Mountaintops inspire leaders but valleys mature them.

But in Johannesburg I found that many of the most outstanding leaders had never been to university at all.

Representing a company with the largest and one of the most diverse groups of associates in the U.S., and an even more diverse customer base of tens of millions of customers, we believe we should stay engaged to try to influence decisions in a positive way and help bring people together.

The best leaders lead through influence and collaboration, regardless of their title.

There've been times when leaders have to make decisions, and if you had read my 360 when I first started as a CEO, it would've repetitively said, "You take too long to make decisions, you're participative and that's good, but you need to move faster, be decisive." And as the years went, that stopped being on my 360 because I think I got more confident and more self-aware that sometimes decisions just needed to be made.

Hating clouds the mind. It gets in the way of strategy. Leaders cannot afford to hate.