Ken Chenault Interview: Former American Express CEO on Leadership | The Thread Documentary Series

The thing I did the most of is I read biographies. I mean just everybody. And that, while I didn't realize it, was sort of the foundation for my strong interest in leadership. And as I look back now, it was this belief I think that as an individual and a leader you can make an incredible difference and impact.

Hi. How you doing Kevin?

So, I was born in Hempstead, Long Island, about a 30-minute train ride on the Long Island Railroad to Manhattan. Hempstead was a lower middle class town, more of a working class town. And my father was a dentist. My mother was a dental hygienist. So, they worked together briefly, but then they worked together separately. I think that was very helpful for the marriage. And I had a sister and three brothers. And I think what was important about growing up was that my parents really pushed education and they also pushed what I would say are core values: values of hard work, values of integrity, the values of treating people with respect and giving back in our society. And I think I was in many ways molded by my parents and my family life, but also I think I was very fortunate to grow up at the height of the civil rights movement. And one of the points that I make is that I was born in 1951, which was four years before Brown v. Board of Education, which totally changed my life. If not for Brown v. Board of Education, doesn't matter how good I was, I think it would have been very difficult, near impossible for me to achieve what I was able to achieve. But having that experience of the civil rights movement, the black power movement, the anti-Vietnam movement was really important in my development and I think built a very strong social conscience in me.

Yeah. What was interesting is one of the things that would come to the house was Life magazine had a book and it was, you know, 1951, 1952, 1953 and pictures told a pretty amazing story. And I remember when I was 5 years old and I saw a demonstration and it was amazing to me that I clearly knew these are black people. And I remember talking to my parents about that and I think it was really important is they sort of sat me down and I think that was part of the reality of growing up as an African-American and racism was real but at the same time they also talked to me and my siblings about the fact that with the right education and the right focus that we could overcome and they exposed us to a number of role models that I think was incredibly helpful in our development. I actually had the good fortune three times growing up to see Martin Luther King. One, he was speaking at a venue that housed probably around 5,000 people in West Hempstead. And the whole family went to see him. And I just remember being in awe. And then literally 6 months later he was visiting Hempstead and I saw him get out of his car and mingle with people. And then the last time which was very poignant and impactful was I saw him speak at a church in Rockville Centre, a neighboring town, three weeks before he was assassinated. And in his remarks, he gave these very famous lines that I may not get there with you, but I've been to the mountaintop. And those words have never left me.

I remember I had just finished playing in a basketball game and heard the news and immediately started crying. And it was such a shock and I'll never forget. I went to a private school in Garden City, Long Island. And I had two brothers who were at the school with me. My sister was at another school. And we went to see the headmaster of the school and we asked him to have a ceremony. And he initially resisted and I was very proud of all three of us that we were very insistent that that happen and he relented and we had a ceremony for the entire school. And I spoke and talked about the meaning of Martin Luther King to me but also the meaning of Martin Luther King to America.

I was, I have to remember. I think it was 13.

Yeah.