Irene Rosenfeld Quotes

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.

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

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.

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

Do what in your heart you know is right. It is easy to get caught up in your ambitions, but no job is worth not being true to yourself.

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

It is a simple fact that you can’t steal second base if your foot is firmly planted on first.

It’s clear that agriculture, done right, is the best means the world has today to simultaneously tackle food security, poverty and environmental degradation.

How you manage change can make all the difference.

Endorphins are a very powerful thing.

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.

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.

Leaders tend to focus on ‘what to do,’ but the real issue is more often ‘how to do it.’

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

The best thing a company can do for the communities in which it operates is to have a vibrant and sustainable business.

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

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 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.

Parenting is one of the best management training programs there is.

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

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 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.

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.

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.

I grew up in business at a time where there weren’t very many female role models, and so in the early days, we wore little bow ties like the guys, and we talked about the Army even though we weren’t in the Army. And the reality was that wasn’t the right way to approach the business world.

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

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

Do your job brilliantly and the cream will rise to the top.

I’ve done more travel than I need to in my lifetime.

People vote with their hearts, not their heads.

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