Never Waste a Good Crisis: How Doug Conant Replaced 300 of his Top 350 Managers to Turn Around the Campbell Soup Company

Doug Conant is one of the most accomplished executives in the world, having previously led Nabisco Foods, the Campbell Soup Company and Avon Products as President/ CEO. In this episode, Doug breaks down his Story of Change at the Campbell Soup Company- one of the world's most revered brands- and how he identified, and quickly acted on, replacing ~90% of the company's top managers as the lynchpin in turning around the company from the brink of failure.

In this episode you will learn:

1. How Doug went from being fired from his first job to eventually becoming CEO of one of the most prestigious brands in the world

2. The inner workings of Doug's management philosophy on being "tough-minded on standards, but kind-hearted with people"

3. Why Doug believed a complete overhaul of a management team is sometimes the only way to save a business, and what traits he was looking for in his new leadership

4. How and why Doug used Words of Affirmation- writing over 30,000 thank you notes over 10 years- as a way to anchor the employees of the company through a period of unrelenting change, while re-enforcing standards

5. Doug's advice on how managers can think, act and succeed with change like a CEO

Management books to read, mentioned in the episode:

- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't (James C. Collins)