Name: Hershey CEO Looks For Leaders Who Create Energy
Uploaded: 2019-12-18
Duration: 4 min 45 s
Description: Michele Buck shares her thoughts on what makes an effective employee.

 Michele, when you were tapped to become CEO of Hershey, it was the first time in your career that you became CEO of a big American company. What have been the most important leadership lesson that you've learned so far? I read a great article about the CEO as the chief energy officer. That just rung so true with me. I think during this time of accelerated change in the marketplace, the importance of powerful leadership is even greater and the importance of energizing an organization. So what I've begun to think about is in this time of unprecedented change, I need an organization that has more than just technical competence but leaders who create energy in this organization, who encourage our employees and support them to take bold action, to be willing to move with speed, and to pivot, to constantly be evaluating what's going on in the marketplace around us. What I find very interesting at Hershey is that the top four positions are all held by women. You're the CEO. So is the chief financial officer. And then the general counsel and chief growth officer are also women. This is so unusual. Why all women? I must give a lot of credit to my predecessor JP Bilbrey who really came into the role and said, I am going to make this organization diverse at the senior ranks, and took it on as a personal mission. And I think that's what you have to do to be able to make this happen. You have to say I'm settling for nothing less. There's great talent out there. There is a great, diverse talent, and I'm going to make it happen. And he has. And I plan to continue that legacy. So how is it different having four of the top executives of the company women? Is running the company differently, the leadership that you talk about, but also just the leadership tone and conversations in board meetings or in other business meetings? I'd say one of the things I most value in a team is diverse thinking. I think the more that a team is representative of the actual population, the more you get that diverse thinking. And I think we see that every day. So what is it going to take to get more women in the C-suite? Women have to have great experiences, and I'm fortunate that I had a number of great opportunities throughout my career. When opportunities are out there, lean in and don't be afraid to go for those opportunities. The times I learned the most and developed the most are when I took those opportunities that were outside my wheelhouse. And I grew so much as an individual and learned that I had something in me that I didn't realize before. Well, you know, so many women dream to get to the top of their organizations like you have. And what's the best career advice that you give to them? Make an impact in every single assignment that you are given. Look at it as how can I take this to the next level, and be confident in yourself. Again, I think women just don't have as much inherent confidence in themselves. They tend to be harsher critics of themselves than I think they need to be. So go for it. Besides being the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, you were also the first female CEO of Hershey in its 123 year history. What was the secret to your success? I believe the secret to success is hard work. I grew up in a very humble family. My mother lived on a farm with no indoor plumbing. My father was the first in his family to graduate from high school, and I learned early the values and virtues of hard work. I think there is no substitute for hard work. Michele, as you look back on your life, both the personal side as well as on the professional side-- you worked many years at Kraft. And then you came to Hershey, and you made this long climb to the top. What's the best leadership advice that you ever received, and how did it shape you as a leader? Both my parents and several leaders that I worked for along the way counseled me to trust my gut, to listen to that inner compass, that sixth sense, whatever you call that. And it was very powerful and shaped me because one of my leadership styles is to ask questions and listen. And I love to do that, and I think it gets me to the best outcome. But the most wonderful outcome is when I listen, take in different diverse perspectives, and then bounce that off my gut. If it feels right, it's probably right. If not, it's probably not. 

Hershey CEO Looks For Leaders Who Create Energy

Leadership

Michele Buck shares her thoughts on what makes an effective employee.

Michelle when you were tapped to become CEO of her, she It was the first time in your career that you became CEO off a big American company. What have been the most important leadership lesson that you've learned so far? I read a great article about the CEO as the chief energy officer, and I just that's just wrong. So true with me, I think during this time of accelerated change in the marketplace, the importance of powerful leadership is even greater and the importance of energizing an organization. So what I've begun to think about is in this time of unprecedented change, I need an organization that has more than just technical competence. But leaders who create energy in this organization, who encourage our employees and support them to take bold action, to be willing to move with speed and to pivot to constantly being evaluating what's going on in the marketplace around us. What I find very interesting at her she is that the top for positions are held by women. You're the CEO. So is the chief financial officer and then the general counsel in Chief Growth officer are also women. This is so unusual. Why all women. I must give a lot of credit to my predecessor, J. P. Bill Bree, who really came into the role and said, I am going to make this organization divers at the senior ranks and took it on as a personal mission, and I think that's what you have to do to be able to make this happen. You have to say, I'm settling for nothing less. There's great talent out there. There is a great diverse talent, and I'm gonna make it happen. And he has, and I plan to continue that leg. So how is it different having four of the top executives of the company? Women? How is the running the company differently? The leadership that you talk about but also just see leadership tone and conversations in board meetings, another business meeting? I'd say one of the things I most value in a team is diverse thinking. I think the more that a team is representative of the actual population, the more you get that divers thinking, and I think we see that every day. So what is it gonna take to get more women in the C suite? Women have to have great experiences and unfortunate that I had a number of great opportunities throughout my career when opportunities are out there, lean in. And don't be afraid to go for those opportunities. The times I learned the most and developed the most, or when I took those opportunities that were outside my wheelhouse, and I grew so much as an individual and learned that I had something in me that I didn't realize before. You know, so many women dream to get to the top of the organizations like like you have. And what's the best career advice that you give to them make an impact in every single assignment that you are given. Look at it as How can I take this to the next level and be confident in yourself again? I think women just don't have as much inherent confidence in themselves. They tend to be harsher critics of themselves, and I think they need to be. So go for it. Besides being the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, you were also the first female sea eel off Hershey in its 123 year hit history. What was the secret to your success? I believe the secret to success is hard work. I grew up in very, very humble family. My mother lived in a farm with no indoor plumbing. My father was the first in his family to graduate from high school, and I learned early the values and virtues of hard work. I think there is no substitute for hard work. Michelle, as you look back on your life, both the personal side as well as on the professional size. You worked many years at craft, and then you came to her. She and he made this the long climb to the top. What's the best leadership advice that you ever received? And how did it shape you as a leader? Both my parents and several leaders that I worked for along the way counseled me to trust my gut. Listen to that inner compass, that sixth sense, whatever you call that, and it was very powerful and shaped me because one of my leadership style is to ask questions and listen. And I love to do that, and I think it gets me to the best outcome. But the most wonderful outcome is when I listen, taking different, diverse perspectives and then bounced that off my gut. It feels right. It's probably right, if not probably not