profoundly shaped one's own life. The conversation closes with a simple orientation he returns to throughout his career: leadership begins with the question, "How can I help?"
Learning Objectives Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
Motivational & Leadership Speaker
Adam Mendler is a nationally recognized authority on leadership, renowned for his unique ability to deliver perspective-shifting insights shaped by interviewing more than 500 of America’s most successful leaders. The creator and host of the top-rated business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, Adam regularly elicits insights from America's top CEOs, founders, athletes, celebrities, and political and military leaders. A keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations, Adam has written extensively on business and leadership, having authored more than 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc., and HuffPost. A Los Angeles native and lifelong Angels fan, Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA, serves on the board of UCLA’s Master of Applied Statistics & Data Science program, is an emeritus member of USC’s Board of Governors, and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders.
Founder, ConantLeadership; Former CEO, Campbell Soup Company; Former Chairman & Current Board Member, CECP; Former Chairman, Avon | Keynote Speaker | NYT & WSJ Bestselling Author
Doug Conant is the only former Fortune 500 CEO who is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling author, a Top 50 Leadership Innovator, a Top 100 Leadership Speaker, and was twice-named a top 100 Most Influential Author in the World. He is Founder and CEO of ConantLeadership, former President and CEO of Campbell Soup Company, former President of Nabisco Foods, and former Chairman of Avon Products. He has also served on multiple corporate boards including AmerisourceBergen and RHR International. Doug is also Former Chairman and Current Board Member of CECP—Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose—and a member of the board of The Partnership for Public Service. He recently retired as Chairman of The Higher Ambition Leadership Alliance, and retired from the boards of The National Organization on Disability, and Hope College. Previously, he was Chairman of The Conference Board, Chairman of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, and Chairman of Enactus. He is the author of two acclaimed leadership books: The Wall Street Journal bestseller, The Blueprint: 6 Practical Steps to Lift Your Leadership to New Heights, co-authored with Amy Federman—and the New York Times bestseller, TouchPoints: Creating Powerful Leadership Connections in the Smallest of Moments, co-authored with Mette Norgaard. A seasoned instructor, Doug teaches the concepts advanced in The Blueprint in his signature leadership development course, The BLUEPRINT Boot Camp by ConantLeadership. He is also a LinkedIn Learning Instructor whose inaugural course, “Finding Your Leadership Purpose with Doug Conant,” launched in summer 2023. Deeply entrenched in the contemporary leadership conversation as a teacher, advisor, speaker, and mentor, Doug speaks daily to leaders on the front lines of the modern workplace. Among his numerous awards, Doug is the recipient of the Stephen R. Covey Principle-Centered Leader Award and a Top Thought Leader in Trust Lifetime Achievement Award Winner.
