Leading to win and doing what you say with AG Lafley

December 11, 2025

AG Lafley is the former CEO of consumer products giant Procter & Gamble, where he ran the company for 15 years over two different tenures. Since retiring and moving to Sarasota, he has worked with small businesses and nonprofits, and also led the development and operations at the Bay Sarasota. On this episode Business Observer Managing Editor Mark Gordon and AG talked about how he overcame difficulties and challenges at P&G, and why leading with a customer-first mindset, even in such a large organization, was a priority. They also talked about why it was important for him to be a “say do” leader.

Key Takeaways

(05:30) Crisis is opportunity
(05:45) Leadership is not genetically determined, it can be built
(12:35) Great leaders take accountability and create accountability
(17:30) Leadership is a navigation job
(19:40) Know yourself, be yourself, and play to your strengths
(20:40) Understand the art of going slow to go fast
(21:20) Leadership is thinking, decision making, and doing

Timestamps

(00:00) Introducing AG Lafley, retired CEO, Procter & Gamble; founding CEO, The Bay Park Conservancy
(05:00) Keys to being a great leader
(06:30) Seizing leadership opportunities early in life
(09:00) Becoming CEO of Procter & Gamble
(12:00) Decisions made in the first 100 days of being CEO
(17:15) What is leadership?
(19:25) Leadership advice
(22:00) Learning to ‘go slow to go fast’ from the Japanese
(27:45) AG’s leadership legacy
(31:30) What is coming up at Bay Park Conservancy?

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