#524 How Doug Conant Turned a Failing Company into the Fortune 500's Most Engaged Workforce

-----

Action Plan: https://jimharshawjr.com/ACTION

Free Clarity Call: https://jimharshawjr.com/APPLY

“You can’t talk your way out of something you behaved your way into.” That line changed a Fortune 500 company, and it should change how you lead your team.

When a Fortune 500 company is literally ringed in razor wire, you don’t pep-talk your way out— you do the hard, specific work of rebuilding trust.

In this “Success for the Athletic-Minded Man” episode, I sit down with Doug Conant, the CEO who walked into Campbell Soup with plunging sales, a disengaged workforce, and a headquarters in one of America’s most dangerous cities, and left it with the highest employee engagement score in the Fortune 500.

Doug’s a student-athlete-turned-CEO who learned early that discipline matters. He played tennis at Northwestern, coached there, survived the LBO chaos at Nabisco, and then dug in at Campbell.

He tells the story straight, how Gallup called Campbell the worst engagement case they’d seen, how Doug’s first day included firing the CFO, and how he and his team rebuilt an organization by showing up with consistency, respect, and tough-minded compassion.

We unpack practical moves: measurable engagement targets, replacing leaders who can’t buy in, the “living, loving, learning, leaving a legacy” playbook Doug used, and the daily habits: the morning reflection, the commute rituals, the weekly appreciation, that let him be present for both the company and his family.

If you run a business or a team and want concrete, repeatable methods for turning disengaged people into relentless team members, this episode is your field guide. Don’t miss it!

After you listen, if you’re thinking, “How do I use this in my day-to-day?”, Doug just launched STEPS (Success Through Empowering Professional Support), a leadership course built specifically for administrative professionals, taught by Doug himself. Use my code Harshaw10 for a discount.

If you don’t have time to listen to the entire episode or if you hear something that you like but don’t have time to write it down, be sure to grab your free copy of the Action Plan from this episode— as well as get access to action plans from EVERY episode— at http://www.JimHarshawJr.com/Action.

#523 Performance Under Pressure: 10 Tactics for Getting Into Flow and Overcoming Nerves

-----

Action Plan: https://jimharshawjr.com/ACTION

Free Clarity Call: https://jimharshawjr.com/APPLY

Your business or career isn't being held back by a lack of skill or effort. It's being sabotaged by the mental operating system you're running in high-pressure moments.

Michael Chandler, one of the best UFC fighters in the world, told me he was "a small kid from a small town, taught to think small.” Your default wiring is sabotaging you the same way, even if you don't realize it.

You work hard. You show up. You prepare. But when it matters most— the big presentation, the crucial client meeting, the career-defining conversation— you're not showing up as your best self.

I spent years learning this the hard way: performance under pressure isn't about how hard you work, it's about what's running through your head when the stakes are high.

In this “Success for the Athletic-Minded Man” episode, I'm giving you 10 mental performance tactics that helped me overcome years of self-doubt and now help high-achieving professionals dominate when pressure's on.

We're covering breath work that drops your stress response in under a minute, visualization techniques that flip the switch into flow state, and the mindset shift that turns anxiety into your advantage.

Whether you're leading a team meeting, closing a deal, or navigating a difficult conversation, you're about to discover what separates people who perform from people who just prepare.

Tune in now because your next big moment deserves better than nerves and self-doubt.

If you don’t have time to listen to the entire episode or if you hear something that you like but don’t have time to write it down, be sure to grab your free copy of the Action Plan from this episode— as well as get access to action plans from EVERY episode— at http://www.JimHarshawJr.com/Action.

#522 Keith Ferrazzi on Teamship, Culture, and Why You Should Never Eat Alone

-----

Action Plan: https://jimharshawjr.com/ACTION

Free Clarity Call: https://jimharshawjr.com/APPLY

If your team can’t challenge each other, you can’t win together.

The most dangerous person on your team isn’t the lazy one. It’s the conflict-avoider.

If your team looks good on paper but feels slow in real life, this episode of “Success for the Athletic-Minded Man” will hit a nerve.

I sat down with Keith Ferrazzi, bestselling author of “Never Eat Alone” and one of the sharpest minds on high-performing teams, to talk about what actually separates elite groups from polite, mediocre ones.

We get into why most teams fall into a hub-and-spoke trap where everything runs through the leader, and how “conflict avoidance” quietly creates politics, longer cycle times, and endless follow-up meetings.

Keith also breaks down how to build candor and psychological safety with simple practices like “stress testing” an initiative, not to tear someone down, but to make sure the team doesn’t let them fail.

We also zoom out to the future of work and AI. Keith’s message is clear: curiosity and reinvention are the new job security. If you want to lead without authority, earn real buy-in, and build team accountability that performs under pressure, this one’s for you.

Listen in if you’re done with busy meetings and slow execution and want practical ways to raise the standard without blowing up trust.

If you don’t have time to listen to the entire episode or if you hear something that you like but don’t have time to write it down, be sure to grab your free copy of the Action Plan from this episode— as well as get access to action plans from EVERY episode— at http://www.JimHarshawJr.com/Action.