[The Knowledge Project Ep. #118] Doug Conant: Leadership with Integrity

Shane: Set the scene for me in the ‘80s. How did you end up at Nabisco? What was it like working for the LBO, largest in history at the time, and the pressure that you must have felt internally and the employees as well. And then, how you applied some of this learning from Covey inside?

Doug: Well, I there were two guys that they say when the student is ready, the teacher appears. I was ready for two people that really had a profound influence on me more than others. One was Stephen Covey, and the other one was Jim Collins. And they both became very good friends. I was wrestling with my life. I had gone into Nabisco, and it was at Nabisco that the magnitude of the challenge was overwhelming. And I was realizing, without knowing it, that I needed to step up my game. The stuff was coming at me as part of the world’s largest LBO and KKR, the poster child for Barbarians at the Gate, you’re young for this, but it was a huge deal at the time in the corporate world.