ABSTRACT The author, Founder & CEO of ConantLeadership and a longtime company CEO and chairman, describes his 50 years of leadership, and how it has led to what he terms the ‘Higher Ground Leadership Success System ™. This requires both/and thinking, such as when leaders must be “both tough‐minded on standards and tender‐hearted with people.” Also that it “requires championing high performance and insisting that results are delivered with integrity.” He contends that “above all else, ‘Higher Ground’ leadership is predicated on two simple needs: The need for profound depth and transcendent reach .” He provides two case studies of companies he has led: Nabisco and Campbell Soup Company, and notes that his “leadership model consists of ten elements, which map to the two simple pillars of Depth and Reach.” The ten elements are, in his words, 1. Build Foundation 2. Honor All 3. Inspire Trust 4. Growth Mindset 5. Higher Purpose 6. Create Direction 7. Align Resources 8. Build Vitality 9. Execute With Excellence 10. Produce Extraordinary Results. He believes that “you simply cannot win in the marketplace, classroom, community, or battlefield without first winning in the workplace. It was true for the last five decades, and it is true today.”
Douglas R. Conant (2026) studied this question.