Ole Rosgaard on diversity
From Hubert Joly & Ole Rosgaard Talk Leading Through Uncertainty | Leadership Conversations Part 2 · · Greif, Inc.
“The country is quickly becoming majority brown and black; half of the population has always been women. How stupid would it be to build an organization just with people like you and I, aging white men? There's nothing wrong with white men, but we need to embrace the richness of the population because it gives us more effectiveness.”
On , Ole Rosgaard, President, Chief Executive Officer & Director at GREIF INC -CL A, spoke about diversity during Hubert Joly & Ole Rosgaard Talk Leading Through Uncertainty | Leadership Conversations Part 2 on Greif, Inc..
About Ole Rosgaard
In a September 2024 two-part conversation with Hubert Joly, Greif CEO Ole Rosgaard discussed translating corporate purpose into strategy and leading through uncertainty. Rosgaard described his view that business needs an "urgent refoundation" around a noble purpose, placing people at the center, and treating profit as an outcome rather than the goal. He attributed many problems in the business world to shareholder primacy and top-down scientific management, as advocated by Milton Friedman and Bob McNamara. Rosgaard stated that a leader's role is to create an environment that unleashes "human magic" and that actions speak louder than words in making purpose real. Rosgaard also addressed leadership during challenging times, saying that "pressure is privilege" and that leaders should take care of themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually. He emphasized the importance of inclusion, stating that everyone needs to feel they belong, and that diversity efforts are ineffective without it. Rosgaard noted that his company changed its executive team and how they work together, and he described writing a leadership philosophy that he revisits to check his own actions. He said that in a volatile world, leaders must learn humility and that resilient organizations will thrive in new environments.