• Leaders must “work up” through osmosis; do not assume that your messages are distributed throughout the company without intention and effort  
• Most organizations tell the leadership team what they want to hear; this can prevent the executive team from actually understanding what is happening within their own company 
• The most effective ways to communicate are through stories, celebration, and recognition 
• Great leaders are high energy and are willing to tolerate disagreement
• As a leader, people want a piece of you; you must think about how you show them that you are invested in their success 
• Leaders must be open to understanding what they do not know 
• Every employee should understand what their CEO wants from them 
• “To be a successful leader, you got to allocate capital right and allocate human resources right. If you do those two things right, everything else will fall into place. If you do them wrong – you can do everything else right, you can have great culture, all the rest – it’s not going to matter.” – Frank Blake
• Vision is powerful, but execution is even more so powerful 

My guest today is Frank Blake. Frank is the former chairman and CEO of Home Depot. I recently interviewed Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone and became fascinated by the business’s impressive lineup of leaders through the decades. Frank led the company from 2007 to 2014 and shares how he carried on the legacy of Ken and the others, upholding their culture of an inverted hierarchy and producing seven consecutive years of growth for the largest home improvement retailer in America. We discuss his hyper focus on solving their customer’s problems before their own, investing time into the employee experience, and his intentionality with how he is perceived as a leader. Please enjoy this discussion with Frank Blake.

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