Touchpoints: Creating Powerful Leadership Connections in the Smallest of Moments - Hardcover

by Douglas Conant (Author), Mette Norgaard (Author)

A fresh, effective, and enduring way to lead--starting with your next interaction

Most leaders feel the inevitable interruptions in their jam-packed days are troublesome. But in TouchPoints, Conant and Norgaard argue that these--and every point of contact with other people--are overlooked opportunities for leaders to increase their impact and promote their organization's strategy and values. Through previously untold stories from Conant's tenure as CEO of Campbell Soup Company and Norgaard's vast consulting experience, the authors show that a leader's impact and legacy are built through hundreds, even thousands, of interactive moments in time. The good news is that anyone can develop "TouchPoint" mastery by focusing on three essential components: head, heart, and hands.

TouchPoints speaks to the theory and craft of leadership, promoting a balanced presence of rational, authentic, active, and wise leadership practices. Leadership mastery in the smallest and otherwise ordinary moments can transform aimless activity in individuals and entropy in organizations into focused energy--one magical moment at a time.

Front Jacket

Leadership is tough. You must hit your marks - despite back-to-back meetings, endless emails, and chance encounters in the hallway.

Most leaders feel that these inevitable demands keep them from doing their "real work." But in this groundbreaking book, authors Douglas Conant and Mette Norgaard argue that these interactions are overlooked opportunities to expand your influence and deliver measurably better results.

Through untold stories from Conant's tenure as CEO of Campbell Soup Company and Norgaard's consulting experience, TouchPoints shows how a leader's impact and legacy are in fact built through hundreds, even thousands, of interactive moments in time.

The good news is that everyone can attain greater "TouchPoint" mastery. Conant and Norgaard show how by delving into three essential assets - your head, heart, and hands. As the authors explain, one of the greatest investments you can make is constant attention to your mental model, your emotional maturity, and your bias for action. Then inquiry, reflection, and practice all combine to help you make the most of your TouchPoints, no matter how planned or incidental they may seem at the time.

TouchPoints speaks to the theory and craft of leadership by promoting a rational, authentic, active, and wise approach. With greater skill and energy, you can start transforming otherwise ordinary interactions into powerful leadership moments--one TouchPoint at a time.

Back Jacket

Praise for TouchPoints

"A profoundly relevant book on the fundamental power of human connections--and how it drives lasting change for every leader, every time."
--Stephen R. Covey, author, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The Leader in Me

"Being an effective executive in today's over-scheduled, fast-paced 'interruption age' is not mutually exclusive with being an accessible and engaged leader. Indeed, recognizing that everyday 'TouchPoints' represent opportunities to teach and to enhance corporate culture is a prerequisite for success."
--Duncan Niederauer, CEO, NYSE Euronext

"Doug Conant has proven himself to be a very disciplined CEO - focused, able to let go of what doesn't fit, building greatness step-by-step, laying foundations for decades down the road while delivering results today. His example shows how effective business leadership can be quiet and bold, studious and decisive, disciplined and creative. He and Mette Norgaard make a great team for bringing these leadership lessons to the world."
--Jim Collins, author, Good to Great

"Like much of the best advice, TouchPoints makes immediate good sense; and taking it won't even add to your workload."
--Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP

"Leave it to Conant and Norgaard to define the future of leadership. In this brilliant new view, they uncover hidden opportunities we each have to turn everyday 'warm moments' into powerful venues for breakthrough thinking in your organization. This book makes all the rest seem old and tired."
--Faith Popcorn, CEO of BrainReserve, futurist, and bestselling author

"Conant and Norgaard reveal the secrets of great leadership. Yes, hard skills count, but soft skills - deftly managing a conversation, caring about the people around you, posing the perfect question in a crisis - make all the difference. This practical and insightful book shows how to transform the behaviors and results around you."
--Daniel H. Pink, author, Drive and A Whole New Mind

"A superb leadership guide."
--Bill George, author of True North

Author Biography

Douglas Conant is president and CEO of Campbell Soup Company. Under his leadership, Campbell reversed a precipitous decline in market value and employee engagement, improving its financial profile, enhancing its diversity and inclusion practices and raising its corporate social responsibility profile. Previously Conant held management positions at Kraft and General Mills, and was president of the Nabisco Foods Company.

Mette Norgaard is an expert on strategic leadership and learning. She advises executive teams around the world on how to create distinct learning solutions that advance their companies' strategies. She has worked with senior-level leaders from Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, GE Capital, Nucor Corp., Estée Lauder, Harley-Davidson, the U.S. Navy, and Pfizer. Previously Norgaard was a consultant for FranklinCovey Co.