IRENE ROSENFELD

I've always challenged myself and the people who work with me to take new approaches to traditional business challenges, to push the envelope and constantly ask whether our sacred cows are still producing great milk.

I hate to see people frustrated or leave a company for an opportunity they could easily have had at their current company if they had only asked.

Even in developing markets, we're seeing the growth of digital communication is proceeding at a very rapid pace.

I think all of us are multitasking a little more today than we used to or than we would like to. And I think that the issue of work-life balance is a critical issue for every company around the world.

I talk a lot about taking risks, and then I follow that up very quickly by saying, 'Take prudent risks.'

I am very excited and delighted to be an important part of the development of corporate America.

Endorphins are a very powerful thing.

How you manage change can make all the difference.

During a transformation, it's understandable to be hesitant about moving too fast, especially at the outset.

Major organizational changes create uncertainty.

I believe very strongly in the value of having a diverse team around me that comes from very different backgrounds and different points of view.

Exposure to a diversity of disciplines has been exceptionally helpful to me.

Our emerging workforce is not interested in command-and-control leadership. They don't want to do things because I said so; they want to do things because they want to do them.

You can't play it safe if you want to get ahead.

It's fair to characterise me as competitive and determined, but anyone who works with me will attest to the fact I believe very strongly in the notion of servant leadership.

People vote with their hearts, not their heads.

Mom was a housewife; Dad was an accountant. They taught me a lot about the value of working hard.

Sports have always been a really important part of how I energize myself, as well as how I relax. I spend a lot of my spare time with my family playing tennis, biking and rollerblading.

There's no question that consumers are looking for value today.

The most important role of a leader is to set a clear direction, be transparent about how to get there and to stay the course.

When investors, particularly investment bankers, talk about splitting up companies, there's a lot of discussion about multiple expansion, and the reality is multiple expansion is an outcome, not a strategy.

I've received many good pieces of advice throughout my life.

I think my father was somewhat disappointed in not having had a son, and in that way I was the nearest thing he had.

I truly believe that the combination of a strong top line together with a strong bottom line is what makes for a sustainable business.

I think my very best piece of advice is be yourself.