Tag Archives: bob mcdonald

Last week Owen students had the privilege of meeting Procter & Gamble CEO Bob McDonald at a speaking even on campus. The subject of his talk was values-based leadership in what he calls an increasingly VUCA world. (VUCA = volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous)

Along with giving out his email address, he provided his ten rules of successful leadership:

1. Living a life driven by purpose is more meaningful and rewarding than meandering through life without direction. “Choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong.” – From the West Point Cadet Prayer
2. Companies must do well to do good, and must do good to do well. P&G was the first company in the world to hire women in Saudi Arabia, and currently have 35 female employees. Due to the still constrained gender issues, the company had to install conference rooms with glass barriers that separates the men from the women. Additionally, because women in Saudi Arabia do not have the right to drive, P&G must hire male drivers to take the female employees around for work. It is inspiring and refreshing to hear about a company leading human rights issues around the globe and having a whatever-it-takes attitude to do what is right.